Picture special - looking back at Rushden Lakes from its Skew Bridge days to today's retail and leisure complex after a long-fought planning battle

Rushden Lakes opened to the public in July 2017 and since then has seen more than 26 million people visit the retail and leisure complex.

The site, just off the A45 which used to be gravel pits and was home to the Skew Bridge Country Club and dry ski slope, attracts visitors from Rushden and all across the county, as well as those who travel from further afield including Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.

The development has created more than 2,000 jobs in retail and leisure and undoubtedly boosted the local economy too.

But while the shops and restaurants have been open for five years, the site’s history goes back much further than that.

We’ve gone into our archives to take a look at the development from its very early days as Skew Bridge before plans started emerging to transform it into a shopping mecca, through the subsequent construction stage and then bringing it up-to-date with how the retail and leisure attraction is now.

Scroll down to take a look at a selection of photos which show how Rushden Lakes used to look and the transformation which has taken place over the years.