Centres aim to boost interest in county's history

Building work has begun on a new history centre which will co-host a county's archives.

The facility in Crewe, Cheshire, will sit in the western part of the site of the town's former library, next to Memorial Square, and is one of two new centres being built in the county.

The other is based in Hoole, near Chester, on the former Enterprise Centre on Lightfoot Street.

Work on the Crewe site began in the middle of January while the Hoole project started in November.

While construction is taking place at both sites, libraries across Cheshire will be providing access to local history books and maps as well as free online access to family history websites.

The deputy leader of Cheshire East Council, Michael Gorman said he was thrilled work was well under way.

"Cheshire has an extraordinarily varied heritage and these two new archive centres are going to be a brilliant way for us to continue to enjoy and celebrate that," he said.

"The history centre coming to Crewe will mean that people will spend longer and more quality time while they are here which can only be positive for the town as a whole."

Meanwhile work to build a car park and a new entrance for Crewe Magistrates' Court on the eastern half of the site is expected to be finished in March.

A council spokesperson said they would host an event this month to update residents on the plans for Crewe.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will take place at Crewe Market Hall from 11:00-13:00 GMT on 20 February.

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