SHOPPING in Bolton town centre continues to be fun - even though the Middlebrook complex is a serious competitor these days.

These pictures give a flavour of the "shopping experience" more than 30 years ago. Nobody can resist a bargain, and pictured above was the scene in January, 1967, when bargain-hunters waited for the doors to open at the Whitakers store in Deansgate, Bolton.

Meanwhile older Boltonians will remember Joe's Lost Property and repairs operation in Bank Street, pictured below. This Bolton institution was known affectionately as Joe's Umbrellas. The caption to this 1970 photograph said: "This all-purpose make-and-mend shop is one of the most useful in town".