Happy New Year to all our website followers
With lockdown still with us for some time yet, and walking one of the few pleasures we have left, why not try following our Horwich Town Centre Trail and test your knowledge on the buildings you pass along the way. View The Trail >
HERITAGE CENTRE UPDATE
Following the imposition of the latest Bolton 'lockdown' measures, we have reluctantly decide that we will have to close the Heritage Centre for the time being.
We will endeavour to re-open as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, for any enquiries please contact kathleen.arkrwright@ntlworld.com or ring 01204 847797.
Chairman's Message
A big thank you for supporting Horwich Heritage during this most difficult year. We have done our best to keep things going and, although we haven't been able to meet, we have been able to open the Heritage Centre for part of the year, produce a 'Horwich in 1945 exhibition' and an Autumn Magazine. Through Facebook, the web site and articles in the local press, we have also been able to maintain a strong profile in the town and are grateful to Horwich Town Council for once more giving us a generous grant towards the running of our Society.
Unlike some organisations, we are still in a relatively healthy financial position and that has been helped in no small measure by the response of you, the membership, to our appeal for you to pay your subscription for 2021 as soon as possible. Many thanks. If you still need to pay your subs, which remain at £10 per year then please contact Cynthia Pearcy on Cynthia.pearcy@yahoo.co.uk payment can be by cheque or bank transfer/standing order.
We may not be able to hold our meetings/exhibitions for a few months yet (until the vaccine programme has been extensively rolled out) but, rest assured, we will be ready to go as soon as we get the 'green light'.
In the meantime, we would appreciate your support in trying to stop the developers building houses instead of a public square and community facilities in the 'heritage core' of the former Loco Works (now known as Rivington Chase). This is a 'watershed' moment as the 'heritage core' lies at the very heart of the new development. To object please e-mail: planning.control@bolton.gov.uk quoting reference 09862/20. If you require further details just let me know.
I look forward to the time when we can all meet together again in 2021.
Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a better, brighter New Year Stuart Whittle (Chairman)
Looking Back
Visit our "Looking Back" section, and read articles about:
Find Out More >
HORWICH LOCO WORKS - 'VISION OR NIGHTMARE'
Right from the start of the redevelopment scheme for the former Horwich Loco Works (now known as Rivington Chase) some 10 years ago, we have been promised a 'heritage core' that would preserve and re-use some of the original Works buildings and contain a central public square and community hub which would provide much-needed health, welfare, educational and retail facilities for the new population of 5000 people.
This commitment is at the very heart of this development and is what will provide its identity and distinctiveness.
All this is now under threat with the submission of a planning application for 118 houses and apartments on the site of this square and community hub. The Horwich community has had
set backs already with the demolition of the iconic Erecting Shop, but this is a 'watershed' moment for the whole development as the loss of these facilities would lead to a soul-less housing
estate of some 1700 homes without any heart and with residents having to leave the area to obtain even the most basic services.
This cannot be allowed to happen and we will be urging Bolton Council to refuse this application and require a revised plan to be submitted which conforms to the original Master Plan commitments. I would urge Horwich residents who care about their heritage to e-mail their comments to Bolton Council at planning.control@bolton.gov.uk quoting application no. 09862/20.
Click on a photo above for a larger size
Winter Update
I hope you are all well and managing to survive the seemingly endless 'lockdowns'. Let's hope the new vaccine will enable us all to meet again early in the New Year.
In the meantime, those of you who are members will have received the Autumn Magazine, which I hope you have enjoyed. We continue to do work behind the scenes at the Heritage Centre ready for re-opening as soon as we can and if you are following us on facebook you will see that our Secretary, Derek Cartwright, has started a section called 'Flashback Friday' which contains some interesting items from the Horwich & Westhoughton Journal published in the 1960s/70s
as well as articles from previous HH magazines. Judging from the feedback, these are proving very popular. So much so, that we are opening a new section on the web site called 'Looking Back' which will reproduce some of these articles.
You will see that we have now published our speaker programme for 2021. This is of course provisional and as things stand is more likely to start in April than January - we will keep you posted.
