BOLTON'S proud industrial heritage should be kept firmly within Bolton and not shipped out to Manchester, a leading local historian has claimed.

The chairman of Bolton and District Family History Society, Bill Sheppard, has hit out at the decision of councillors to send historic textile machinery to Manchester and Helmshore for at least five years.

As reported in the BEN, the council's arts committee has agreed to a plan which will send treasures, including Samuel Crompton's Mule, and the Spinning Jenny invented by James Hargreaves, out of town.

The machines have been hailed as the most important collection of early cotton textile equipment in the world.

Mr Sheppard said: "These items are an important part of Bolton's heritage and should stay in Bolton.

"With Hall i'th' Wood now being renovated surely Crompton's Mule should find a lasting home there and other items could be part of the planned new heritage centre at Smithills Hall."

He added: "Surely its Bolton's children and not Manchester's who should be able to see them and appreciate the part they played in Bolton's history."

Mr Sheppard has appealed to the next full meeting of Bolton Council to overturn the sub-committee's decision.

And another leading campaigner for Bolton's heritage has branded councillors "crackers" for allowing the machines to leave town.

Ernest Cross, aged 78, from Tonge Moor is already campaigning for the council to place a plaque at the former Silverwell Street sports centre to commemorate its original use as an army drill hall.

He said: "They've just sat in a room and made this decision without asking anyone. They probably thought no one would bother, but they're wrong. "All the mills have shut down so we should hold on to what we've got left. They're more than just machines, they stand for a different time when there was a real community spirit at work."

He added: "We have little enough left without letting it go down to Manchester. I'm sure if they put their mind to it they could find some building in Bolton where they could put them on show."

Head of museums Dr John Gray has assured councillors that the machines will go to Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry and Helmshore Textile Museum on a strict fixed term loan. The machines have not been on public view since the closure of Tonge Moor Textile Museum in 1993.

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