Councillors bowled over by John Bright artefacts

Councillors Irene Davidson and Keith Swift get a grip of John Bright's bowls at the Rochdale Link4life Arts and Heritage Service.

Two Rochdale Councillors got their hands on John Bright's bowls when they visited the Rochdale Link4life Arts and Heritage Service.

The pair (no pun intended) were presented with the former Liberal MP's crown green bowls at the archive, which stores thousands of archives relating to Rochdale's history.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Irene Davison and Cabinet Member for Townships and Corporate Management, Councillor enjoyed a tour of the Service and inspected a number of John Bright's other belongings.

Councillor Swift said: “When I visited the Rochdale Arts and Heritage back catalogue I didn’t realise just how much Liberal memorabilia they have. Not only do they hold John Bright’s bowls but they also have a carved oak bookcase of his and also his baby chair. It was great to see so much Liberal history under one roof.”

Councillor Irene Davidson said: “I was really impressed with Bright’s bowls and I will definitely be looking at getting them out for the people of Rochdale at some point in the future. It really was a great visit and it reaffirmed for me the fact that Rochdale is the home of true Liberalism.”

Andrew Moore, the Collections Manager for Link4Life said: “I identified the unmistakable pair from a photograph of the John Bright Memorial room in the museum in the 1920s. I would guess these could be safely described as mid-Victorian or mid -nineteenth century and are in superb condition.”