Chingford was a quiet Essex village on the edge of Epping Forest until the railway arrived in 1873 and a little later, in 1882, the Forest was declared open to the public. Very soon after this time Londoners, especially from the East End, began to visit the area as day-trippers, soon on a large scale, and Chingford and the Forest became a sort of inland tourist resort. This collection of over 200 old photographs shows some of these developments as they occurred from the later part of the nineteenth century up to the postwar years, as the town grew. That it also retained some of its village charms may be confirmed by the tendency for it to be referred to now as 'that pleasant dormitory town'. Not only does the book illustrate the streets and buildings but also Chingford people, at work and at play and going about their everyday business. This fascinating book will appeal to all who have grown up in the town and also to those who are newcomers and of a younger generation who would like to see what their town was like to live in only a few decades ago.