BOLTON could be in the running to be recognised as one of the country’s great historical landmarks.

As well as flocking to London, tourists could be visiting Bolton if it is named as one of the 100 places of historical interest which have helped shape England into the country it is today.

Historic England has launched a campaign to identify the 100 places in the country which can best tell ‘England’s remarkable story’.

The Irreplaceable: A History of England in 100 Places campaign has discovered that people know little of the history of where they live.

A survey revealed that some 77 per cent of people in the North West were not aware that trainers were first produced in the back streets of Bolton and thought they were an American design.

In fact it was in 1895 when Joe Foster invented the running spike above his father’s sweet shop in Deane Road, and this is widely believed to have been the foundation for the world’s favourite leisure footwear.

In 1958 two of the founder’s grandsons, Joe and Jeff Foster, formed a companion company Reebok – and the rest is history.

The town was also the birthplace of Samuel Crompton in 1753, inventor of the spinning mule, which played a key role in the industrial revolution.

Historic England wants people to shout about their rich heritage and is calling on the public, history groups and experts in the North West to nominate other places where historic moments have happened.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England said: “By telling a history of England in 100 places, we want to help people understand the many places in our country that have shaped the world, creating advances in science, the arts, trade and industry.

“We are looking forward to people nominating places in the North West that will engender a sense of pride and are important to our national story. We’re hoping to uncover some hidden gems that can be celebrated and shared.”

Mark Hews, chief executive of Ecclesiastical Insurance Group which is backing the campaign, said: “As the leading insurer of some of the UK’s most important listed buildings and historic places, Ecclesiastical is proud to be trusted to protect so much of England’s irreplaceable heritage and delighted to support this campaign, which will unearth and celebrate the hidden gems in our nation’s story, including raising awareness of the historic hotspots of the North West.”

The year-long campaign will explore 10 categories, from Science and Discovery and Homes and Gardens, to Music and Literature and Industry, Trade and Commerce.

Each category will focus on 10 places which will be chosen from a long list of public nominations by expert judges, including Mary Beard, George Clarke, Tristram Hunt, Professor Lord Robert Winston and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.

The places that make the list will feature in a podcast series and a book, which will be produced as part of the campaign.

The poll also showed that, when asked to choose from a list 26 per cent of people in the North West correctly identified Manchester as the place where Ernest Rutherford first split the atom in 1917.

The physicist made the breakthrough which resulted in the development of nuclear power.

But only 12 per cent of people in the poll correctly identified Manchester as the place — 32 per cent thought it happened in Geneva, Switzerland.

Thirty-nine per cent of respondents in the North West correctly identified Keswick in Cumbria as the birthplace of the pencil.