TWO photographs taken 70 years apart illustrate the changing face of Waltham Forest College.

An archive photograph of students on the college steps during the Second World War inspired staff to organise a modern-day version.

The black and white image, taken in 1940, shows trainee RAF engineers in smart uniforms. The cadets are all white, overwhelmingly male and in perfect military formation.

The new photograph of today's students standing in similar formation provides a clear illustration of how the college and wider community have evolved.

The array of hoodies, headscarves and colourful clothes being worn by ethnically diverse, modern day students contrasts sharply with their regimented, uniformed counterparts 70 years ago.

The rigid, upright postures of the RAF cadets have been replaced by the more relaxed postures of today’s students as they share a joke with their friends.

Dr Stuart Murray, the college psychologist, organised the project.

“We wanted to show how the college has changed over the years - it has meant lots of different things to lots of different people,” he said.

More than 200,000 military personnel were trained at the college during the Second World War.

Members of the armed forces were taught how to use the new radar technology and the college also had its own spy school.

After the war the college continued to provide engineering courses but also offered art courses and began to attract creative people, some of whom would become famous.

These included film directors Ken Russell and Peter Greenaway, while artist Peter Blake, best known for designing the Beatles iconic Sgt Pepper album sleeve, taught at the college in the 1970s.

Rock band Ian Drury and the Blockheads, the subject of new film Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, also played one of their first gigs at the college in 1973.

Dr Murray added: “The college has always been able to respond to the needs of the education of people who need it, it has always served the community.”

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