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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

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

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."

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.