HERITAGE meetings will help decide what should be preserved for future generations.

The Coalfields Heritage project met on Monday at Leigh Miners' Welfare Institute to discover what people from the former coal mining community consider to be their heritage and how it could be preserved.

Scores of people attended and put forward their ideas in workshops and discussions.

Previously, project organisers have found people don't just want physical reminders of the past but appreciate preservation of traditions, songs, music, banners and bands.

Organisers hope the one year project -- run by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust in partnership with the Coalfield Communities Campaign and the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation -- will lead to more successful applications for funding to preserve mining heritage.

Rosemary Power, project co-ordinator, said: "This is part of a national consultation process. We want to understand what coalfield heritage is from a community perspective and to make recommendations to the the heritage lottery fund, on how they can better serve communities like Leigh."

The project began after government research found there was a lower level of applications for heritage lottery grants from coalfield areas like Leigh. She said people felt the fund was intended for more high-brow projects such as opera.

Part of the Coalfields Heritage Project mission is to compile a formal inventory of existing heritage.

Monday's meeting was the project's sixteenth of a scheduled 21 from which feedback will be available from early December or early January.