FLOWING from the springs of Deerplay Moor, through villages and towns, past fields and factories, to its termination where it empties into its Mersey sister, the River Irwell courses through Bury just as it has done for time immemorial.

In many ways the river is a life source to the borough, flowing through all six of the metropolitan towns.

Its natural force was an intrinsic ingredient in propelling Bury to becoming a hub of the industrial revolution, and the waterway has provided immeasurable pleasure, power and prosperity to those who have inhabited its red-stoned banks.

To Victorian mill owners the Irwell was ‘The Golden Valley’, and the river has guarded its treasure well ­— retaining unique traditions, cultures and customs down the ages.

At the turn of the 1990s a series of film makers were commissioned to capture this ever changing culture for posterity.

Now, residents are being invited to take a trip down memory lane and see the six towns as they were three decades ago as the footage is shown at an one-off screening hosed by Bury Cine Society.

Roy Turner, chairman of Bury Cine Society, said: “In Victorian times the owners of the prosperous mills along the banks of the River Irwell called it The Golden Valley.

“Bury Cine Society will be turning the clock back to the end of the 1980s and start of the 1990s when they present a feature length archive production using that title.

“The film follows the River Irwell, the East Lancashire Railway and the Bury to Manchester electric train long before Metrolink came on the scene.

“But amid all the rapid changes of modern life, many traditions have survived and many more have been restored.

“As we journey down the valley we discover these contrasts and the rich diversity of the life of its people some thirty years ago.

“Since the film was originally taken in 1989 and 1990 many changes have taken place in the area and what was once commonplace has become a part of the historical tapestry of the six townships of the Golden Valley.”

The film screening will take place The Met in Market Street from 7.30pm on March 18.

It will run for 90 minutes with an interval.

A spokesman for The Met said: “We are always happy to welcome Bury Cine Society to The Met to show their films of Bury life.

“The society have been filming in the town since the nineteen sixties, and their short films give you a fascinating insight into the ways that life here has changed over the past five decades. Anyone with an interest in Bury or its history will enjoy this film screening.

“They might be an amateur group but the work they do is of high quality.”

For tickets and more information visit themet.org.uk/event/bury-cine-2020.