Michael Alvin Cook, known as Alvin.
Alvin was born in a Derbyshire village and came to Lancashire as a child with his widowed mother. His father was a soldier who lost his life in WW2 when Alvin was 18 months old. A second marriage brought Alvin and his mother to Lancashire and he later gained two half-sisters.
As a young teenager Alvin became poorly, and was treated at Christie’s Hospital in Manchester for a brain tumour. He recovered well and eventually worked for many years for LCC Highways Department. Alvin always had an interest in local history, people, and places, he could usually answer any question put to him.
He began to collect old postcards relating to his varied interests and displayed the albums at local fetes to raise funds for Christies Hospital. He had many other interests around local heritage and machinery/engines/steam and photography with such a vast knowledge.
In his early 60s Alvin suffered a stroke which affected his mobility, he persevered and was able to resume his interests to an extent. A popular gentleman with many friends and acquaintances Alvin sadly passed away after a short illness in 2022 at the age of 79 years.
He is greatly missed by his family in Lancashire and Derbyshire.
The Alvin Cook Collection
We are hugely grateful to Alvin’s family for a donation of slides of the local area which we are adding to our archive and which we will be making available to be viewed on this website. The collection also contains a number of Alvin’s local photos and albums which we will be displaying at our events in the future.
We hope the Alvin Cook Collection will provide a fitting legacy to Alvin, and that it will be appreciated by people with local interests for many years to come.