A taste of Bingley life over the last 170 years is highlighted in a new book by a town historian.

Alan Cattell’s work, Bingley - A Living History, includes 90 accounts of life in the town between 1847 and the present day.

The book will be officially unveiled at an event on Thursday, November 3, at Woodbank Nurseries, Harden Road, Bingley.

It features people from that period who have links to the town. These include Bingley-born actress Muriel Aked, who starred in films during the 1920s alongside Sir John Gielgud and Sir Laurence Olivier. Her father, George Aked, was a mill owner in Bingley.

The book also chronicles the life of activist Nellie Kenney, who was part of the Suffragette movement and whose family also lived in Bingley.

A Bingley pensioner and former record-breaking English Channel swimmer is also interviewed.

Barry Watson, 78, held the record for 18 years after swimming from France to England in nine hours and 35 minutes at the age of 26 in 1964.

Photographs of how Bingley town centre has changed from the 1860s onwards are also included.

Mr Cattell, 68, of Park Road, Bingley, said: “The book is a snapshot of what Bingley was like and how it has changed. I’m seriously interested in where I live. People who read the book will be able to find out more of what Bingley is about.

“I tried to interview people whose relatives have been involved in the history of Bingley. I believe that history should not just be in an archive.

“It tells about the people who have shaped it and the institutions. Some of them no longer exist - these include the Hippodrome and Myrtle cinemas.

“I wanted to capture the changes in Bingley before they all disappear. I want to try to get people to go out and do their own history, capture it for themselves too.

“There is still a good feeling of community around here.

“I have been working on the book since March this year.

“I also interviewed people whose family members had not moved from the area of Bingley where they lived since 1560. They traced their family lineage back.

"They were stonemasons. One of the relatives was a stonemason on Bingley Five Rise Locks.

“Barry Watson ends the book by saying; ‘Bingley has changed and not always for the best but it is a good place to live’.”

Mr Cattell’s second book also features a foreword by Nick Salt, the great great grandson of Sir Titus Salt. Proceeds from the book will go to a number of good causes, including the Manorlands Hospice at Oxenhope and Sue Ryder.