During Roman times, Northwich was known as ‘Salinae’ or the ‘salt works’, and later by the Celtic name ‘Hellath Dhu’, or the black salt town by the Ancient Britons. The Cheshire town grew up at the confluence of the River Dane and River Weaver and lies on underground salt beds, which were exploited through the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Over the years, mines were dug and later abandoned. Two other towns had an abundance of salt beneath the ground, and Northwich became known as one of the three Wiches or Wyches of Cheshire: Northwich, Nantwich and, in between the two, Middlewich. The use of water to extract the salt in the nineteenth century led to extensive subsidence in the area which has been stabilised as the town has been redeveloped in recent years. As the town has grown, it has absorbed nearby settlements and is now a major commercial hub in the centre of the Cheshire Plain, as well as retaining its historic market town centre in the heart of Northwich.

Northwich Reflections features an exciting collection of historic and modern pictures that are individually merged to reveal how the area has changed over the decades. Each of the 180 pictures in this book combines a recent colour view of Northwich with the matching sepia archive scene. Through the split-image effect, readers can see how streets, buildings and everyday life have transformed with the passing of time. This fascinating visual chronicle ingeniously reflects past and present glimpses of Northwich and will be of interest to residents, visitors, local historians and all those with links to the area.

'A historian's new book is providing an interesting insight into Northwich past and present with a series of side-by-side snaps of the town.' -- Northwich Guardian, August 2025

Paul Hurley has been a freelance writer since 2002 and has been writing professionally ever since. He has had magazine, local and national newspaper credits and has written several books for Amberley on the history of Cheshire, railways and other topics. Since retiring from the police in 2002 he has amassed a CV that takes in a three-part article in the Steam World magazine, one in the Backtrack magazine and many other magazine articles not relating to the railway scene. He lives in Winsford with his wife Rose and his hobbies are writing, travel, motorcycling and classic cars.