A PHOTOGRAPHER has put together a documentary on the history of one of East Lancashire’s most iconic breweries to raise funds for a hospice charity.

Tony Billington has created ‘Thwaites Brewery - from 1807 to 2018’ using achieve footage from the Lancashire Telegraph, public records and his own photographic equipment.

The 68-year-old, from Blackburn, is also a qualified and fully insured drone pilot and spent many hours filming material for his 55-minute documentary, covering the demolition of the town centre site last year.

The documentary goes through the history of the brewer, from when Daniel Thwaites became part of the company, bringing in new beer ranges, expansion, the construction of the iconic Thwaites tower in the 1960s, to its relocation announcement in 2018 and site demolition the following year.

Mr Billington, who has been a photographer for more than 40 years, said: “I loved making this documentary because it was great to dive into the history of this iconic business.

“It spent such a long time in Blackburn town centre and was a big employer for many, many years - as it is today.

“I looked at archives from wherever I could, as well as documenting as much of the demolition as possible.”

The tower was the most iconic feature of the 212-year-old company’s new brewery built between 1964 and 1966.

The brewery on Penny Street moved to its new home at Sykes Holt in Mellor Brook in August 2018 but demolition of the tower was delayed after a pair of peregrine falcons nested and hatched two chicks which fledged in July.

The DVD, which will cost £10, has been made so its profits can be donated to East Lancashire Hospice.

Mr Billington said: “I haven’t told the hospice yet as I want them to read this story and have a nice surprise.

“I’ve put around 40 hours of work into editing this, so there’s a lot of hard work in there. I started researching this back in October 2019.

“East Lancashire Hospice does a lot of amazing work every single day and it deserves every penny that can be raised.”

Contact Mr Billington on tony@ajbphoto.com or by calling 07789 722420.