Who are the Chorley Heritage Centre Supporters Group? We are a non-profit making group of volunteers who have collectively undertaken to preserve and archive any material relating to Chorley. For this purpose, Chorley is defined as the current Borough boundaries as can be seen on the map below. Our Archiving efforts will initially be aimed at establishing website to enable the material currently i
n our care to be archived and available for local persons, general public, Schools and Student use. What are we up to at this time? A major part of our work, until we get a home of our own, is in setting up a support group with the appropriate organization and training to manage the work of archiving and preservation of the material we already have, working to the recognised industry standards laid down by the LCC Archiving Service and The West Yorkshire Archive Community Accreditation Scheme. At a later stage, we will be arranging collections in the community of materials which have a Chorley Origin, or Connection, these collections will be announced to enable local residents to contribute their photographs, emphura and personal oral reminiscences to the archive. Material we have and promised already will be archived onto the Website and will be displayed in exhibitions to generate interest in what we are doing and to achieve a degree of empathy and engagement by the people of Chorley toward the centre. We are very interested in our collection of heritage and more specifically in anything of local interest which we may be able to build up a picture of life in the Chorley Borough, initially we are working on the past c.200 years, (1800 to 2010) and in the future we will be looking back to the Saxons and beyond. Though that's not to say we are not interested in any material from that period which may come our way. How can you help? Many of us have boxes of old photo's, postcards, diaries or items of local interest to do with all aspects of life in the town, these are often tucked away in the loft, and may be lost forever when you are no longer around; you may archive them with us and BEAT THE SKIP; and if you want any particular item(s) back, that can be easily arranged after it is archived. If you have old photographs with people on them, do you know them or the story behind the photo? They will be a lot more useful to us and your future generations if you could name them. The information on the internet will be available to all and will be most useful especially to those who want to know what life was really like for the inhabitants of Chorley over the ages and very useful for tracing their family tree. How can you help now? Join us as a fellow volunteer, bring along any items you have of local interest, showing life in all its facets - ordinary people and activities with a connection to Chorley are as welcome as significant events especially if you have a tale or some involvement in the event. The more information we have about items the more valuable it is to the archive, stories and photos from different families and perspectives begin to create threads of an interesting story. Should you be worried about copyright? It is most important that the material you provide for the archive has a clear history of copyright and has not been copied from other publications, or taken by a Professional Photographer even if it was for you. If you are in doubt, or it is a very important part of your history, bring it along anyway and we will endeavour to get a release for the copyright and acknowledge the owner. In some circumstances we can accept printed material and postcards, if in doubt bring them along too and we will check them. What happens when we bring our history in? Firstly we will talk to you about your past and about the items you wish to loan, or give, to the Heritage Centre to make sure you are happy with signing it over to us to be archived. We will take down notes so we won't forget anything. Sometimes. with your permission, we will digitally record your reminiscences and include them in the archive as a sound only record, or sound and pictures. Where do I bring any Items for the archive? Currently we are working on obtaining a home of our own for everything. Until we get that and have a safe place to hold items, then we can only accept items which may otherwise be lost to the skip. Please use ‘Contact Us’at the bottom of the page if you have any worries, Our future plans will be published in the Chorley Guardian, and on this Website from time to time. With sincere thanks to everyone who has assisted us in this venture so far.
