SIR: In reply to Mr Michael McEwing's letter recently, I must say that he has got his wires crossed. He states that 40 years ago (which would be 1956), he bought toys from Boydells shop in Bold Street.
At that time, the shop in Bold Street belonged to, and was run by Mr and Mrs Gilbert Greenhalgh, and it was Bolton's premier model, not toy shop.
I cannot quote the exact date, but I think it was well into the 60s when Boydells bought out Mr Greenhalgh.
Incidentally, Mr Greenhalgh was the first to cut balsa wood commecially in this country, for model aircraft use. Mr Greenhalgh had a small sawmill-cum-factory in Farnworth. There, before the war, he produced some of this country's first model aircraft construction kits, called the Grenwyn Series. He also made and sold some of the earliest cellulose balsa cement.
Sadly, for we model aeroplane 'nuts', after Boydells took over it became a toyshop, with a few modelling goods on the side.
All the same, I along with many of Bolton's modelling fraternity, am saddened by the demise of this store.
J Marsden
Carnation Road, Farnworth
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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