From the Evening News, August 23, 1904: AN extraordinary struggle with a rat is reported from Sunderland.

Mrs Skinner, wife of a laundry van man, was engaged about her house when a very large rat sprang at her. She threw it off, but it returned to the attack and this time sprang at her throat. After a struggle she threw it through an open window into a yard, where it was killed by a workman who had been attacted by her screams. The woman is suffering severely from shock.

THE influx of visitors from Bolton and other industrial centres into the seaside resorts was evident at the weekend. Morecambe was well-filled and 1,000 visitors defied the wet elements on Monday by taking the turbine steamer to Douglas. Stories are told of palmists being out of work and residents in the boarding and lodging houses singing hymns to while the hours away.

From the Evening News, August 23, 1954: POSTPONED from July 17 because rain had made the procession impossible, Walkden Carnival opened on Saturday afternoon and was soon cancelled again. Before all the half-mile procession had left the assembly field, one of the most severe storms of the summer broke out. There was lightning, thunder, a deluge of rain and even hailstones.

THE Wanderers play Blackpool tonight, and both sides include players who contested the 1953 cup final. Bolton W: Hanson, Ball, Banks, Wheeler, Barrass, Edwards, Holden, Moir, Lofthouse, Hassall, Webster. Blackpool: Farm, Shimwell, Garrett, Fenton, Johnston, Kelly, Matthews, Taylor, Mortensen, Brown, Perry.

From the Evening News, August 23, 1979: MEMBERS of the Grey Mare Dahlia Society of Harwood are keeping their fingers crossed for a bit of real summer weather to boost the quality and quantity of blooms in their 20th annual show. The organisers of the show, in the Methodist Church Hall, Tottington Road, Harwood, on September 1, are hoping for more than 180 entries. Publicity secretary Philip Yates said the cool and rainy weather was holding the dahlias back - they were not opening as fast as they should and there were not as many blooms about.

THE hunt is on to trace former textile workers suffering from byssinosis, the industrial respiratory disease, who may stand to benefit from new Government legislation. The General Secretary of the Bolton and District Union of Textile and Allied Workers, Mr Joe Quinn, said: "We are anxious to contact as many potential claimants as possible."

From the Evening News, August 23, 1994: HEALTH bosses are investing more than £200,000 to tighten security at Bolton's hospitals. Orders have been placed for closed circuit surveillance cameras, state-of-the-art alarms and security patrols to make sure the town's three main hospitals are protected all the year round.

COUNCILS could soon get powers to charge drivers for entering town and city centres, a government minister confirmed. Stephen Norris said the idea - aimed at cutting traffic jams and exhaust pollution - was under consideration by the Department of Transport. But whether it ever goes ahead depends on the necessary computer technology being developed.