THE world of Bolton School has been captured in the pages of a new book celebrating a centenary of the long-running institution.

The Best of Both Worlds, a Portrait of Bolton School paints a picture of 100 years of history built within the institute and those who have worked and been educated within its walls.

From the foundations to world wars, royal visits, great halls and blackboards to iPads, the world of Bolton School's Boys and Girls' divisions are charted through the 160-plus pages of the glossy-paged hardback.

Released on the 100th anniversary since the endowment of the Bolton School Foundation by Lord Leverhulme on its present site and the eve of next year's 500 years of Bolton School celebrations, the book is the culmination of more than a year of work by staff and publishers Third Millennium Publishing.

Deborah Coleman, writer and editor, interviewed 70 people, including former pupils, staff, parents and all the living headmasters and mistresses as well as researching those who are no longer around to tell their story, to reflect the two worlds of the school.

She said: "It is a a remarkable school. The founder wanted a school that was open to everybody regardless of class or gender.

"I was struck by this very early on when I took a taxi back from a meeting at the school and the taxi driver said quite spontaneously how proud the community was of the school.

"I think the way the ethos has been maintained through all the changes in the education system is amazing. The school has a strong sense of values and strong sense of loyalty. They call Bolton School a family and it is.

"There were some difficult choices to be made when deciding what went in and what missed out on going in the book.

"It is a mixture of history, if you like, portraits of the individual people closely associated with the school and their life stories."

A sense of pride in maintaining the ethos of educating boys and girls, no matter their background, on a single site shines through with the tales from former pupils and staff.

Among them are Joan Bellis, nee Healey, who attended from 1940 to 1948 on a scholarship and was appointed Head Girl in her final year "much to the dismay of one parent, who thought a manual worker's daughter should not be representing Bolton School!"

Former head teachers recall their best memories, including Alan Wright, the last headmaster to occupy Lever House, who welcomed the Princess of Wales to the school in 1993 and recalls that despite the carefully planned timetable disintegrating, the "triumph" of the visit as they made national headlines with a man abseiling down the clock tower to present Diana with a box of Milk Tray.

Former pupil and mum of three former Girls' School students, Laura Henthorn, chairman of Old Girls' Association, is also featured in the book.

She said: "It's quite a proud moment really but daunting to think I'll be there for the annals of time.

"I think this school is very special. It's a wonderful community and supportive community. We joke that you are only 10 minutes away from a Bolton boy or girl at any one time, you can travel all over the world and find someone who went there.

"From the school sergeant to the dinner ladies, all of them form part of the foundation of the school and go towards what you see in this book."

Among the tales are a vast variety of photographs both black and white snaps of women in long dresses and men in smart suits, to more modern day activities of visits abroad, theatrical productions and the Schools Christmas Angel.

The old documents and pictures have been forged out from the school's archive with the help and support of Archivist and Governor Eric Fairweather.

He said: "We have the magazines from through the years, the school registers, and photographs, thousands of them.

"It's a wonder who many photographs are hidden away in boxes never to be seen and now there are those which have been brought into view by being in the book which is a superb publication.

"It's a perfect match between the boys and girls schools and they come together well."

Director of publishing at Third Millennium Publishing Neil Titman, said he wanted the book to reflect and communicate the ethos and strength of character of Bolton School, while chairman of governors Michael Griffiths described it as a "marvellous" publication.

"I always thought I knew quite a lot about Bolton School, but I was fascinated by the stories and photographs and people I didn't know anything about," he added.

The Best of Both Worlds was co-ordinated with the help of the school's development manager, Laura Firth, who was among the many attendees at its launch in Bolton School's Riley Centre.

She said: "The purpose of the book was to look back on the last 100 years of history, to celebrate that and make a portrait of the school it is today where the same ethos underpins the school after 100 years of existence.

"It's such a lovely book, I cried when I read it the first time, it's exactly what I hoped it would be."