WHEN the NHS celebrates 70 years of service this summer it will be a special occasion recognised by many.

There will still be Looking Back readers who can remember a time before the NHS — a time when getting health care was not only costly but for many impossible.

While so many people feared going into the workhouse for some it was the only way to get the vital health treatment they needed.

In Bolton there has been a form of health care for the poor since 1814.

In 1813 a town meeting was held to set up a dispensary for the very poor of the Bolton district.

On June 7, 1814 the dispensary was finally opened at a house in Mawdsley Street and an apothecary was appointed with an annual salary of £100.

The idea was that people could get medicines here.

In 1827 land was donated by the local landowner the Earl of Bradford and a purpose built dispensary was opened in nearby Nelson Square.

This building had space for beds as well as a medical library.

In 1847 the name was changed to Bolton Infirmary and Dispensary to acknowledge its care for patients within the building.

In 1877 there was a need for larger premises and land was found close to Queens Park and work began on building the new infirmary.

On July 21 in 1883 the new infirmary building was opened.

This hospital would be called Bolton Royal Infirmary and provided care for residents in this particular area of Bolton until its closure in 1996.

Bolton Workhouse — there were others but this was the main workhouse in the town — was where parts of the Royal Bolton Hospital now stand.

In 1858 Fishpool Farm was bought to build the workhouse (Townley’s).

For all its old life as the Bolton General Hospital and to the older residents of Bolton the hospital was known by its previous title of Townley’s.

It was also known as the Fishpool Institute.

The building was opened to the public on September 28, 1861.

More building were added so that a women’s wing could be created and this was in 1864.

A new fever hospital was completed called Dowling House in 1872.

This would isolate patients from what were described at the time as the “healthy poor”.

In 1884 the original cook house and bread room were made into a chapel for Holy Communion and in 1894 the land adjoining the workhouse was bought from Townley’s Estate and two blocks were built for people needing nursing care.

By 1901 a nurse’s home had been completed so that nursing staff could live on the premises.

During the World War One years the number of people in the workhouse was gradually decreasing and the premises were no longer needed for this purpose and then would provide nursing care for the general population.

From January 1915 increasing numbers of wounded soldiers would be nursed in Townley’s beds.

n See next week’s Looking Back for more on the history of hospitals and the NHS in Bolton.