Smithills Estate: Lives and Times of Smithills Estate book awarded

The Lives and Times of Smithills Estate has been researched, illustrated, written and published by the Smithills Estate Research Group (SERG).

All the members of SERG are part of The Woodland Trust History Volunteer group where the idea to write a book began.

And now six months since it was published, the book has been awarded the Alan Ball Award for best local history community publication 2022. 

The judges thought it was an outstanding publication, which stood out within a strong field.

As well as being awarded for the publication, members of the Smithills Estate Research Group have stated one of their "crowing achievements" was when King Charles visited Bolton on the 150th anniversary of Bolton Town Hall.

His Majesty was presented with a copy of the book.

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The novel contains 19 chapters and it delves into the lives of ordinary people who lived on the estate from the Ice Age to the 1920s.

It is the first time such stories have been immortalised in print.

Speaking about the background to the book being published and their achievements so far, a spokesperson for the Smithills Estate Research Group said: “During lockdown, the trust’s volunteer coordinator, Vicky Entwistle, was keen to keep volunteers involved in their programme of community engagement.

The Lives and Times of Smithills Estate (Image: Smithills Estate Research Group)

“So, a genealogy project was started and an article in The Bolton News was answered by over a dozen local people interested to help.

“It soon became clear we could do much more than list the families that lived on the Estate.

“Stories of these families started to come out about their lives on the farms and in their work in the mines and industries.

“Fascinating characters like Jack O’Nandies, Owd Reyolds, and Roger Horrocks were found.

“Tragic love stories, tough working lives, cruel accidents, miscarriages of justice, rumours of Saxon burials, all were being written.

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“So, we decided to publish these stories.

“The Woodland Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund helped to facilitate and fund the book making project, they also recruited Helena Sanderson, a professional Historian, to edit the book and help with historical context and academic rigor, along with a graphic designer.

“With additional help from a number of different people, organisations, charities, archives and libraries we were able to put together a wonderful book, published in December 2022.

“We were so pleased with this- it was nominated for the best Local History Publication awards, run by the Library Services Trust and CILIP, (Library and Information Services) Local Studies Group which we won.

“We are pleased to announce that our book, the Lives and Times of Smithills Estate has won the prestigious award, the Alan Ball Award for best local history community publication 2022. 

“The judges thought it was an outstanding publication, which stood out within a strong field.

“We continue as a group with further projects including further research into the families, archaeology, and industry of the estate.

“We have speaking engagements booked, are organising guided walks to the areas covered in the book and are helping with a short film on the History and Natural History of the estate. 

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“We are also working with the Woodland Trust Estate teams by using the historical maps and surveys to help plan the future of the water retention and Natural Flood Management on the estate.”

The book can be bought at the Horwich Heritage Centre, Smithills Hall and Bolton Museum and is now also available on Amazon, priced at £25.

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @chloewjourno.