Take a (rail) trip down memory lane to 1973's London Victoria

Monochrome images taken in 1973 show London Victoria railway station frozen in time - an era of large sideburns and public lockers, platform tickets and boat trains to France and Belgium.

Photographer Vincent Oliver captured the essence of train travel in the 70s, so take a trip down memory lane and marvel over the days when a journey to Ostend was as possible as one to Orpington.

At the time, Mr Oliver was serving with the Welsh Guards Band and was based at Chelsea Barracks.

Half a century later, he remembers taking the photographs on his days off.

"I was stationed at Chelsea Barracks, which was within walking distance of the station. The barracks have now been demolished.

"The photos that have the greatest memories for me are the shots providing information for the boat trains to Ostend and Calais, a journey I had made several times as a child to visit my family.

"It's also interesting to see changes in the station, from the wooden ticket office/counter to the WH Smith shop.

"Seeing the slam-door trains is also a reminder of how dangerous things were.

"They could be opened by passengers while the train was still coming to a halt - and caused many accidents in their day.

"I also love seeing the clothes people are wearing - and the hairstyles.

"I purchased my first camera in 1971 and I was keen to photograph the places and people that meant something to me. Victoria station provided a lot of interesting opportunities.

"Back in 1973, it was easy to photograph people going about their daily business and nobody seemed to object - it is far more difficult to do the same today.

"Going out for the day with a camera can be good fun, but going out with a project or theme in mind can be far more productive and generally will lead to better images.

"At the time of taking these photographs, I had not thought of them as being of interest for future viewing. I just enjoyed taking them.

"It's not until you have a body of work and can look at the collection as a whole that you realise that you have captured a moment in time that can't be repeated.

"Changes in places happen over a period. It's only when you look back you can fully appreciate the changes that have taken place.

"I remember doing a lecture for the Post Office photographic society based in Silvertown, east London.

"I was fascinated by the dockers' houses and the surrounding buildings.

"I often wish I had gone back to record the changing face of that area, which is now dominated by the Canary Wharf complex.

"It may not seem dramatic today but in future years the difference will be marked.

"I now spend time photographing the changing face of my local area (Chislehurst in south-east London).

"The greengrocer, the butcher and baker shops are all gone and replaced by supermarkets.

"It is important for photographers to record their high streets and surroundings as well as other local places of interest - in years to come these will be of significant value to the local community.

"With ever-changing digital technology, storing photos on disk drives is fraught with problems as these drives will fail at some point, which could mean photographs could be lost or unreadable for future generations.

"The best long-term storage is to actually print photos using high-quality photo paper.

"As an amateur photographer, I started out in 1971 with a modest camera just capturing simple everyday life.

"This set of photographs inspired me to make a career move from a military band musician to professional photographer.

"I have been snapping now for 54 years and have no intention of stopping any day soon."

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