FROM THE EVENING NEWS, SEPTEMBER 14, 1995: COUNCIL chiefs have given themselves a pat on the back for the way they deal with people.

Bolton town hall bosses have carried out an in-depth study into how promptly phone calls and letters are answered.

It showed that 91.4 per cent of letters were answered inside 14 days, and 93 per cent of telephone calls were answered in 15 seconds.

BOLTON'S jobless figures rose by 71 in August from 8,989 to 9,060.

The number of unemployed males decreased by 52 to 7,020.

But female unemployment rose by 123 to 2,040.

25 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News

September 13, 1980

GARDENER Ernest Campbell's pride and joy in his 14-foot sunflower.

He and his wife Margaret paid just 10p for the seeds, and now there are 15 flowers on the way into full bloom.

"Almost every leaf has a bud on it," said Ernest, who lives in Central Drive, Farnworth.

The couple are wondering if that number of blooms adds up to a local record.

PEOPLE living on the Ladybridge estate in Bolton run their own night school courses.

For the past three years they've booked St. Bernard's primary school and run 10-week sessions on yoga, floral art, French and art.

They've even managed to undercut the local authority night school charges by 12.5 per cent, in addition to saving residents the cost of bus travel into the town centre.

50 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News

September 14, 1955

THE most spectacular decrease in hospital waiting lists in the Bolton group, reports Mr S Bates, hospital secretary, was in the children's section for tonsil and adenoid operations, but in other sections there has been little or no change.

TWO trade chiefs told Lancashire businessmen to-day of opportunities abroad for British capital.

Mr Charles M. Austin, an executive member of the Federated Chamber of Commerce of Rhodesia, on a visit to Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said there was a good opening in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland for exports of the cheaper ranges of cotton-piece goods.

100 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News

September 14, 1905

THE General Purposes Committee at their meeting this afternoon considered recommendations that Mr S. Parker, the present Town Clerk, pro. tem., be Town Clerk at a salary of £650 per annum, rising by £50 until £1,000 is reached, and that Mr D. L. Harbottle, assistant solicitor to the Corporation, be appointed Deputy Town Clerk at a salary of £350.

WHILE there is an earnest feeling in favour of peace, the Norwegian public is convinced that if Sweden does not agree to a treaty of arbitration as an offset to the razing of Norwegian fortresses on the frontier her assurances that she is desirous of a lasting peace cannot be taken seriously.