Merseyside’s first photobooth

The family of former NUJ Life Member Bob Bird, who died in 1999, are honouring his photographic memory by recreating the booth from which he used to take pictures at a Merseyside seaside resort.

He started taking pictures of day-trippers at New Brighton in 1948 from a wooden booth on the promenade. In 1950 he photographed Miss New Brighton, Violet Pretty, who became film actress Anne Heywood.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Walkie photo booth, the Bird family has built a replica on the same site. The “Tardis” is being used to display Bob’s press pictures, spanning 50 years, during Liverpool Capital of Culture Year 2008.

The Journalist is published by the National Union of Journalists