HISTORY is a subject that many students consider to be slightly on the dull side.

But a new history club at Rivington and Blackrod High School is set to blow away that perception with exciting projects which involve students researching local murders, designing websites, setting history trails and learning ancient skills.

Teacher Rebecca Grantham is leading the new Localise club which for year eight students.

As it is the 20th anniversary of the closure of the Horwich Loco Works and the 200th anniversary of steam engines, students are primarily focusing on the history of the old locomotive company. They will use their research on the Works as a gateway to delve into various other aspects of the town's past.

Miss Grantham said: "We decided we wanted to do something to encourage history in the Bolton area and I really wanted to set up an active history club."

Armed with a £24,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Miss Grantham started the club with a trip to York, one of the few places where locomotives made in Horwich are kept. Students even experienced a ride on a working steam engine.

Miss Grantham said students are preparing to write a book, provisionally titled The Horrible History of Horwich, which will be a collection of tales about the town's most grisly accidents, crimes and disasters. She hopes the book will eventually be published.

She said: "They have started by looking at accidents that happened at the Loco Works, and this progressed to looking at other horrible things that happened in Horwich. They've been discovering about the murder on the moors and plane crashes. It's proved to be very popular."

The students are planning to celebrate the story of the Loco Works by taking part in the forthcoming Horwich carnival. They hope to have their own float in the parade, or travel in style on an old-fashioned bus.

An artist has been into school to help the young historians design and create railway themed costumes. They plan to dress up as trains by wearing cardboard cut-out of a locomotive.

Members of the community will be able to see what the students have uncovered about Horwich's history, as the club intends to launch an Internet website about their discoveries.

Miss Grantham said: "Students will write stuff for the website, and Horwich Heritage and other local groups will also contribute."

Additionally, the students will put on a display at both Bolton and Horwich library.

The students' exploration of the past will also take them on practical exercises, where they will physically get to grips with heritage work.

They will go to Moses Gate Park in Farnworth to do reclaimation work and look at how they can preserve the environment and history. A project is also planned with United Utilites where students will do reclamation work at Rivington's Roynton Estate.

There are even plans for pupils to try their hand at the ancient practice of dry stone walling.

Club members intend to create a history trail incorporating all the historical sites and buildings in the town.

Forging links with the local community is a key part of the project, and Horwich Heritage Group have played an integral role in igniting the students' interest in history. Members of the group have been into school with artefacts to show the students.

Pupils have also helped the Heritage group set up an exhibition celebrating the Loco Works. Some students learnt how to use video cameras so they could film the event.

Students have conducted interviews with Loco workers and widows to find out about their personal memories of the locomotive industry.

And studying the Loco Works has led to the children learning about the social lives of generations past. As the company was very much the hub of the community, a variety of social groups sprung up around it, including amateur dramatics, football and other sporting groups.

Many important people visited the Loco Works, for example in 1940 a royal visit took place. By placing such visits under the spotlight, pupils have learnt about some illustrious historical figures.

Twelve-year-old Chris Knowles took part in a history trail around school in which different historical photographs and information had been put up around classrooms and pupils had to gather information as quickly as possible.

He said: "We went to York the other week to visit the museum there and I have also been to the heritage centre to video what was going on. Before, I didn't know how to use a video camera so that was really good practice."

Fellow pupil Philip Toth, aged 13, said: "I didn't use to enjoy history in school. We were learning about the civil war. But I have found coming to the club much more interesting and I've liked finding out about the local area."