Sixty years ago, the Kingston Society was founded to protect and improve the borough’s natural and built environment. To mark its diamond anniversary, the Society has partnered with the Malden Camera Club to capture a snapshot in time, with a free photography exhibition on Kingston’s suburban charms.

Earlier this year, Kingston residents were invited to submit photographs taken in the previous 12 months that showcase the borough’s rich urban history, natural environment and the challenges currently faced by the built environment.

Malden Camera Club helped Kingston Society’s shortlist and curate the final entries, and the final gallery of images will be on display every day from Saturday 29 October until Sunday 13 November, 10am until 4pm, at All Saints Church in Kingston Market Place. The images will then be added to Kingston Society’s digital archives, serving as a snapshot capsule of the borough for future generations to view 60 years from now in 2082.

With so much development and change across the borough over the last 60 years, and at a time of borough-wide regeneration, the Society will also be using the exhibition to take residents on a journey through Kingston’s civic activism, helping highlight some of the heroes, victories and challenges from each decade since Kingston Society was founded in 1962.

From the power station whose chimneys once stood proud over Canbury Gardens, to plans thwarted by the newly established Kingston Society for a riverside ring-road, the exhibition looks back at some of the biggest moments in ‘recent’ Kingston history, and invites residents to take an active role in determining its future.

Speaking about the event, Kingston Society’s Tony Lancaster, said: “Over the last 60 years, Kingston Society has played a key role helping shape the look and progress of our historical market town, encouraging well-managed urban developments that add value to the community. During that period, the way we operate as a society has evolved significantly.

“Fast-forward to now, and Kingston has recently been identified as an Opportunity Area in the Mayor’s London Plan. With its footprint set to continue changing over the years to come, we hope our exhibition will help raise awareness of some of the area’s lesser-known history, and the vital, proactive role Kingston residents have long played in shaping the borough we love.”