ONE woman's fight to chronicle the history of her village has led to the formation of a special community group.

Pat Lazenby of Pool-in-Wharfedale was so incensed when she read in a village newsletter Leeds City Council claims that Pool had no history to it that she decided to put them straight by putting on her own exhibition of old photographs.

And such was her drive, she even formed a history group in the village shortly afterwards.

Now, the Pool History Group meets every two months to discuss their findings - a case of the community researching its own history for future generations.

It is that kind of community spirit and villagers' passion for their area that has recently earned Pool county-wide accolades in the Village of the Year competition.

Pat, who has lived in Pool for many years and who has spent countless hours doing research, said: "It all started when I read the second edition of our village newsletter Pool Vision.

"In it was a quote attributed to Leeds City Council which said that Pool had no history, which incensed me really. Pool has plenty of history and as a result plenty of community spirit and character.

" I took it as an affront as a village that was mentioned in the Domesday Book certainly has a past.

"From then I was moved to collect as many old photographs of Pool as I could and put on an exhibition, which I did last year in the village hall."

She said that during the event, she gave people a questionnaire, which also asked if people would have been interested in setting up a history group in Pool. Enough people gave a positive response, and she helped to set up the first meeting, just over a year ago.

"Pool is changing from a village completely by itself with few outsiders. In the last ten years more people have come in and Pool has got larger and then there is the Redrow development which is currently being built. The aim of the group since the start is to get people aware of the past.

"People usually speed through the village, not realising what sort of history we have had here over the years."

Pat, who is also a member of the Pool 2020 community group, said the group was pro-active.

"We don't just sit there, we do have talks, but we also go on walks. Our next meeting is a walk around Pool Quarry - last meeting we heard a talk on it and now we're going to have a look. People also bring in their own photos and documents and we have a discussion about them."

Pat said that the group is basically there to encourage the community to research its own history.

"I thought that if I didn't chronicle Pool's history now, it would be too late," she added.

"I cannot do it all myself. The more people who come to the group, the better."

Members attend from all over the area, not just Pool. One lady from Yeadon regularly attends meetings as her family in Pool stretches back to the 1770s. Another woman attends from the east of Leeds.

"I had no idea history would become such an obsession for me. I am not an amateur historian. It sounds grand, but I'm really just someone who cares about the village and who has taken an interest in discovering and preserving its history.

The group has grown from about five members when it first started little over a year ago to 24 at the last meeting.

She said that she had been well supported by people in the village, including David Whiteley, who had written his memoirs on Pool and its famous paper mill, and had been a big help if she had any queries.

As for the future, Pat is now planning another photographic display of Pool's history to coincide with the revival of Pool's traditional feast, which dates back several hundreds of years. The feast takes place in June and Pat has already booked the village hall and has promised new photos in the exhibition with help from the history group.

She also plans to continue writing a small article in each issue of the Pool Vision newsletter, which is put together by the Pool 2020 Community Group and distributed free to every home in the village.

"More and more information keeps coming in. I find that I can't just sit down and write it up as I keep getting more information," she said. I'm learning more every week - and I think we can now safely prove that Pool has a history!"