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transformed into a hugely impressive, state-of-the-art,<br />
archive facility for the entire Borough. Alex joined <strong>Wigan</strong><br />
Council in 2007 from the archives at Unilever, which are<br />
based at the multinational company’s historical home at<br />
Port Sunlight on the Wirral.<br />
I start by asking Alex how difficult it is to select what<br />
content to use in Past Forward. “There’s a groundswell<br />
of interest in Past Forward and we usually have plenty of<br />
content to choose from, but the hard part is balancing<br />
the content so that the content is from as many different<br />
parts of the Borough and also making sure that we don’t<br />
focus too much on a single subject, such as mining or<br />
rugby, in one single issue”.<br />
Alex goes on to explain how an annual history essay<br />
competition, (sponsored for the past decade or so by<br />
former Shevington Councillor John O’Neill and his late<br />
wife Barbara), produces a flow of contributors to Past<br />
Forward, “We have around a dozen regular contributors<br />
and the content that they send us is supplemented by<br />
those who enter the competition.<br />
“Often the people who enter the competition go on to<br />
produce other content for Past Forward on a regular<br />
basis”.<br />
I asked Alex whether there were any issues from his<br />
time as Editor which he was particularly proud of and he<br />
immediately highlighted the Women’s History issue and<br />
the World War 1 issue.<br />
“I worked with my colleague Hannah Turner on both of<br />
these issues, and they stand out for different reasons”,<br />
said Alex. “So much of history is written by men, from a
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