I WOULD like in my capacity as Town Mayor of Horwich to congratulate Mr Stuart Whittle, Chairman of Horwich Heritage Society for being presented with his Paul Harris Fellow award by the Rotary Club of Horwich.

Stuart has worked tirelessly for around 30 years building up Horwich Heritage from small beginnings to a great centre which all of Horwich can certainly be proud of.

I was present when Stuart received his award which is one of the highest honours that Rotary International can make for work which benefits the community.

Horwich Town Council supports Horwich Heritage and as Town Mayor, I will also be attending as many events as possible.

I have always enjoyed my visits to the Heritage Centre and I am always amazed at the artefacts which have been collected.

The centre is very special and unique to Horwich, and as such on Saturday, August 2, at 11am, I will be hosting a visit by the Mayor of Bolton to the Heritage Centre to see the present exhibition.

This is a celebration of the 125th anniversary of Horwich’s first loco engine 1008 and also 50 years since the last steam loco left Horwich Works. The exhibition is called ‘Local Transport of Yesteryear’ and I would encourage everyone to come along as well.

So many thanks Stuart and all of the team at Horwich Heritage for all of your hard work — you are all a credit to the town and I look forward to working alongside you throughout my year of office.

Cllr Richard Silvester Town Mayor of Horwich