Looking Back: Bradshawgate had some fine looking buildings

Even today, Bolton has some impressive town centre buildings but as this photo from 1959 shows, many of them have been demolished.

This was Bradshawgate which certainly looks busy.

The four-storey buildings with their ornate facades were home to insurance companies and long-established shops.

Does anyone remember The Shirt Company, Campbell’s or even the Northern Fur Company which were all on the street?

Source

When Bradshawgate was nice and not just a street for pissed up idiots to scrap on while waiting for a kebab.

To be honest I'm not even sure where this is?

I assume it is stood outside somewhere like Yates Wine Lodge looking across the street heading towards The Swan - but it could equally be stood outside The Swan, looking across the road heading in the Balmoral direction?

One or two small thoughts I've had though, I used to play snooker in Wood Street, it was a very rough and ready place and all, but then snooker suddenly got very popular big when colour TV's started to become affordable (anyone remember watching Pot Black - for those of you watching in black and white the pink is behind the yellow - in black and white all the balls looked the same more or less!) and a snooker clubs started to pop up all over Bolton such as one above the shops on Brownlow Way, there was an existing one I used to go to up Daubhill (off the junction of Morris Green Lane and St Helens Road) and Spencer's opened on Mealhouse lane (Town Centre).

The other memory I had was the sports hall (known as the Drill Hall) on Silverwell Street.

It always fascinated me that one of the walls of the hall must have belonged to the house next door to it at one time or another?  I don't think I've ever seen a building (the Drill Hall) that was built using the exterior wall of another house as part of the building itself!

used to go to Silverwell street a lot when i was younger. Played Badminton and 5 a side there regularly.

I'm quite sure that Yates's Wine Lodge is located between the Refuge insurance and Campbells.

In fact from looking at the doorways where the Insurance company is and the building next door, Yate's has expended into there some time ago.