A SPECIAL anniversary kicked off the first month of the year with one of Bolton’s favourite attractions marking its 75th birthday.

Bolton Aquarium is home to more than 70 varieties of fish from around the world and has attracted thousands of visitors and a special party was held to celebrate the special milestone.

In politics, one of the rising starts of the Labour Party in Bolton announced that she would step down from the council after just one term.

Breightmet councillor Kate Lewis said her priorities had changed after giving birth to her son Elliot.

Bolton’s iconic Palais de Danse was put up for sale for nearly £500,000.

The former Ikon nightclub featured on the BBC documentary You Make Me Feel Dancing, in which the former dance hall reopened for one night only.

It appearance on the programme was said to have sparked a flurry of interest from potential buyers.

A second Bolton church was given a licence to host same sex marriages.

Bank Street Unitarian Chapel was awarded the special licence in this month, with the first church in Bolton to be given permission to conduct gay weddings was Walmsley Unitarian Church just over a year earlier.