THE passage of time has certainly had its impact on Laindon.

The ancient parish originally had its own distinct boundaries, but the sprawl of the new town Basildon from the Fifties onwards has seen surrounding fields swallowed up by development.

Pictures from the 1930s show Laindon as a rural village, with a typical home resembling a countryside farm rather than a townhouse.

Before cars filled the roads, the preferred method of transport for residents was by horse and cart, as these early photographs show.

Men, with flat caps, would sit in carriages with two wheels steering and handling the huge horse that was pulling the carts.

The photos also show stores such as the Cigar Shop, in London Road, and Hair Styling by Gibbs, in Laindon High Road, which were a focal point of the community.

The hair salon was founded by George Gibbs, a former member of Laindon's chamber of commerce and a chairman of Laindon Horticultural Society.