A new free photography exhibition giving a bird's eye view of the region and country from yesteryear launches at the Library of Birmingham tomorrow.
The Aerofilms Collection has 40 images from both the West Midlands and across the country and is one of a series running across Britain celebrating English Heritage's project to save and make available historic aerial photographs.
Aerofilms was founded in 1919 and was the world's first firm of commercial aerial photographers, marrying fledgling flight technology with the skill of photography.
English Heritage purchased the Aerofilms collection, which spans 1919 to 2006, through a partnership with the Royal Commissions on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Wales.
It consists of more than 1.2 million glass and film negatives, albums and flight registers, with many images collated for a new book called 'Aerofilms - A History of Britain from Above'.
The exhibition at the Library of Birmingham runs until August 31 and is accompanied by a series of events and activities including lectures, aviation stories and paper aeroplane making.
A complementary display of Aerofilms' images of the West Midlands can be seen inside the library's 'Spotlight' space from July 1.
Mike Evans, head of archive at English Heritage, said: "The Aerofilms Collection embodies all that is exciting about aerial photography.
"Between 1919 and 1953, there was vast and rapid change to the social, architectural and industrial fabric of Britain and Aerofilms provides a unique, and at times, unparalleled perspective on this upheaval.
"We hope that people today will be able to immerse themselves in the past through the Britain from Above website, adding their own thoughts and memories to this remarkable collection."
