Ask most people what is their biggest bugbear and many will tell you the state of the roads.

Wardle Street, Bolton, 1945 (Picture: Newsquest)

Pot holes appear to be everywhere but as this photo from 1945 shows, it’s not a new problem.

Pity the poor postman in the photo having to negotiate the water-filled craters on Wardle Street in Bolton - he almost needs a boat to make his deliveries.

Some of the potholes are so big they almost stretch across the road. It doesn’t help that is looks as though the road was a cinder surface rather than Tarmac.

On the right it looks as though it was waste ground which would subsequently be built on with new housing which remains today.