NECKS were being strained in Bolton's Market Hall on Sunday ... to watch men at work!
The North-west firm that has the cleaning contract for the famous Victorian building was tackling the roof struts by hand, perched on "cherry pickers".
And their activities way above the market stalls provided fascinating "entertainment" for the stream of shoppers going through the hall (it's closed for business on Sundays), and for people enjoying refreshments in the first-floor cafe at the entrance to The Market Place.
A spokesman at the Market Hall explained that the high-level cleaning was carried out once a year. It's part of a comprehensive cleaning programme that runs daily on the ground, quarterly for the mid-level (tops of stalls) and yearly to include the cast iron struts of the original building.
The Hall was opened in December, 1855 with great ceremony and public rejoicing. The building and approaches cost from £90,000 to £100,000, designed by Mr T G Robinson of Leamington. The then Vicar of Bolton, Canon Slade described it as "a market house which Europe herself might admire and emulate."
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