A HERITAGE group based at Penketh High School has been helping to bring younger and older generations together and encouraging pupils to go home and chat to their grandparents about the past.

Penketh and Great Sankey Heritage Group began in 2005 and hopes to eventually get its own premises to also allow the general public to learn about the area’s history.

Peter Rutherford, group secretary, said: “Our home at the moment is the conference room of Penketh High School, which has given us invaluable support.

“We started off creating displays of pictures from Penketh in the past next to photographs of how it looks today so the kids could see the difference.

“We’ve shown them artefacts from Victorian times as well as doing talks about subjects like what it was like to live in Liverpool during the blitz.”

Peter and the group have proved popular with pupils, particularly when they bring in items like a cobbler’s last, which was used to help repair shoes.

Peter added: “The kids have been very interested and are amazed by some of the artefacts we’ve brought in. They can’t believe that we used a darning needle to mend socks and always have lots of questions.

“We tell them to go home and ask their grandparents more about it because they would probably love to talk about how things used to be before we lived in a throw-away society.”

Alongside their work in the community, the group has also produced a DVD called Penketh Past to Present which has sold out on three occasions.

Jeff Hughes, Penketh High School head teacher, said: “The Penketh Heritage Group is going from strength to strength.

“I think it is very important we look for ways that different age groups can come together to work on projects and learn to understand and appreciate each other. “Governments talk about community cohesion and this is a great example of how it can work successfully with school support.”

Anyone with memories, photos or artefacts from Penketh or Great Sankey are welcome to join the group.

For more information, call Peter on 722801.