THIS year marks a double celebration for St Leonard's Church in Balderstone which has been at the heart of the spiritual and social life of a community for 500 years.

To mark the double 500th anniversary of the first mention of the church in surviving records and the 150th anniversary of the existing building, parishioner John Jackson, of Mellor Brook, has produced a 198-page history of the church and its role in community life.

The exhaustively-researched book provides a fascinating glimpse of the development of the church and the changing times it has seen in rural life.

It took Mr Jackson 12 months to write and involved countless hours of researching though old parish magazines and church records.

Mr Jackson said: "I wrote a book about four years ago about the memorial in the church to those killed in the war. I have always been interested in family history and from there I have moved into local history.

"I was very pleased to be asked to write a history of the church for the double anniversary.

"I am very happy with the way the book has turned out and I hope that people will enjoy it."

Although he has looked long and hard, Mr Jackson has not been able to find evidence of St Leonard's being around at the start of the sixteenth century but contemporary accounts make reference to the church.

"One of the interesting things, of course," said Mr Jackson, "is that Balderstone as a village doesn't exist. It is really an area. Mellor Brook is the only true village it covers."

As well as profiles of all the clergy to have been appointed to St Leonard's, this definitive history records major events such as the fund-raising and building of the church tower in 1906 so that the church could have its own bell to summon parishioners to worship and the sacrifices made by church members during both world wars.

Less significant but equally interesting events are also covered such as the challenge cricket match held in 1956 between the ladies of the church and the men in which the parish magazine reported that the ladies were all out after swimming twelve lengths on a mud-sodden wicket!

The gentlemen of the parish were narrow winners by 10 wickets, it added.

A feature of the book is the collection of photographs, many reproduced for the first time in years, which give a snapshot of country life during the past 100 years.

Copies of The History of St Leonard's are available from Mr Jackson at 7 Woodfold Close, Mellor Brook, telephone 01254 814170, priced £10.