From the Evening News, September 1, 1904: A huge and successful garden party was held at Worsley Hall, the Lancashire seat of the Earl and Countess of Ellesmere on Wednesday afternoon.

Participating were about 600 members of his Lordship's clerical and managing staffs at Walkden, Worsley and Manchester, together with the tenant farmers on his extensive estates. Prominently displayed in the house was a painting of the Earl which will shortly be presented to him by the staff. It is in the hands of Lavery, an eminent artist, and though not yet finished is pronounced an excellent piece of workmanship.

AT a recent concert in Warsaw the hall was suddenly invaded by spiders, which, attracted by the sound of a violin, came from cracks and crannies in the building. The other audience left.

From the Evening News, September 1, 1954: MR J. R. H. Hutchinson, Under-Secretary for War, spoke in Glasgow this afternoon of the "immense military strength of Russia and her satellites." He declared that the international situation made a "far-flung, dangerous and rather gloomy picture." There was "little prospect" of materially reducing either National Service or taxation. Russia had some 175 divisions in a state of preparedness and confronted with this the country must clearly make provision for a full-scale war.

"QUIDNUNC" - asked why the Bolton Mayoral car has the registration plate WH1 when it is not of that vintage - replies: "The simple answer is that No 1 of the new "WH" series of registration numbers was held, about 1928, to be very suitable for the car retained for the use of Bolton's first citizen and it has been used ever since on a succession of cars."

From the Evening News, September 1, 1979: HOSPITALS in Bolton are no longer providing treatment for non-urgent orthopaedic cases. And patients are waiting for more than a year to see a specialist. The gloomy picture is painted by Mr Tom Ryder, area administrator, in a report to Bolton Area Health Authority.

IT'S been a tough slog, but Bolton's young midfield man Peter Reid is now well on the road to recovery. It seems a long time ago when Reid was injured - on New Year's Day in the abandoned game with Everton - but since then he has never given up the fight or the hope of getting back in action. The Wanderers' medical staff have worked tirelessly to give Reid the best treatment possible.

From the Evening News, September 1, 1994: RAG trade workers who were fiddling the social security system on a wide scale found no hiding place when a DSS team swooped on North-west factories. "Operation Zig-Zag" - which tackled 70 clothing firms in Bolton, Blackburn and Preston - found 93 people who were cheating the state system to the tune of £150,000. Some brazen employers were actually giving workers time off - to sign on at the benefits office.

HOUSING chiefs fear Bolton's homelessness statistics are creeping back towards record levels. Figures released this week for the quarter ending June 30 show that the number of cases reported is up on those recorded earlier this year. Mortgage arrears and violent breakdown of relationships are the main reasons for the rise.