A NEW exhibition which celebrates the history of the West Pennine Moors will open at Horwich Heritage Centre on Saturday.

On Your Doorstep: The West Pennine Moor will offer a fascinating insight into the history of this large and often bleak area covering some 90 square miles and stretching from Bolton in the south to Blackburn in the north and from Chorley in the west to Darwen in the east.

Today it is a major recreation resource but in times gone by it has been many things to many people.

Stuart Whittle, chairman of Horwich Heritage, which is staging the exhibitions said: “The aim of this exhibition is to explore the main themes of its history from pre-historic times, through the period when it was a hive of industry and habitation to recent military history and modern leisure pursuits.

“There are some well known Neolithic sites such as Noon Hill and the Pike Stones but last year’s moorland fires exposed a number of hitherto undiscovered sites and artefacts which will be discussed by our visiting experts.”

Among the guests will be Ian Trumble, senior archeologist from Bolton Museum. On Saturday, experts will be on hand to identify items which you may have found on the moors.

“It is difficult to imagine today people living and working on those bleak moors but no so long ago there were lots of ‘hardy souls’ making a living in the many mines and farms that were dotted across the landscape,” said Stuart. “There is still plenty of evidence of these activities if you know where to look and again we will have experts from the Smithills Woodland Trust and West Pennine Moors Rangers on hand to tell you what is out there.”

During the Second World War, Rivington and the surrounding moorland was a ‘militarised zone’ where public access was prohibited but today millions of visitors enjoy the delights of the Rivington Reservoirs, Lever Park, Lord Leverhulme’s Terraced Gardens, Rivington Pike and the wilder moors beyond.

The exhibition runs until September 5.