More memories of the Lancashire village of Edgworth
from the 1920s to the 1960s
Arthur Fairhurst.

Neil Richardson 2001. M. 60pages. 83 illustrations inc. 1 map

Some three years ago Arthur Fairhurst wrote a book on Edgworth in the 19205 and 1930s and he has now spooned up a second helping. He has extended his coverage without duplicating any of his previous work and recorded more of his memories in the present book. A few of the episodes describe incidents which will be of interest solely to the author's family but the remaining content extends outwardly from this circle. Having said this the readers who will gain most from the book will be those who have connections in any way with Edgworth or the surrounding area. The text is peppered with the names of local people of the period and some thirty of the photographic reproductions depict groups of people, many of them named. This aspect is enhanced by the inclusion, at the end of the book, of extracts from a local directory dated 1932 and including Chapeltown, Edgworth and Entwistle together with a list of all the farms and their occupiers. We find sections on the Methodist Church, groups of houses and anecdotes from life in the textile mills. In a description of the local press we learn that the Bolton Evening News was wont to park a van containing a small printing press in a side street and print the football scores in the stop press section before distributing the papers to the newsagents. After a section on the military operations affecting the villages during the first world war the author writes about the cycling boom and travel facilities in the area generally, followed by a short history of the National Children's Homes set up in Edgworth and a chapter on the various sports clubs and organisations. (Walter Bee)