A BOOK of memories is being used to foster community cohesion in an area of Southampton.

Swaythling Snapshot is made up of interviews with families and individuals describing their lives in the area, comparing the past with the present, and asking about their concerns for the future.

The book, produced by the City Life Church, was published last Autumn but the church is now promoting it in local schools as they believe it will fit in with their history curriculum.

Dan Pooley, of City Life, who lives on the Flowers estate: “There is a misunderstanding of what the area is like.

"People think of it as white working class but it is actually vastly diverse – there are 42 languages spoken by pupils Bassett Green School.”

Daily Echo: Architect Herbert Collins.

The families interviewed are a mix of newcomers and people who have lived all their lives in the area.

Ruth and Carlton Calver came to Southampton as students and lived on the edge of Swaythling, being quite wary of it.

After they married and had children they moved into the area to give their children access to the local green spaces and outdoor play areas.

Daily Echo: The Ford Factory.

Alan Reynard was born in 1933, Swaythling as we know it now hardly existed then, he was part of one of the first families to move in to the area.

Mavis Ryan, a retired nurse, was born in Portswood, but has lived in the area for more than 70 years. She remembers travelling alone on the tram to the kindergarten on High Road at three years old.

Through people’s reminiscences the book charts the changes to the area including in recent years the growth of the university, which has been met with mixed feelings, and the closure of the Ford factory.

The project covers the area’s connection with the development of the Spitfire, the First World War Remount campsite and the building of the Collins houses – one of Britain’s first social housing experiments.

It contains many gobbets of information such as Swaythling railway station, which opened in 1883, was originally Swathling Station - the “Y” was added in 1895 at the request of the squire, Sir Samuel Montagu, who became the first Baron Swaythling in 1907 and the first branch of B&Q was opened in Swaythling in 1969, near to the site of the recently-closed store. The shop was owned by Messrs Block and Quayle Beste Ozer is the project’s new marketing and promotion officer.

The 25-year-old, who is studying for her masters in Global Media Management at the University of Southampton, said: “ I am not a resident of Swaythling, but I like to learn the local things about the area and find the book really interesting and entertaining. This area includes lots of history and everybody here looks so friendly.

“I hope that I can reach as many people as I can, because I think this is a great book to recognise the Swaythling area better.”