The stories the people who lived on the Smithills Estate have been told - some for the first timed.
A special event was staged by the Smithills Estate Research Group to launch Lives and Times of Smithills Estate.
It was held in the Great Hall at Smithills Hall and was a great success, according to organisers.
The event included readings from the book as well as musical interludes from the authors.
Containing 19 chapters, it delves into the lives of ordinary people who lived on the estate from the Ice Age to the 1920s, and is the first time such stories have been immortalised in print.
Stories include the Freeman sisters of Dean Gate Cottage, and the killing of George Henderson in 1838.
Historian Helena Senderson said: “There’s tales of homes and businesses once thriving, of emigration to the New World, and of the highs and lows faced by generations of families trying to make a living.
“The 268-page book is full colour with over 300 images.
“These range from diagrams and etchings to paintings, and photographs taken by local amateur and professional photographers.
“In addition to the stories, there is a gazetteer of buildings that would have been found on the estate in the nineteenth century, and details of records from the sixteenth century onwards listing tenants and owners.”
“The book is fully indexed and referenced, ideal as a Christmas gift for anyone interested in the history of Winter Hill, Two Lads, and the businesses and farms that once peppered the area.”
The book costs £25 and is currently available from Horwich Heritage Centre on Beaumont Road in Horwich.
The centre is open Monday to Friday from 2pm to 4pm and Saturday from 10am to 12.30pm.
Helena added: “This is part of a wider historical project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, focusing on the history and social history of this Bolton estate.
“Over several centuries it has operated as an industrial site, leisure venue and farming area.”
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Between 2019 and 2021, Helena managed the Woodland Trust’s Smithills Estate Oral History Project.
The book is also available direct from the publishers. Please contact them for more information at smithillsresearch@gmail.com.
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