From the Evening News, October 6, 1904: THE neighbourhood of Bradshaw was in the early hours of this morning thown into a state of great excitement by the discovery that the works of Mr Joseph Lee, Bradshaw Brow, mineral water box and ladder maker, were on fire.

Fanned by a strong breeze, the flames made their way to practically every part of the front building, which is a wooden erection, and the inflammable nature of the material aided the progress of the flames. As Bradshaw is outside the Bolton borough boundary, the town's Fire Brigade could not be summoned and the best that could be done was to get in use the hose from Firwood Works.

AT the weekly meeting of the members of the Bolton and District Shorthand Writers' Association, on Wednesday evening at the Clarence Street Council School, Miss C. E. Vose delivered an instructive and interesting essay on Shakespeare's King Lear. Dealing very fully with the plot of the play and the characters employed, the essayist described the various passions and emotions displayed and the moral lessons to be derived from the work.

From the Evening News, October 6, 1954: THE chairman of Devon Quarter Sessions, Sir Leonard Costello, warned today that there was far too much irresponsible ganging-up of young men. "A serious aspect of these youthful escapades is the number of gangs of hooligans, smart Alecs, spivs and teddy boys," he said. "We cannot imagine anything more serious for this country than the development of gangs as they have developed in other parts of the world."

NOT everybody knows that evening school PT can be enjoyed in Bolton under the supervision of the only living Englishman possessing three certificates for teaching and supervising three British Gymnastic Champion teams. Mr E. Aspinall, Devonshire Road, whose weekly class has started at the Technical College, was also an Olympic Games performer way back in the London Games of 1908.

From the Evening News, October 6, 1979: BOLTON Wanderers' first season back in First Division football cost the club £285,000. The total loss on the football side amounted to £675,000, mainly through the signings of Len Cantello, Dave Clement and Neil McNab for almost three quarters of a million pounds. But there was a massive cash injection of almost £250,000 from the Development Association and an unappropriated profit of £78,000 carried forward from last year.

THREE of the Burnden Park staff earned over £20,000 last year, according to figures revealed in the annual balance sheet. There was a rise in overall wage and salaries from £353,115 to £430,670.

From the Evening News, October 6, 1994: MORE than 1,000 people - everybody who helped - will be invited to a huge party to celebrate a Government decision not to deport a Bolton family. The Rahmans, who have fought a three-year battle against deportation, now plan to settle down permanently at their new home in the Great Lever area. Home Secretary Michael Howard changed his mind about deporting the family of four after hearing new evidence that Mrs Rosmina Rahman's medical condition would seriously deteriorate if she were forced to go back to Dijibouti in Africa.

THE Oxford Union Society has announced that it is to be addressed by Kermit the Frog from the Muppets.

Union president Jeremy Green said they had never had a frog before. "We considered this was a significant gap in our list of speakers - Kermit is by any standards a world-famous figure and we try to be as diverse as possible in our guest speakers."