I'm 65, Was 14 Once!

Hi,

I'm Al and this is my first post. Hello All.

When I was a kid, I went to Birthday parties.

Now I'm 65 I go to funerals, but in fairness at the funeral the bar is open

If you've got kids try telling them that they will be 65 one day; God Willing.

Anyway, I've built a website to upload all my old photographs of my family and friends but I'm struggling with specific districts in Bolton, so if someone could help me out it would be appreciated.

Back in the 1960s at the Junction of Blackburn Rd and Halliwell Rd, it went to Higher Bridge St. Is that correct?

If that is correct what District would Higher Bridge St be in? Would that be Halliwell?

Further down Higher Bridge St, Len Tobutt had a sports shop which has now moved to the junction at Crompton Way.

Would the old Len Tobutt shop be classed as Bolton Town Centre or would it still be inside a district?

 Finally for this post:

I've found out that my dad (RIP) wrote a letter to the Bolton Evening News about a photo they posted concerning Arrowsmith Terrace, it turns out he lived there.

Would anyone have any photos of Arrowsmith Terrace and be able to tell me what district of Bolton this is?

Thanks
Al.
PS: Keep the Bolton Accent Alive!

Hi Al,

Nice to see a new poster, we don't get many these days.

Yes, Higher Bridge Street led to the junction of Halliwell and Blackburn Roads.

I quickly checked on Google Earth and it seems to show Blackburn Road extending further south than the junction and joining Higher Bridge Street a bit lower down - which probably is what it is now - but it certainly wasn't back when I was growing up.

I can confirm my memory to be right by simply Googling the addresses for both the Wryton Stadium and the Globe Inn, which were both on that stretch of the road, and which both are shown to be on Higher Bridge Street.

It's actually difficult to say for certain which ward Higher Bridge Street WAS in at the time, as ward boundaries are reviewed and moved over time, as all wards have to comprise roughly of the same number of electorate - hence the need to change boundaries from time to time, and even sometimes to renamed the wards to something new.

If you want a definitive answer you probably need to contact the councils, Electoral Services Office as to what Ward, Higher Bridge Street fell under in the years you are enquiring about.

I would think it would have been Halliwell, myself, but I don't know for certain.

I don't actually remember Tobutt's on Higher Bridge Street, I always think of it being up near Asda, so I can't help you out on that one, sorry, unless you again ask the council's electoral Services Office.

I've never heard of Arrowsmith Terrace and after a quick Google looking for it, I've probably found your dad's letter to the Bolton News, in relation to the Albert Inn...

MORE confirmation that the picture of the Albert Inn which I published recently was in Poplar Street, School Hill, Bolton, comes from Mr Wilf Bancroft, of Chorley Old Road.

"I lived in Arrowsmith Terrace as a boy, and Mr Joe Griffiths was the landlord of the pub. In the background of the picture, you can see what I think would be Barlow and Jones's Albert Mill, looking up Duke Street," he writes.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/5890169.albert-inns-landlord-was-joe-griffiths/

For what it is worth I've supped in the Albert many years ago and here is a picture and write up about it, if it is any help to you, as I assume Arrowsmith Terrace must have been reasonably close by?

Albert Inn, Derby Street



The Albert Inn on Derby Street, pictured in February 2003. Note the initials SL on the date stone above the date 1884 (see below for explanation). Picture from bolton.org.uk.

The Albert was situated on Derby Street opposite what is now the Lidl supermarket. The building still stands and has been a restaurant since around 2012 but while the date stone on the side of the pub notes that it was built in 1884 it actually dated back to 1852 as a pub. The stone also includes the initials 'SL' – Sarah Leach, the pub's formidable landlady for much of the second half of the 19th century.

More here...
http://lostpubsofbolton.blogspot.com/2014/04/albert-inn-derby-street.html

I grew up in Halliwell and always classed the Moss St (where the baths were) area and surrounding streets near Higher Bridge St as Halliwell.

Actually there seems to have been TWO Albert Inn's in Bolton!

It now looks the one you are talking about was in Poplar Street, School Hill and closed down well before I could drink in pubs, in 1952.  (It did say that in the newspaper article but I thought it must have been a mistake as I knew that the Albert was on Derby Street - in a sense we were both right - but years apart!).

I'm sorry if I may have unintentionally misled you, I never knew about this particular Albert Inn until today.

Apparently it was close by and to the west of, The Cotton Tree, but The Cotton Tree was built after the Albert had closed and demolished - as there were all new flats built in that area (slum clearance) and my uncle Tommy used to live in one of them (but spent most of his time in the cotton tree near which was almost on his doorstep!).

