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Ever since the plans for the redevelopment of the Loco Works site have been announced, Horwich Heritage has been fighting to save some of the historic buildings. Despite being a 'Conservation Area', most of the workshops have been demolished but we were promised that 4 would remain in the 'historic core.' Now even they are under threat.

The most iconic of them all, the Erecting Shop, is now scheduled for demolition as a result of a proposals presented by the developers who say that the proposed £12m link road will affect the building and that it has no viable use anyway and will be too costly to restore. In my professional opinion (as a former Planning Consultant) both of these reasons for demolition are 'contrived' and carefully designed to persuade Bolton Planners & Historic England that there is no alternative to demolition. In reality, this is not the case.

The road line can easily be moved a few metres to miss the building (as I have demonstrated) and the viability of the building should not be judged now, when there is no one living there, but in a few years time when it could become the 'community hub' for c. 5000 who will require a new Primary School, commercial, health, welfare and community facilities. Matters have now come to a head and the planning application goes before Bolton Council this week on Thursday (22nd August 2019). All I can do now is make a 'last ditch' plea to the Planning Committee to get the developers to amend their plans and spare this 'cathedral of railway engineering'. To demolish it now would be a crime and something that people will come increasingly to regret in years to come. It is our heritage that is being destroyed and, sadly, it is out of our hands!

Stuart Whittle (Chairman)

On Saturday 20th July, Horwich Heritage opened its latest exhibition entitled: 'On Your Doorstep: The West Pennine Moors' which offers a fascinating insight into the history of this large and often bleak and desolate area covering some 90 square miles and stretching from Bolton in the south to Blackburn in the north and from Chorley in the west to Darwen in the east.

Today it is a major recreation resource for the people of this region and beyond but in times gone by it has been many things to many people. The aim of this exhibition is to explore the main themes of its history from pre-historic times, through the period when it was a hive of industry and habitation to recent military history and modern leisure pursuits.

There are some well known Neolithic sites such as Noon Hill and the Pike Stones but last year's moorland fires exposed a number of hitherto undiscovered sites and artefacts which will be discussed by our visiting experts including Ian Trumble, Senior Archeologist from Bolton Museum. Maybe you have discovered something on the moors that you would like identifying - if so please bring it along.

It is difficult to imagine today people living and working on those bleak moors but no so long ago there were lots of 'hardy souls'making a living in the many mines and farms that were dotted across the landscape. There is still plenty of evidence of these activities if you know where to look and again we will have experts from the Smithills Woodland Trust and West Pennine Moors Rangers on hand to tell you what is out there.

During living memory, in WWII, Rivington and the surrounding moorland was a 'militarised zone' where public access was prohibited. Army units were stationed there and training activities including the use of live ammunition took place. For many years after the war, munitions that were left behind (some live) were continually being been discovered and removed and even today you may come across something 'unusual'. Again, if you have collected anything that needs to be identified please bring it along.

Today, millions of visitors enjoy the delights of the Rivington Reservoirs, Rivington Barns (Saxon origin), Lever Park , Lord Leverhulme's Terraced Gardens, Rivington Pike, Anglezarke and the wilder moors beyond - and they are right on our doorstep! How fortunate we are - and each one of these areas has its own story to tell. If you come along to our exhibition (which will run until 5th September) you will be able to find out so much more about them.