The Exhibition Programme will follow once we have a little more certainty about how we can meet safely. I hope your families will be able to meet up for Christmas and the New Year.
Best Wishes, Stuart
Loco Wheels Back In Place at Old Station Park
It is good to be able to report that the Loco Wheels in Old Station Park, Horwich, which were vandalised in July this year, have now been repaired, re-painted and re-instated.
It is fitting that their restoration should take place at this time as it is almost exactly 40 years since the wheels were put in place as part of the creation of Old Station Park which was officially opened by the Mayor of Horwich Council, Cllr Stanley Dawson, on 27th September 1980.
Thanks are due to the Daryl Derricott and Kelvin Holgate from Bolton Council's Highways Section for their fine craftsmanship.
Derek Cartwright, Secretary of Horwich Heritage, commented that:
"In the 40 years that the wheels have been in place, they have served as a reminder to everyone in the area of Horwich's rich railway heritage. This includes not only the town's first Railway Station, which closed in 1965, but the famous Horwich Locomotive Works which closed down in 1983 after almost one hundred years of continues operation."
"The wheels symbolise the contribution Horwich made to railway engineering worldwide and we should be proud of this heritage and the way it shaped the town we know today. It is great to see them back and hopefully they will be there as a fitting reminder for the next 40 years."
75th VJ Day Commemorations
To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day, we have put together a small exhibition covering all the notable announcements and events that took place in Horwich in 1945. This is now available to view in the Heritage Centre.
I attach a short summary of what took place in Horwich and a photo of the VE Day & VJ Day panels from the exhibition - the latter reminding us of the horrors of 'forgotten war' in the Far East. Unfortunately we don't have any photos of celebrations in Horwich or Bolton but in the exhibition we do have some quite extensive coverage of local activities that took place during 1945 courtesy of the Horwich & Westhoughton Journal.
- 1945 was a momentous year for Horwich and the rest of the country. The War ended resulting in wild celebrations for VE Day (8th May) and VJ Day (15th August).
- As the town struggled to get back to 'normal' peacetime activities, the war still cast a long shadow with the joy of the release of Japanese Prisoners of war being mixed with revulsion at their treatment in POW camps.
- The various Civil Defence organisations began to step down, the blackout was lifted, women were released from work on munitions at the Loco Works and local mills like W T Taylor's (the biggest towel manufacturer in Britain at the time) began to recruit workers for the post-war surge in demand.
- Both temporary & permanent houses were to be built with priority given to returning sevicemen & their families. However, rationing was still in place with shortages of coal and long waiting lists for most domestic appliances.
- There was a big rush to get way to the Lancashire coast in July for the first post-war Bank Holiday.
- Despite the regard the nation had for Churchill's wartime efforts, there was a 'landslide' victory for Labour in the General Election.
- 'Thanksgiving Week' at the end of September raised £96,740 (£4.2 million today).
- The public of Horwich voted for a 'war memorial' in the form of a swimming baths and 'leisure centre' (it would take until the 1970s for these to be built!)
- Christmas & New Year were still 'muted' affairs with festive food & drink in short supply. Nevertheless, the town looked forward to a lasting peace and greater prosperity.
Welcome To Horwich Heritage Centre
WHY NOT JOIN US IN OUR 36th YEAR?
This year's programme is turning out to be another good one and the leaflet with the list of speakers & Open Days for 2021 is now available from the Heritage Centre. Please renew your membership now. If you are not a member why not join? Only £10 for 11 talks.
HORWICH HERITAGE CENTRE is open every weekday 2- 4pm & Saturdays 10 - 12.30pm. It has a shop, shows and sells films about Horwich and has a range of professional exhibitions and displays to delight all the family. Help is also available for family history and other research. ADMISSION IS FREE!
The monthly OPEN DAYS provide additional exhibitions on topics of local interest. Special EXHIBITIONS currently running include: Horwich Loco Works, A Victorian Kitchen, The Way We Were, World War II, Winter Hill Mines & the Turnpike Roads. School Parties and other groups welcome. Contact 847797.