St Oswald’s Church in Winwick will be looking to welcome visitors for a heritage weekend in a bid to raise money to preserve its future.On Saturday, September 9, Bishop of Warrington Beverley Mason will open up the Grade-I listed church.The Golborne Road place of worship was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, and parts of the current church date back to the 13th century.One of the items on display at the open weekend will be the marriage lines of Edward Smith – the captain of the Titanic, who married a farmer’s daughter at the church in 1887.Two members of the British Titanic Society, Jean Legg and Caroline Heaven, will be at the church with a collection of Titanic memorabilia.Jean’s father was the last surviving member of the Titanic when he died aged 89 in 1983. He was working as an 18-year-old steward when the vessel sank in 1912.Warrington Guardian July 2023
He describes his writing as “action and adventure novels with a twist of history” and he aims to include historical facts in each of his books, with the next literary offering due for publication this summer. He is passionate about history and archaeology, and his love of history was initiated when he became part of an archaeological group.He has worked on sites all over England ranging from Roman and Anglo Saxon to the Victorian era and his enthusiasm for history was endorsed when he became a member of St Oswald’s Church in Winwick.Beneath the surface, the church is steeped in history and he was astonished to find out that, apart from being a Grade One listed building and sitting on the English Civil War battlefield site of 1648, it is also listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. This background set the scene for his novel, The Sanctuary Cipher, which triggered his imagination for writing and he hasn’t stopped since.His second novel Cabin in the Clouds is due to be released this summer and is the first of a trilogy starting in New Zealand featuring ex-detective, Nathan Mason.Jackson Beck is currently working on his third novel Nightfall in Famagusta which continues with the action and adventure theme in Cyprus. For more information visit www.jacksonbeck.com
