Keeping the Lights Burning has drawn upon the memories of 86 local people and incorporates over 440 photos maps and illustrations. It also includes the 1985 work by Eric Smith A Light in the Forest - The History of the East Boldre Baptist Church which has been out of print for nearly 4 decades.

For over two centuries, the chapel stood at the heart of village life and generations gathered within it until changing times and a dwindling congregation led to its closure in 2021. Once a largely self-sufficient village, East Boldre supported a variety of small-scale traders, but over time these gradually disappeared.

When faced with the loss of its last shop and Post Office, the community came together with determination and vision. In an inspired act of preservation and renewal, the chapel found new purpose at the centre of village life once more, reborn as a community shop and Post Office.

This is a story not of loss, but of resilience, adaptation, and the strength of community spirit and collective action which culminated in the creation of Chapel Stores.