TOURISM in Horwich has been given a boost with the opening of a heritage centre.

It is the inspiration of Horwich Heritage, a group of local history enthusiasts whose hard work was finally rewarded yesterday when the centre was officially opened by the town mayor, Cllr John Bragg.

Housed in Horwich Resource Centre in Beaumont Road, the project has been set up with the help of the town council, who offered the group two rooms in the building, and Bolton Council's leisure services department, who gave grants worth £3,850.

The centre - with displays on the railway industry, textiles, mining, transport, social life and Lord Leverhulme - will open to the public on Saturday.

Bolton libraries service has loaned artefacts and Bolton College has helped with a video which will form part of the exhibition.

It is hoped that the centre will be a big draw for local people, schoolchildren and visitors to the town.

The mayor, in unveiling a commemorative plaque, paid tribute to the efforts of Horwich Heritage. "The memorabilia we are looking at is fantastic" said Cllr Bragg. "No fairy godmother came last night and waved her magic wand.

"A lot of dedication and hard work has gone into producing this centre for the people of Horwich".

Stuart Whittle, Horwich Heritage chairman, said it was a big leap forward for the group, which was formed more than 10 years ago.

The centre will open each Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

"Until recently we did not have the opportunity to display things in this way. We did not see an easy way to get over this hurdle until the white knights appeared in the form of Horwich town council with the resource centre offer," said Mr Whittle.

"The other white knights were Bolton Council with the tourism grant support. With that combination and other valuable assistance from the libraries and museum services we managed to create what we have today.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. We would like to see it grow and grow". Mr Whittle said he believed the centre would be overrun on Saturday because there had been so much interest shown already.

"We hope to play a small part in putting Horwich on the map."

Cllr Mrs Betty McCracken , a member of Bolton Council's tourism working party, said she was pleased that the council had been able to support the venture with a grant and was confident it would be a great success.

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