A NEWTOWN civic group has launched a book exploring the history of Newtown’s town centre streets and buildings.

The Newtown and District Civic Society has just published its latest book ‘Explore Newtown The Historic Town Centre’, fully illustrated in colour, which it says is the first of a planned series of publications which will look at the streets and buildings of Newtown.

Organisers say the purpose of the project is to record present-day Newtown and also to analyse how it came to be that way, and to identify what makes it special. The study is for anyone interested in the town, and it is hoped it will also inform the way change and development is managed.

“The town council and Powys County Council are fully supportive of the project, and it’s hoped that the ‘Explore Newtown’ studies will become key documents in the formation of future planning policy,” said a spokesperson.

“For the past five years teams of volunteers have been exploring areas of the town, taking notes and photographs to compile a record of the appearance and character of Newtown. We hope that in time the whole of the town will be described and illustrated in similar volumes.”

The book is on sale for £7.50 from Fuze, Newtopia, The Simmering Cauldron and members of the civic society committee.