Looking Back: Tonge Moor Road was resurfaced near Starkie Arms

This great photo from 1953 shows resurfacing work taking place on Tonge Moor Road in Bolton.

We’re not sure that the little boy at the bottom of the picture should be quite so close to all the hot asphalt being laid down but little boys have always had a fascination with machinery.

On the left of the picture you can see one of Bolton’s many ‘lost’ pubs - the Starkie Arms.

At this point it was part of the Bury Brewery Company and had served drinkers in the Tonge Moor area for decades.

The pub closed in 2017 and in spite of a campaign to save it, was demolished the following year to make way for a food supermarket.

Can anyone identify the chimney in the background - which mill did it belong to? Is there anything else on the photo that you recognise?

Source

I'm sure my mate lived in a prefab up there.

My parents lived on Tonge Moor Road  for a while before they moved to Holcombe Brook. Their house was near the junction with Crompton Way and opposite Nat's pub, The Castle...a bit of a hot spot for road traffic accidents at the lights.....Playing fields with many football pitches just round the corner....