READER David Leeming joined Turton Local History Society almost 20 years ago and believes it was a move that was well worth making.

Here he talks about what the society has given him, and perhaps his experiences will encourage other Looking Back enthusiasts to give it a go.

“Being retired from a career in road transport engineering with its many ramifications, and looking for a new interest I went along to a lecture evening at the Turton Local History Society with my wife to the Barlow Institute, Edgworth.

“This was nearly two decades ago. We paid our entrance fee, sat down, and as we waited for the talk to begin, the chairman, the late Jim Francis, recognised me from our earlier connections associated with diesel engineering.

“Without further ado, Jim welcomed us to the meeting and asked if I would like to make a contribution to the society.

“Caught on the hop with little time to think, I replied that most of my life had been spent in engineering and technology, but, I’d also, for many years, had an interest in churches and chapels.”

In fact David had, for several years, been involved with the new defunct committee for Churches Together in Bolton.

“So a quick decision was made regarding my contribution. It would be to research with a view towards writing a publication on the churches and chapels of Turton,” says David.

The society exists to promote an interest in history by discussion, research and record.

It is particularly concerned with the old Urban District of Turton as it was prior to local government re-organisation in 1974 with its ancient parish system and townships.

The society has its roots in a local history class started in 1972 at the Barlow Institute, Edgworth.

Monthly indoor meetings and guided summer walkabouts have since been arranged.

To date the society has published 36 books and its meetings are held at Longsight Church Hall, Harwood where most of the recent publications can be bought.

“As I recollected my thoughts about the huge rural area of Turton my mind started to boggle as ancient maps, church magazines and newspaper cuttings soon revealed that there were close on 40 such places of worship scattered around the district.

“Some of course had long gone, others had been converted to other uses, some were still used for their original purpose, and a few new ones had more recently been built.

“Oh, what a variety of different places. What a challenge it was going to be!

“Having been involved with Churches Together in Bolton I already knew about some of Turton’s churches so my first job was to make contact with people at these places of worship and I found everyone very helpful when I explained what my project was.

“Interviewing them, asking for access to old documents and photographs, and visiting sites was all done with willingness and enthusiasm.

“ It soon became clear that all the traditional religious denominations were represented: Anglican, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Congregational, Quakers, Baptist and Unitarian. The first foundations were laid in the late middle ages,” says David.

He acquired a stack of old documents, filing them, and roughing-out a draft and soon discovered that he had amassed far too much content for one publication which the society was to limit to 78 pages of A5 sheet.

“I had covered north and south Turton with the addition of Belmont, so cuts had to be made. To keep the book to a manageable size and avoid duplicating already published work, Harwood, Bradshaw and Belmont were excluded,” he adds.

It seemed as if the print had hardly dried on the Churches and Chapels publication when David was asked by the society to consider completing a project on Turton Workhouse.

Helen Heyes, a long-standing member of the society had been working on this project for about 10 years, but passed away as she was nearing completion of her research.

“ I gave the matter some thought, then, accepted the challenge of seeing the work through to publication.”

The Workhouse was situated on Goose Cote Hill, off Cox Green Road, initially built in the 18th century on land bequeathed by the Chetham family.

It started from the ruins of an old farm building and was periodically added-to over the next century.

Paupers from all over Lancashire and beyond were housed in the building up to 1860 when Bolton’s Fishpool Workhouse was opened by The Bolton Union.

During the last decade of the workhouse, children were housed and a school was established to provide education.

After closure some of the premises were restored as a public house while other parts became cottages with a quarry alongside. During my research I managed to find a few people who lived or visited relatives in the cottages at the end of the World War Two and remembered the quarry as a working unit.

“Each time there was a blast-off, the buildings used to shudder. Nothing remains of the buildings today as the whole site became a hugh quarry which is now a vast weedy hollow,” said David.

n Next week David explains how schools developed in Eagley.