This week, Pixels & Grains will take you on a visual journey back in time along the Singapore River, with some new photos sent in by three Yesterday.sg readers- Belinda Tan, Pakcik Salleh and David Papworth.

“Boats and houses on the river front. The river was a very busy place back in the sixties.”

(Photo and captions from David Papworth)

Read on for more photos from personal collections which lend a more intimate take of how the Singapore River has changed through the years – the activities along the river which had taken place decades ago and how these have changed now.

These are some pictures from David Papworth, who owns a collection of his father’s old photos shot during his service with the RAF at Tengah, dated from June 1967 to December 1969. He has scanned several hundreds of these photos such that they can be accessed by others, so feel free to check out the rest of his pictures on Picasa here.

“A chaotic river scene, if you look carefully you can just make out some water”

From the two pictures we see coolies on ships, bamboo poles hanging outside the shophouses – really busy and crowded.

“Fishing village on stilts”

“Bum boats pass under Cavannah Bridge”

And here are some pictures dating back from 1985, sent in by Pakcik Salleh, a Flickr user (whose Flickr sets you can check out here) also happens to be the uncle of Taufiq Jaafar, who had shared with us The Story of Lorong Mydin, featured in previous episodes of Pixels & Grains.

(Photos and captions by Pakcik Salleh)

“Skyline 1986″

“Building Conservation, 2011 – By the Singapore River. The stretch of pre-war buildings is called Boat Quay. Almost all were turned into restaurants and pubs. The boats are for tourists to cruise along the river and the waterfront. Recently the river had been certified a fresh water reservoir.”

These photos were sent to us by I Love Museums‘ Facebook fan Belinda Tan, a chatty, outgoing lady shutterbug who goes around exploring Singapore taking many lovely pictures.

Cheerfully painted shophouses preserved as a part of national heritage, which are now mostly popular nightspots among locals and tourists alike.

A panoramic view of the Singapore River skyline, taken in November 2010. Click here for a high-res version of this picture!

Night time view of the river decorated with lights, the boats are mainly tourist attractions.

Watch out for next week’s Pixels & Grains for more of these photos!

Also, if you wish to contribute to this series, do email us at yesterdaysg@gmail.com.