A 10-YEAR labour of love has led to a Bolton woman producing a fascinating history of the area in which she grew up.

Kathleen Thornton was inspired to wrote her own personal history of Johnson Fold by her mum Myra who had carefully documented the names of families who had lived in the area.

“When she died she left all these lists of names and addresses,” said Kathleen. “It was like she’d left a mini encyclopaedia and I just wanted to carry that on and tell the story of the area in a bit more detail.”

Kathleen moved to Johnson Fold when she was five in 1952.

“We went from a terraced house with an outside toilet to a four-bedroomed house with a bathroom,” she said. “We thought it was wonderful.”

Kathleen particularly remembers the community spirit that existed when she was growing up in the area.

“I can clearly remember the street party we had for the Coronation in 1953. We lived on Bowland Drive which was a cul-de-sac and that was out world.

“Whenever anyone had a baby, there would be presents from the neighbours,; all us children would play out together or go swimming.”

With a history dating back 400 years, Johnson Fold was originally land given to members of the Johnson family by the Earl of Derby. At the centre of the area was Johnson Fold Farm but by the 1930s, farming had ceased and the land had been bought by Bolton Corporation and between 1933 and 34 more than 650 homes were built on the land.

By 1950, Bolton Council started to add more housing, building what was known as the Montserrat estate which was where Kathleen would live.

“We were the first family to move into number two and there were nine of us with children aged from three to 18,” said Kathleen.

In her history Kathleen has listed the families on Bowland Drive she remembers as a child as well as recounting anecdotes about the time.

“It has been hard work but I have really enjoyed researching everything,” she said.

Copies of Kathleen’s History of Johnson Fold are available, priced £5, from kathleenthornton18@yahoo.co.uk