BOLTON’S industrial heritage and how it impacts on modern lives is explored in a new exhibition opening today.

Bolton Arts Forum and Blackrod Art Group are presenting The Mills Mines Machinery Art Exhibition in conjunction with The Gallery at St George’s House.

Artwork by the Blackrod Art Group depicts the legacy of industrial Bolton, when the town was at the heart of technological, social and cultural innovation during the industrial revolution.

The Mills Mines Machinery project, which is run by the Bolton Arts Forum and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), is intended to raise awareness of the legacy of the industrial revolution and provide an insight into how life changed radically for ordinary people.

In preparation for the exhibition, artists researched archive collections and visited the Bolton Steam Museum and other local industrial heritage locations.

Several members of the group who had mill workers among their ancestors also brought along pieces of memorabilia, including a 100-page book produced by the Amalgamated Cotton Mills Trust in 1920, which project leaders said became invaluable sources of reference material and inspiration.

The group then produced preliminary sketches and worked up a series of selected ideas into 50 final paintings for the exhibition.

Elizabeth Tatman, from the Bolton Arts Forum, said: “A great deal of what we take for granted today comes from the industrial revolution and Bolton played a central role in the industrial history of the north west at the time.

“Members of The Blackrod Art Group have developed a series of highly evocative and original pieces that provide a fascinating interpretation of Bolton’s industrial heritage”.

Jennifer Rhodes, treasurer and founder member of Blackrod Art Group, who devised and created the exhibition, added: “Our members have enjoyed the challenge posed by this exhibition.

“Producing work on a single theme is unusual for our members, whose paintings usually cover a wide range of subject matter.”

Emma Kelly, the head curator at Python Arts, said: “The exhibition demonstrates the fantastic and diverse creativity that is in Bolton and we hope will inspire visitors by the work they see.”

The Mills Mines Machinery Art Exhibition is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, until Tuesday, March 31, at The Gallery at St George’s House, St George’s Road. Admission is free.