THE summer of 1957 heralded the start of building work on new houses, big blocks of flats, schools and shopping precincts in Thornhill.

But the area owes much to Henry Dumbleton who purchased the 222-acre Thornhill Park Estate in 1846 to build a farm and a 23-bedroom Italian style mansion.

It was pulled down in 1927 after the estate had been broken up into building lots.

Thirty years later, a new vision for the area had been formulated and building work was under way.

Pictured here is an image from the Daily Echo archives, which shows the estate’s skyline from 1967 – ten years on from when construction workers moved in.