BANK Street, in Bolton town centre, was a “pleasant area” in the 1960s and 1970s, according to reader Barbara Bowden.

“There used to be a pet shop on the right hand side as you go down the hill about six shops down, " she recalls. “It was a three storey building and the shop was owned by a Mr Grocock.

“I kept canaries and other foreign birds in cages and aviaries in the garage and regularly visited the shop to see what birds he had and to buy bird seed,” she says.

Barbara also remembers that on one occasion, in around 1965, she and her brother were invited in, by Mr Grocock, to see his own birds.

“He took us to the first floor which was crammed full of cages, from floor to ceiling, filled with hundreds of birds flying around.

“Then we went to the second floor and entered the room through a wire meshed door.

“Once again, it was crammed full of cages, but this time there were birds flying free and quail scuttling along the floor. My brother and I couldn’t believe it. I ended up buying a lovely coloured Golden Song Sparrow. When we got home, I put it in a triple cage but it was completely wild and I had to put it in the aviary.”

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Barbara also remembers the Cromwellian or Beachcomber in Bank Street.

“Around 1969 I was a student and used to work in the Golden Lion where I got complimentary tickets for here and the Empress on Mealhouse Lane. After finishing work at midnight on a Saturday night, my friend and I would go to the Cromwellian or Beachcomber where we would have a drink, chat to people and dance until they closed around 1.30am. We then walked round the corner to the Empress and stay until they closed around 4am then walked home calling in at Hom’s Fish and Chip Shop in Halliwell Road to buy whatever they had left before continuing our journey home to Lostock.”