A NEW book has been published documenting the history of Ellesmere Port – and is said to be a 'must have' for proud Portites.

‘Dock Street Memories’ is the fifth in the popular series of large, glossy booklets containing images, quotes and newspaper reports about the town.

It has been produced by the Ellesmere Port Local and Family History Society with the support of Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Copies are available at the National Waterways Museum, the Ellesmere Port Libraries and Trinity Methodist Church at £10 a copy.

Celia Webber, the book's editor and chair of the Ellesmere Port Local and Family History Society, said: “Like the other ‘Memories’ booklets, it’s fully illustrated but, this time, it’s different – it goes way back into the Town’s past - before living memory.

“The booklet starts with the early history of the area with sections on Stanlaw Abbey, Poole Hall and the building and opening of the Ellesmere and the Manchester Ship Canals. It then takes us forward, with extensive chapters on Dock Street, its shops and the surrounding streets, from when they were first built to the end of the 20th Century, and includes dozens of contributions from local people.

“The motorway cleared much of the area around Dock Street but the memories from the ‘Bottom-enders’ live on – but for how much longer? Many years ago Douglas Edwards, an artist who grew up in the area in the 1940s, but subsequently emigrated to Canada, wrote in the Pioneer that, ‘Though we children were probably born, and raised, in the most perilous of times, truly, I believe we all had great childhoods’.”

Justin Madders, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, opens the booklet with the foreword.

He praises its description of the town’s development, showing how some of the early families who lived in the Dock Street area were instrumental in creating a busy, thriving town.

He writes: “It sets out well how the town has slowly grown away from the docks but I am pleased to see that there is also recognition of that area having a renaissance thanks to the National Waterways Museum. The work done there has helped to recapture an important part of the town’s heritage.

“The new ‘Dock Street Memories’ booklet is all about the town’s development and growth, good times and bad, with lots of memories thrown in, and is a must-have for any Portite proud of their heritage.”