TODAY we take a stroll through time to see the people and places of Great Harwood in days gone by.

Once connected to the rail network via the loop line built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, it was first suggested in 1910 that the town should also be connected to the new electricity supply.

Nothing had been finalised before the outbreak of war in 1914, and the idea was taken up again later.

Cables were first laid to the Mercer hall and Town Hall and the lights finally went on in 1922.

The construction of Mercer Hall had also been interrupted by the war, but was opened in 1921 where balls, dinners and a variety of functions took place.

In 1925 the Lomax family sold the Clayton Hall Estate including much of Great Harwood by auction, with the result that after almost 900 years there was no longer a Lord of the Manor.