IT was over 100 years ago that local shopkeeper, photographer and historian Pel Ardern produced his “Illustrated Guide to Lymm” for sale at his shop on Eagle Brow.
“It must have been a huge success” said Heritage Centre chair Alan Williams, “as copies still turn up regularly on Ebay and Amazon, not to mention the many copies tucked away in drawers around Lymm”.
Now Alan and the Heritage Centre team are hoping to emulate Ardern’s success with a new book, which goes on sale from November 22 in time for Christmas.
Lymm- A Journey through Time has been produced in conjunction with a new timeline display by artist Tristam Rossin that will go on show at the Centre from November 22. The book will be available from around the same date. There’s even a 1,000 jigsaw of the timeline (already on sale) for all the family to gather round over Christmas.
“I certainly wouldn’t claim our new book to be a complete history of Lymm,” said Alan. “That’s a huge task for someone one of these days. What we have done is take 22 topics including some of the trades, transport and traditions of the village and told their story and how together they have shaped the village into what it is today. We think it’s a great introduction to Lymm for those who didn’t grow up here while also containing some new information and photographs not previously seen in print”.
All proceeds from the book, which contains over 100 photographs and illustrations, will go towards the running of the Heritage Centre and the development of another exciting new initiative, the Lymm Digital Archive.
LyDia as it is already being called, is planned to go live before Christmas at thelymmarchive.co.uk – Thanks to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the players of the National Lottery.
