Halewood in photographs

Photographs by local schoolchildren, capturing the essence of Halewood; have been turned into a book thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, secured by Knowsley’s Library Service.

The project, a collaboration between local school children and the archive resource for Knowsley (ARK), came about after a local history workshop with local young people.

During the session, they discussed heritage and what it meant to them. The young people said they felt a strong sense of being connected with Halewood, and Merseyside generally, and that this was something which made them feel proud.

Many of the young people also said they were interested in photography – and so the idea to capture local history and heritage on film was born.

Children from the Halewood C of E’s Primary’s history club were then trained up and sent out and about in their hometown to take photographs of how it looks today – with the idea of creating a book to preserve images of Halewood 2016 for future generations.

As well as learning digital photography techniques, the children were given access to historical records and helped to make use of them. The children were also inspired to do art and creative writing based on the project too.

Dave Smith, headteacher of Halewood C of E, said: “The children have really enjoyed working on this project. Not only have they learnt an awful lot about digital photography, they’ve also gained a fascinating insight into local history and heritage, which has meant a lot to them.

“They are all really proud of the finished book and it’s quite an achievement to have been involved in the making of something that will be of real interest to people in the years to come.”

The finished book is now printed and is available in all Knowsley libraries for people to look at.