Nine of the best Newport photos from 1974 show famous visitor, crash repair and building demolition

From a visit from Margaret Thatcher to a car crash on the canal bridge, there was a lot going on in Newport in 1974 - and our photographers were there to catch the action.

We've had a dig through the archives to give you an insight into what the town looked like half a century ago.

Here are nine photographs that show you some of what was taking place in and around Newport in the year the country marked by the three-day week and two General Elections.

Margaret Thatcher visits Newport

Taken from the Shropshire Star on Thursday, February 21, 1974. Then then Secretary for Education, Mrs Thatcher visited the town as part of the 1974 general election campaign with the then Wrekin Conservative candidate, Dr Tony Trafford and Mrs Trafford.

Caption reads: "During her walkabout in Newport his afternoon Mrs Margaret Thatcher, Secretary of State for Education (second left), chats to Mrs Ivy Pickard of Church Aston."

The photo appears to be taken outside what is now Boots, Mainstreet Nightclub and St Nicholas Church can be seen in the background.

Chemical leak on Avenue Road

Taken from the Shropshire Star picture archive either on June 1, 1974 or July 1, 1974. The caption pasted on the back reads: "Newport Fire Brigade stood by today after a van dropped 25 gallons of inflammable chemical in Avenue Road.