After some recent sleuthing into the Slater family I found records of Mike’s gt.x4 grandfather William Slater living in the village of Paythorn, near Gisburn on the Lancashire/Yorkshire borders.  William was a blacksmith there.  Further searching on the Internet found a reference to William as being one of a group of eleven people who were responsible for getting a Methodist chapel built in Paythorn.

During a recent trip back to the UK we decided to make a trip up to Paythorn to have a look at the place.

Paythorn in the 21st century is very small – a hamlet really.   There’s a pub, and a few houses, and…. a Methodist chapel…the one built with the efforts of William Slater.

The day we visited, the weather was wonderful and Paythorn looked absolutely delightful, nestled alongside the Ribble…. William’s grandson, James, left Paythorn and moved to Burnley, no doubt to find work.  Whilst we saw Paythorn at its best, I can imagine that in the mid 19th century it offered little to a working man…