WHEN I came across this picture in the Bolton Evening News' library files, no details were included. So I went into the Sherlock Holmes mode, got out the magnifying glass, and looked at the wording on some of the notices.

You will be able to see the words John Bolton, Saddler, over the door on the right, but I had to go back into the late 1800s before I could find a mention of him in the Bolton Directories. His address was given as 155 Deansgate.

On the left is another shop notice, which you will not be able to read, but it says "P. Critchley", who is listed as an iron and tinplate worker at 1 Blackhorse Street. So as far as I can ascertain, it is the junction of Deansgate and Blackhorse Street, with, in the background, possibly Bessemers steel works, which stood about where the Ashburner Street market is sited today.