TODAY'S strike by employees at Bolton's indoor and outdoor markets will be extended if traders operate their own refuse disposal service. The threat came this morning from Mr Ken McIvor, secretary of the local branches of the General and Municipal Workers' Union.

He said the whole of the town's Cleansing Department would come out in sympathy if traders continued to load refuse on to lorries and take it to the tip themselves. "This is defeating one of the objects of the strike," he said. About 25 Markets Department staff were called out on strike today by the union - the first official impact on Bolton by the nationwide "dirty jobs" strikes by local authority workers in support of their 55s pay demand. 50 YEARS AGO

HOUSEHOLD HINTS: Washing machines become discoloured after a certain amount of use. To make them look quite new again, rub them over with a rag dipped in paraffin, and then wash them in soapy water and dry well.

Use up breadcrumbs by baking them in the oven until golden brown. Then crush them to fine crumbs under a rolling pin and keep them in a tin with a little seasoning. Use when frying fish, etc.

125 YEARS AGO

DEATH OF JAMES ARROWSMITH, ESQ.

Death, the common enemy, has of late removed from our midst many old and respected Boltonians, and it is with much regret that we have now to announce the departure of another link in the chain which binds the past to the present. James Arrowsmith, Esq., formerly one of the magistrates of the borough, died at his residence in Southport yesterday morning, at the venerable age of 80 years. He was born in 1791, and throughout life maintained the character of an upright, straightforward, and plainspoken man. For many years he took a most active part in connection with the parliamentary and municipal affairs of the borough, and was throughout life an earnest and consistent liberal. He took an active part in procuring the Charter of Incorporation; was amongst the earliest elected members of the Town Council; was several times elected to the Aldermanic bench; served the office of Chief Magistrate during the year 1840-1. His name is inseparably bound up with the political as well as the commercial history of Bolton.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.