The Smith Lectures - Chernobyl - Bolton 25th August 2016

Just a heads up, my fellow adventurer to foreign parts is to have a friendly chat at Breightmet Library in Bolton about his foolhardy travels with myself and fellow fools. Tindog, AKA  Mick Smith is both funny and educating, entertaining you aided by his collection of personal photographs and a number of my snaps from our trip to Kiev and Chernobyl. This warm up gig will be the first of a coming number of his enthralling Eastern European travel tales that should not be missed.

No entrance fee is being charged.

Hollinshead Hall Holy Well, Belmont - July 2016

You like to think you know your local area, so it was a surprise when Bovine posted a few photos of this place.

Hollinshead Hall was a manor house situated between Belmont Village and Tockholes, built in 1776 the property fell into disrepair in the late 1900's and was demolished by Liverpool Corporation Waterworks following purchase of the surrounding land area.

Very little remains of the old house, apart from the Holy Well, a natural spring housed in small building with a reputation of being haunted.


A pleasant wander in the rather damp summer air brought us to a clearing in the woods.

 

A rather charming breath of fresh air after the pigeon infested rat holes of the the last week.


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The Mission, Bolton - July 2016

Following a top tip off from Tbolt, Zer081 and myself popped in for a little nosey.

I could find little or no information on the Mission Hall or Christian Mission, apart from some over priced photos from the 1950s available to buy from the Bolton News.

;

Tbolt didn't rate this place, but I rather liked it for what it is, going to give it a possible controversial 5/10.

Just wish I could find some history, even just a little bit.

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A seldom seen mill, Bolton - July 2016

I do like a good mill, I do like a good permission visit, I was invited by Tbolt to join a student group mooch. It was rather good.

A good potter was had by all around this old cotton and carpet weaving mill. Part working, part closed, we stuck to the closed bits.

A cracking view from up top, of another seldom seen mill.

An unexpected surprise, I could have spent days in this place. 

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Bolton Burnden Viaducts - June 2015

Here at Fraggle Towers we like a bit of good news.

For years the disused railway viaducts of Darcy Lever and Burnden Park sat unused and gated off, the final trains crossed in them in 1970.






So June 2015 they have finally been reopended to the public as part of a footpath and cycleway between Bolton and Bury.

Sadly not much to see, but a walk I've wanted to do for a about 40 years and a cracking short cut across from Leverhulme Park across into Bolton.

Couple of pics.

 

 

Only thing I would say is, given its only been open a week, dogwalkers pick up your dog shit you dirty scumbags.

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Bolton from the air, again - June 2015

A last minute diversion minutes before preparing to land at Barton gives me rather fittingly photos of my home town, on what was my final trip out.

I've pottered over Bolton many times, hit the search button if you fancy a gander.

Anyway on with the final bunch with a shot of Bolton Parish Church and a curving view of Bradshawgate, Bolton



The local council flog postcards of this next view or something very similar and as a kid at school we had to do a project on Bolton - mine from memory consisted mostly of postcards of Bolton Town Hall and Le Mans Crescent.



Interesting view this one, I suspect most people don't realise the Bolton Town Hall contains a internal court yard.





Bolton Market Place with its half built crane for the construction of the new cinema in the town centre - which is strange as I know of a least 4 in the town centre that got demolished, two relatively recently. Sadly Bolton Council is run by.......





Anyway they seemed to be doing a bit of a returf down the road at the Reebok, sorry Macron Stadium, I still can't get my head round the change of name. Anyway lets hope Bolton Wanderers have a better season than the last few shockers.



The massive Horwich Loco Works, soon to be demolished.....



So I'm going to finish with a shot of Rivington Pike, a bit deceiving this picture - as all would know that have walked up it.



End of an era, thanks Tiger.


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Gypsy's Tent, Bolton - June 2015

Casual reader, I wander, I wander in - I cause no damage, I wander in, camera in hand.

And so the door was ajar.....

 

This first photo I took in 2010, I don't know why, I didn't wander then. Simply a pub sign on yet another closed, pub in Bolton, Lancashire.
 

The Gypsy’s Tent (or Gipsy’s Tent as it was spelt up until the nineties) was built in the 19^th century. Although the pub’s address is on Deansgate it was severed from the rest of the street when Marsden Road bridge was built in 1877.

During the latter half of that century a band of traveling dentists would extract teeth at the rear of the building. As seems to have been common in Victorian dentistry a brass band was often present and would play tunes in order to drown out the patient’s screams.

The pub came into the hands of local brewers William Tong in the early part of the 20^th century before being taken over by Walkers of Warrington in 1923. Walkers merged with Tetley’s in 1961 to form Tetley Walker but in August 1981 it was decided to put the Gipsy’s Tent (as it was then) up for sale.

History taken from the most excellent  http://lostpubsofbolton.blogspot.co.uk/  - this is a gold mine of information on lost bars and pubs.

Gypsy's Tent closed in 2007 and now sits slowly rotting in darkness and oh it is dark.

 

I had an uneasy feeling whilst pottering about the place, so I hurried about the place taking my snaps.

It was pitch black on the lower bar area.

 

Remembering the words of Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters "You're right, no human being would stack books like this " I heard coughing upstairs and feet on the stairs.

After all, if I could simply wander in so could anyone, it was time to leave.

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Spa Mill, Bolton - March 2015

I don't normally do stuff on my doorstep and I try to avoid solo explores, but with no one playing out and April Showers piling in a few days early this local mooch was the order of the day - plus I could go for a brew at Tin Dog's after.

With demolition passed back in 2012,  this and the adjoining building are hanging on rather well compared with most I come across.

Offices one side of the yard, full of junk and er, well.....











The other side of the yard in the main mill building is more interesting, once the home of upholsterers A&H Sharples.





 













 

You know what, a bloody good relaxed mooch, I'd even go back - 8/10.

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