Here is a bit of history about it, if anyone is interested.
http://lostpubsofbolton.blogspot.com/2014/05/albert-inn-46-48-poplar-street.html

Norpig wrote:I grew up in Halliwell and always classed the Moss St (where the baths were) area and surrounding streets near Higher Bridge St as Halliwell.

 

Ah! Moss St Baths.

That's where I took swimming lessons with Mr Collier.

His method was quite simple really; Swim or Drown!

I cried my eyes out while my mum (RIP) sat there clapping, telling Mr Collier how well I was doing.

The lessons began in the small pool and then advanced into the big boys pool that had diving boards.

In fairness to Mr Collier, I now dive off diving boards and I won the Cubs backstroke race which was held at Moss St Baths circa 1968.

Sluffy,

Just to let you know, I do keep trying to reply to your great post but everytime I press send it doesn't work.

Thanks
Al.

So this is a photo of my dad's betting shop from the late 60's which as you can see was at 117 Higher Bridge St. It was adjacent to Charlie Robinsons motorcycle shop, the last bastion of English bikes such as Triumph and Norton.

My dad sold the shop to Bromilow's bookmakers in the 70s.

Source: meagogo.com

kabetz wrote:Sluffy,

Just to let you know, I do keep trying to reply to your great post but everytime I press send it doesn't work.

Thanks
Al.

You're very welcome Al, always happy to help someone out if I can especially a Bolton fan with a Halliwell background!

I lived all of my childhood around the Mere Hall area, indeed the street I lived on when I was a nipper was demolished to make way for Brownlow way to be built and I too used to splash about in Moss Street Bath's!

Happy days!

I'm not sure why you are having any difficulties posting?

If you want to reply to someone you press the 'quote' box at the bottom right of every post - then type in your reply (Note - AFTER the thing that says - [/quote] of the post you are quoting - otherwise your reply appears as part of the quote itself) - don't worry you'll soon get the hang of it.

In your newer post you mention your dad's shop - I know where that was - or rather I remember the motorbike shop - my brother used to drive a Triumph Cub back in the day - and used to shop there from time to time.

I may even have been to your dad's shop, as though non of my family were gamblers, we used always have a flutter on the Grand National and and before Brownlow Way precinct was built I think my brother used to take me to the bookies on Higher Bridge Street, whilst he put the family bet on (although if my memory serves I had to wait outside as I was too young to go in?).

I remember the shop used to be on the western side of Higher Bridge Street and north of Prince Street (the road on which the Cotton Tree is).

At the back of my mind the next street up and parallel to Prince Street was called Egypt Street - but I might be wrong about that?)

I would love to see the photo you have of your dad's shop.

If you are having trouble posting it, simply copy the picture and post it's link on here and I'll sort it out for you.

Small world sometimes isn't it!

Thanks Kabetz.

To be honest I can't remember your dads shop from the picture, it's the motorbike shop I recall more clearly.

It does look familiar though and I would have walked past it many, many times but hand on heart I can't recall it as such - sorry.

And it was Egyptian Street that I was trying to recall - not Egypt Street.

If you would like to make a number of new friends on the forum...

What's your recollection of Carrs Pasty shop on Halliwell Road - they have a bit of a fan club on here - although I always preferred the Ye Olde pastie shoppe myself, from the town!

Sluffy wrote:Thanks Kabetz.

To be honest I can't remember your dads shop from the picture, it's the motorbike shop I recall more clearly.

It does look familiar though and I would have walked past it many, many times but hand on heart I can't recall it as such - sorry.

And it was Egyptian Street that I was trying to recall - not Egypt Street.

If you would like to make a number of new friends on the forum...

What's your recollection of Carrs Pasty shop on Halliwell Road - they have a bit of a fan club on here - although I always preferred the Ye Olde pastie shoppe myself, from the town!

I'm with you. Ye Olde Pastie Shoppe for the pasties and the meat pies. Especially the meat pies. Bite into one and the juice runs out all over you, not like the dried up offerings you get from a chip shop.

All those old family bakers are sadly missed. Winstanly's and Cunliffe's at the Tramways. Proper bread, baked daily.

I went on holiday to Majorca and there the cafe's and bars in the villages can't serve you with cakes, croissants etc. What you do is go to the village bakery, buy your cake or whatever then walk to the bar and have a coffee with your pastry. That keeps the local baker in business.

What a brilliant idea.