Cheshire Life

Above all else, the county of Cheshire has been shaped by its people. These fascinating archive photographs combine views of the county - from urban Macclesfield to the rustic fields of Barrow - with reminders of some of the people who have criss-crossed its landscape and left their mark: the salt worker in Northwich, the tanner in Runcorn and the coal miner in Poynton; eccentrics like Gawsworth''s ''Maggoty Johnson'' and celebrities such as Mrds Gaskell and the remarkable Cholmondeley sisters; and some of the county''s less enviable inhabitants - the witches hanged at Chester, the unfortunate Edith Morrey, whose execution was delayed because of her pregnancy, and the folorn faces of the Stockport Theives'' Book.

All manner of Cheshire life is here. Whatever the image - photographs, print, document, map - all have a story to tell, from the Cheshire farmer ''unlucky in love'' to the scribblings of a cheeky schoolboy, Manchester United relaxing in Sandiway to the airman battling his way to Australia in the 1930s or the day that chess Grandmaster Victor Korchnoi met his match in Chester. Librarian Mike Eddison and archivist John Hopkins (with more years of service at the Cheshire Record Office than they care to remember) have drawn extensively on photographs and Cheshire archives to illustrate many aspects of the county''s past. With chapters on themes such as education, employment, health and welfare, sport, leisure and religion, Cheshire Life will appeal to those who know the area and offer a captivating introduction to the county for those who do not.