THIS fascinating collection of around 200 old photographs of Ramsbottom and the surrounding villages has been drawn from the extensive archives of the Ramsbottom Heritage Society. The book shows the town through a century of change. Although many of the streets and buildings of the town survive intact from one hundred years ago, much else has altered. The changing patterns of employment and local industry have brought about far reaching changes in the way that the inhabitants live and work. The book is arranged as a tour through the district and looks at schools, churches, mills and factories, the railway and road transport, as well as street scenes and people at work and play. The sequence of illustrations tells the history of the town over this period and includes reference to some of the personalities that have featured in the story, from the influential Grant family to Nuttall’s fi rst policeman and John Bassett, Ramsbottom’s last town crier. This book, which represents a team effort by members of the Heritage Society, many of whom have contributed their own pictures and recollections to this project, will appeal to all who know or have known this historic corner of Lancashire.