From the Evening News, February 17, 1903: Here are some choice specimens of "associated ideas" drawn forth from the schoolboy mind during the torture of examination:- "Queen Elizabeth was a vurgin Queen and she was never marrid. She was so fond of dresses she was never seen without one, and she was beauteful and clever, with red hair and freckles."

"The Constitution of Clarendon was so shattered through grief that he died quite a young man before he had time to grow old."

"Lord Alfred Tennyson was a celebrated poet and he wrote a lot of beautiful poims with long hair and studid so much that he used to say to his mother 'Call me early dear!' His gratest poim is called The Idle King. He was made a lord but he was a good man and wrote many oads."

The lad who described Parliament as "a place where they go to talk about Birmingham" ought to make his mark in future politics.

From the Evening News, February 16, 1993: VICE girls are being arrested in a police crackdown to clean up Bolton's "red light" district. The police operation has been mounted as an increasing number of women offer sex for sale in streets off the town centre.

THEY'VE got the bell bottom blues, stilt walker platform shoes and even Bjorn-again Abba - and they're whooping up the "newest" craze in Bolton like it's going out of fashion. Well, not exactly new. For this blast from the past is but one generation old. The Kiss nightspot - next to the Octagon - has launched weekly Boogie Nights, and now clubgoers can't get enough of the 70s.

From the Evening News, February 16, 1978: FIVE people were hurt when a massive gas explosion demolished a Bolton shop and wrecked nearby houses today. Castle Street, the scene of the blast, was turned into a potential time bomb. Seeping gas caused a big blaze among the rubble and residents were evacuated and supplies cut off. About 40 rescuers dashed for safety after fears that there might be another blast, and about 60 residents were evacuated. The horror struck at 10.45 am when a North West gas engineer arrived at the shop, Dart Radios, to investigate a gas leak. A huge explosion blew up the shop, the house next door was partly demolished, and homes up to 200 yards away were damaged.

From the Evening News, February 16, 1953: THE first three-dimensional American feature film to be shown on the Odeon and Gaumont circuits will be "Bwana Devil", but cinema audiences in Bolton will not have a chance to see the film yet. Special equipment to show the three-dimensional films has to be installed. Not since Hollywood discovered talking pictures has there been such fierce competition in the film capital. Three-D films are clearly seen as the answer to the competitive threat of TV, and companies like MGM, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. have already started producing these films.