It was a sunny day but I was feeling a bit down and I wanted to record how it really is in northern Britain today. These shots are of Bolton in Lancashire and nearby locales.
The petrol station.
This is our nearest petrol station situated at a busy crossroads where Tonge Moor Road and Crompton Way meet. The pub on the opposite corner is the Bolton Castle. It used to be a smart pub but now has a clientele who are very well known to the local police.
Too many cars.
This is Tonge Moor Road looking in the opposite direction ( my street is off to the left just before the traffic lights). The hills you can see are the West Pennine Moors and provide a nice contrast to all the traffic. They'll still be there when we and all our cars have long gone from the planet. They give me a lot of comfort and its great living so close to such wild beauty. The houses on both sides of the road were built around 1890 and housed workers from nearby cotton mills. The mills have long gone though. In their heyday Bolton was a thriving cotton town. Samuel Crompton was born about five minutes walk from here in a quaint little backwater called Firwood Fold, just behind Crompton Way.
Samuel Crompton's birthplace, Firwood Fold, Bolton.
Samuel Crompton was the inventor of the Mule which helped to bring steam power to the budding cotton industry and paved the way for the weaving and spinning of cotton cloth in a factory setting. Before this cotton was weaved in Bolton by handloom weavers in their own homes. As the factories took over the handloom weavers suffered great hardship but many were too proud to go into the factories until starvation forced them to give in.
Back to the present day…
Pensioner walking his dogs.
Here we see the other side of the junction across from the petrol station. This old man can often be seen with his dogs.
Castle Hill Post Office.
Just down the road, towards the town centre, is our local Post Office. Nowadays it's mainly used by people collecting their social security payments or their old age pensions. There are a lot of local people on welfare benefits around here. Many people are struggling financially in Britain today. More people than ever before are in debt and repossession of houses is becoming commonplace. Pensioners in Britain have never been as badly off and during the winter a lot of them have to choose between eating or heating. The amount of money made available from central government to local authorities to provide home care for the very sick and disabled is being cut every year. Britain is no longer a society that cares, despite what politicians would have us believe.
Shops on Tonge Moor Road.
Lower down the road there are quite a number of shops. Many of the buildings are run down and some are boarded up. There's been a recent attempt by the local authority to smarten up the area by laying new pavements but it hasn't done much for the businesses around here.
Stopping for a chat.
This shot was taken in the nearby village of Horwich. Its about 6 miles away from where I live and has old fashioned High Street shopping. The pace of life here seems much slower and everyone knows each other. You often see scenes like this. Its nice to see that people have time for each other.
The church at Belmont, Bolton
Not all that far from where those ladies were standing is another section of the moors. In fact wherever you go in Bolton the moors are not far away. This church at Belmont village stands on the opposite hillside to Horwich.
I may have started out the day feeling down and depressed, and some of these photos have given a dismal picture of Bolton; but when I see sights like this one I realise that there's also beauty in the world, as well as squalor.
