IT is not often that the North West neglects the work of an eminent man to the extent that his name is hardly known, and it is all the more surprising in view of his connection with the Gaskell family.

After their mother died, Meta and Julia Gaskell kept house for their father in Manchester until his death in 1884.

They then planned to build a permanent home in Silverdale, a favourite place for holidays with their mother Elizabeth.

Surprisingly, the 12-acre site they chose was not overlooking Morecambe Bay, but further inland where a little lane led to a real road winding to the main railway station at Carnforth.

They named the house The Sheiling, an old Scottish word meaning a 'hut constructed for pastoral use'.

Here enters our neglected and forgotten poet-dramatist, Gordon Bottomley, who bought the house in 1914 and, with his wife, Emily Burton of Arnside, lived there until his death in 1948.

Born in 1874 in Keighley, Bottomley was the only child of a successful accountant who was said to own the finest private library in the district.

His maternal grandmother, a devotee of the theatre, loved to have her grandson accompany her - the perfect milieu for Bottomley's latent talents.

He was diagnosed with a defective lung when he was seven and by the time he was 18 it became plain that his life would always be that of an invalid.

Realising that fresh country air was the first essential, his parents decided to move away from the industrial smoke and they settled in Cartmel where Gordon concentrated on a career as a writer.

His first slim volume of poetry, The Mickle Drede, was published in 1896 and soon after Bottomley turned his attention to verse drama.

He was intrigued by the Lake District legend The Crier of Claife, an eerie story about the ferryman who plied between the Nab and The Ferry Inn.

Bottomley's 1902 play The Crier By Night received high public acclaim.

In Silverdale, Bottomley's work flowed more easily, although there were still days when he fought for breath and could not write a word.

But always he was composing in his mind, polishing and perfecting.

His poetry reflected his deep love of the area.

There was nostalgia sometimes for Well Knowe House, at Cartmel, and Silverdale was 'this faery country which is like Schubert's music.' His protest against the foundry at Carnforth was voiced in his most popular poem To Iron-Founders and Others.

The year 2002 will mark the 80th anniversary of the Players during which they hope to include items by Bottomley in their programmes.

This is an edited version of the full feature in this week's issue of Leisure.