Viking Mersey: Scandinavian Wirral, West Lancashire and Chester by Stephen E. Harding.
Paperback 253 pages (December 2002) Countyvise Ltd; ISBN: 1901231348

Synopsis
1100 years ago marked the start of a Viking invasion of the Mersey region, which reached out into Chester, West Lancashire and beyond. The Vikings left behind place-names like Kirkby, Kirby, Meols and Croxteth, which can also be found in Iceland, another region they were invading. This book is about these people in peace and war, their customs, traditions, pastimes, their paganism and their Christianity, their governments and their financial centre at Chester. It also includes a section on how modern genetic research is being used to discover the descendants of these Invaders in the modern day population.

Synopsis
Published to mark the beginning of the new millennium, this text relates the story of the village of Hutton over the last 1000 years. What sort of lives did the people of Hutton lead, what did the parish look like in the past and what have been the influences for change over the centuries? This book provides the answers to many such questions, dealing with subjects as varied as the ancient landscape, the fisheries, old buildings, life in medieval Hutton, the grammar school, road and transport, the River Ribble and the police headquarters. Its detail gives a vivid picture of a Lancashire village community.

The History of Freckleton by Peter Shakeshaft
Hardcover - 280 pages (November 2001) Carnegie Publishing; ISBN: 185936084X

Synopsis
History is everywhere in Freckleton - it can be seen in the very physical and social fabric of this village near Preston, Lancashire. The shape of the fields, the street plan, the houses and buildings are all evidence in one way or another of hundreds of years of human endeavour, character and tragedy. The village is known for many things: its grazing marshes, its boat-yard and the bleak beauty of the Naze; but above all for its very strong sense of community, witnessed by the range and number of church and social organizations flourishing in the area. Peter Shakeshaft has delved into a range of archives, as well as talking to dozens of local residents, to uncover the village's rich and varied history. There have been settlements in the area since as far back as the Bronze Age, while the name itself is Anglo-Saxon in origin. In the medieval period the de Freckleton family was prominent, while the Black Death claimed over one-third of the population in 18 months. The Tudor and Stuart periods saw a number of families rise to prominence, and Freckleton even witnessed a minor Civil War battle. This predominantly agricultural village moved into manufacturing in the 18th and 19th centuries with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, and then suffered when King Cotton declined. Arguably its darkest hour came during World War II with the tragic events of 1944. The author weaves these local and regional elements into their wider context, and he brings to life names which will be familiar to everyone in the area: Harrison, Hall, Rigby, Brown, Garlick, Rawstrone, Cowburn, Hankinson, Sharples, Iddon and Mayor, to name a few.

Ormskirk: The Making of a Modern Town by Mona Duggan
Paperback - 256 pages (September 1998) Sutton Publishing; ISBN: 0750918683

Synopsis
Early modern Ormskirk was the archetypal provincial market town. This book offers an in-depth history of Ormskirk. It examines the progress of education, the townsfolk's changing attitudes to theatre, art and sports amongst many other issues pertinent to the development of a settlement. This title is intended for anyone interested in the history of Ormskirk and for any student of early modern social, religious or economic history.

Ormskirk and District in Old Photographs by Mona Duggan
Paperback (9 September, 1999) Sutton Publishing; ISBN: 0750919353

Synopsis
This addition to the "Britain in Old Photographs" series brings together a collection of black-and-white pictures spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawn from family albums, local collections and professional photographers, they show the way things were and how they have changed. Every photograph is captioned, providing names and dates where possible, revealing historical and anecdotal detail and giving life to the scenes and personalities captured through the camera lens. Bringing together all aspects of daily life - celebrations and disasters, work and leisure, people and buildings - the collection should inspire memories, as well as serve as an introduction to visitors.

Thora Hird's Book of Bygones by Thora Hird
Paperback - 192 pages (6 July, 1998) Fount; ISBN: 0006280684

Synopsis
Thora looks back at domestic life, the theatre, going to church, growing up before the war, working in shops, and, never forgetting her true Morecambe roots, the hustle and bustle of the Northern seaside town. In her chatty and anecdotal style, she reminds us of all those words, objects and expressions that have gone out of modern usage and illustrates them with stories from her own early years.

Synopsis
This is an analysis of the development of the Lancashire economy since the 16th century. In particular it charts the move from an agrarian to a manufacturing base, arguing that industrial activity, especially in the textile trades, had become strongly represented in the economy well before the classic Industrial Revolution era. Analysis is undertaken of such key issues as the change from domestic to factory production and of the growing concentration of manufacturing activity in urban areas. The study goes right up to the present day, enabling use to be made of recent information and statistics from local government and regional planning bodies.

Lancashire Life (with the Whitehead Family) by David E. Wray
Paperback - 286 pages (December 1999) Minerva Press; ISBN: 0754105458

Synopsis
Life in the cotton mills of the 1900s required keen skills and hard labour with many families passing the expertise through their generations. This memoir of the Whitehead family is set in the early decades of the 20th century and follows the changes that Moorland Mill undergoes.