RARE pictures and documents charting the “rich and fascinating” history of

Kearsley

have been unearthed and feature in a new book.

Simon Colley, an engineer by trade, has compiled “Kearsley — An Illustrated Story” in memory of his father, Kenneth, who was passionate about local history.

Rare material not seen for many many years featured in the book includes a document dating back to the 1200s with the name Kearsley mentioned, Latin writings dating back to 1500, and illustrations of the aftermath of Kearsley’s worst mining disaster, the Unity Brook Colliery tragedy.

Simon, who lives in Kearsley, started writing the book after his father died in 2005.

As he went through his papers, he covered a suit case with maps and information on the history of Kearsley.

“He always wanted to write a book on local history, “said Simon, “I thought I would write it in his memory and for him.”

“I thought it would take a couple of years but it just became bigger and bigger and it took 12 years.”

Research for the book was carried out not only in the local archives in Farnworth and Bolton, but also at the British Library, where he managed to uncover illustrations drawn by an artist to document the Unity Brook Colliery disaster on March 12, 1878.

“I knew an artist had been sent there,” said Simon, who managed to find it at the British Library.

He counts finding this document as one his greatest achievements.

“I didn’t want to use the internet for the book, I wanted to avoid that and the book contains many unique documents which have not seen before.”

“Kearsley — An Illustrated Story” contains around 500 pictures and 570 pages, showing how it has grown from a from a sparsely populated area comprising of no more than a few dozen farms and cottages to a busy and industrious town where people moved to because of work.

Workhouses, land ownership, the industrial revolution and coal mining are all covered, with a large section on the Unity Brook, which also features excerpts from the inquests into the death of the men and boys.

There is also a wealth of information on the schools, churches, public houses, roads, bridges, tram-systems, railways, canals, farms and the former Kearsley Power Station. The neighbouring towns of Farnworth and Clifton are also featured, as is the district once referred to as Halshaw Moor, which took in parts of both Kearsley and Farnworth.

Numerous rare and unique pictures, maps and documents accompany all of the chapters and areas.

Simon says the book is designed to appeal to wide audience.

“The book is brought right up to date,” he said, adding that the book could appeal to schools wanting to know about their history, local people and those who are fascinated with rare and before now unseen documents.

The book has been published by Paragon Publishing.

It is available on Amazon.