A PAGE of pictures from Blackburn and Darwen's past -- each photograph a thread from the rich tapestry that forms their Cotton Town heritage.

There's the spectacular fire in 1908 at Darwen's famous India Mill; the much-loved, now-gone Blackburn Market Hall seen in 1910; town-centre Sudell Cross more than 80 years ago; Darwen en fete for the Coronation of George V in 1911; and residential New Bank Road in Blackburn some three years before.

But if such a small, random miscellany as this gives -- as old pictures always do -- an intriguing insight into times gone by, imagine how much more fascinating would be a book of up to 15,000 photographs of Blackburn and Darwen taken down the years from their boom as textile towns in the Industrial Revolution.

Yet, the pictures here come from just such a book that's now in the making. In all, it will include more than 20,000 items showing how people lived, worked and played.

In addition to the thousands of photographs, there will be hundreds of maps and plans, newspaper articles, broadsheets and posters and 600 paintings depicting Blackburn and Darwen's heritage.

The "book", in fact, is an enormous archive of historical material that is now being compiled on an Internet web site by the Cotton Town Project that, led by its libraries and museums service, Blackburn with Darwen Council launched last July after winning £200,000 from the government's lottery-backed New Opportunities Fund and has supported with £50,000 of council funding.

Now around one-third complete, the project -- its web site is www.cottontown.org -- is due to be officially launched in September.

But already it is attracting lots of attention from Internet surfers, with lots of feedback coming from Blackburn and Darwen expatriates as far away as Australia and America.

Much of the material comes from the towns' own library and museum collections, but other contributors include the Lancashire Evening Telegraph which has provided some 5,000 photographs from its archives.

One fascinating feature already in place is a "tram ride" that surfers can take along the route from Blackburn to Darwen.

"Cotton Town will provide a historically rich core of information that will be available to all on-line," said project manager Andy Kirman.

"It will ensure the area's diverse history for future generations while allowing access to material that has become too fragile for everday use in its original form."

The project is still looking for information, recollections and photographs and readers who want to contribute can contact Andy on 01254-587957 or by e-mail at cottontown@blackburn.gov.uk

Take a look at the Cotton Town site...