Wigan pupils burying a century of memories

Children in year six at Lowton Junior Infant School are creating a time capsule for George Moss and Sons, which owns Leigh’s Moss Industrial Estate.

The capsule will be buried on the St Helens Road estate for future generations to discover. Sebastian and Philip Moss, who represent two generations of the family business, dropped into the Newton Road school to tell the pupils working on the local history project about Leigh’s industrial heritage and how life in the town has changed in the past 100 years.

The year six pupils have been studying the industrial revolution and the impact it had on local communities like Leigh and Lowton in the years following, such as mass unemployment from the local mills, and how businesses had to adapt to cope with these changes.

The children spent two hours with the current owner of the estate, Sebastian Moss talking about what life was like for local families back in 1920 and what the future may bring. They also discussed the different challenges that local businesses have faced over the last 100 years, such as the world wars and the impact of technology on the workforce.

The children are currently creating lots of pieces of work and gathering items which show what life is like in Leigh today, all of which will be locked in the capsule and buried deep underground on the estate next year for the centenary.

School history lead Carol Anderson said: “We are super-excited to be involved in this project and the children have been thoroughly engaged with it. It has generated some really interesting conversations in class about what life was like in Leigh 100 years ago, as well as wondering what businesses will be like in the future.

"We are enjoying creating the contents for the time capsule and are looking forward to taking the children on to the industrial estate in the New Year to bury it for future generations to discover.”