WHEN Ted Grant's mother decided she didn't want him hanging around on street corners, she sent him to Bolton Lads Club - that was in the early 1930s.

His parents, Maud and William, needed to find something constructive for their eight sons and eight daughters to do. Bolton Lads' Club, as it was known then, seemed the answer to their prayers.

Ted, now aged 80, visited the Spa Road club last week to see how it had changed since he was a member 70 years ago. And his verdict?

"It's still keeping children out of trouble - just like it did all those years ago," he said.

Ted was born in Bolton in 1925, and lived with his family in Haydock Street. In the early part of the century, children had to find things to do - because, of course, families did not have the things they take for granted today, like televisions, computers and electronic games.

As an active 10-year-old, Ted was taken to join Bolton Lads' Club, which had close links with Bolton Boys Brigade.

The club offered youngsters a range of activities, including boxing - which it is still famous for today, boasting Olympic medal-winner Amir Khan as one of its prodigies - as well as football and camping.

"For six pence a week, we could ensure we went to camp, and I used to enjoy that," said Ted.

Today, the boys and girls still enjoy camping trips with the club.

Ted, who now lives with his wife Joan, also 80, in Adlington, used to enjoy playing football, and would visit the club three times a week. Wednesday night always involved a talk on a current subject. "I think the club is fantastic now," he said. "It's a wonderful place for the children to visit and spend time."

It is a far cry from the cramped conditions endured by children in Bark Street in the 1930s - but even that was preferable for most parents than having their youngsters playing in the street.

Ted said: "I think the outdoor football pitch is wonderful, and the number of activities the children can get involved in is marvellous. There is a lot more to do here than when I was a member. Children need something to do, and this club provides that."

Ted was a pupil at St Mark's School in Lever Street, Bolton, and left there to go into engineering. He was a keen member of the club from the age of 10 to around 15, and said it left a lasting impression on him, helping him develop a positive and determined attitude and giving him new experiences he would not otherwise have had.

"It kept me out of trouble and I'm pleased to see it's doing the same for young people today," he said. "Parents always liked to know where their children were, and it's the same nowadays."

Bolton Lads' Club was opened on June 9, 1890, by the Bishop of Manchester.

It was founded by three church leaders and three industrialists, who decided they must do something to improve the lives of young people at a time when children as young as 10 were working in the cotton mills.

They bought an old warehouse in Bark Street and opened it as a hostel where young mill workers could wash, eat and sleep.

An extract from the 1896 club review reveals: "They came in their hundreds, for of all animals, lads are perhaps the most gregarious. They came to meet their fellows under conditions somewhat more comfortable and convenient than their natural meeting place, the street.

"They initially came for amusement, for games and for nothing else, and if we had told them it was our intention to improve them they would certainly not have come.

"But it is interesting how quickly their attitude to the club has changed. It is no longer our club, it is theirs, and we merely manage it for them. It is no longer a mere place of amusement but it is a place which plays a real part in their lives. It is a place for honour and success."

In the late 1980s, girls were admitted for the first time. In the 1990s, youth clubs were added seven nights a week and an after-school club was started where working parents could leave their children during holidays and after school.

In the mid-1990s, an Outreach Project was formed, and teams visited problem areas to encourage youngsters off the streets and into the club. In 2002, the club moved to its present, super-modern premises in Spa Road.

l If anyone has any information or memories of the club, please write to Judi Hibbert (PR co-ordinator), Bolton Lads & Girls Club, 18 Spa Road, Bolton, BL1 4AG.