BELIEVE it or not, Smithills & Heaton Conservative Club is celebrating its centenary this month.

While we don't expect any of you to remember the day it began, we couldn't pass up a chance to have a peek into the club's original minutes book -- kindly loaned to us by club president, Herbert Lee.

And how times have changed!

The first meeting was held at the Doffcocker Inn on Thursday, October 12, 1899 with the aim of forming a Conservative Association for Smithills and Heaton.

Further meetings were then held at St Peter's Jubilee School where it was proposed and passed that the committee purchase the building known as "New Barn", Chorley Old Road in October 1900.

Annual subscriptions on this date were one shilling per member (5p)! And for any of us complaining about our pay cheque, how about this: a club caretaker was appointed at eight shillings (40p) per week!

To show their gratitude, the committee sent a vote of thanks to Colonel Ainsworth, Messers Cunliffe, Chadwick, Hall and Bradley for the loan of pony and traps to transport voters to the polling booths on voting day.