THIS week we take a look at one of the town’s most famous quarters during the 1990s.

These pictures reveal the many changes Churchgate has undergone in the last 20 years, but there are also several familiar sights.

Indeed, this publication was once a fixture of the street before The Bolton News moved to its current HQ off Victoria Square in 2012. Our former newspaper house, opposite the parish church, was latterly occupied by Asons solicitors.

Churchgate is one of the town’s main areas for enjoying a night out and these snaps show some long-lost pubs, as well as some of the famous spots that remain.

We wonder how many of our readers remember the The Boars Head and the Bear’s Claw? They now occupied by Hogarth’s and the recently-opened Churchagate.

Of course, these pictures show also show that mainstay of a Bolton night out, The Swan. Still sitting proud on the corner of Churchgate and Bradshawgate, it remains largely unchanged.

There’s also The Old Man and Scythe - the earliest mention of which dates to 1251, making it among the ten oldest pubs in Britain.

The latter watering hole is featured in one of the more surprising pictures here, showing crowds spilling out of the pub onto the street.

This picture captures a time before new rules banned the practice and - with the odd inclusion of a shopping trolley- also documents the days before £1 supermarket deposits!

Elsewhere, we see a then-new tax office development. The old Hilary Anne fashion shop was demolished during its construction, leaving the civic trust outraged.