BOLTON Museum and Art Gallery has been a popular place for families to visit for almost 80 years.

The collections include natural history, archaeology, art, local history and one of Britain’s oldest public aquariums.

These are housed, together with Bolton Central Library, in one end of the Bolton Civic Centre, designed by, local architects, Bradshaw Gass & Hope and opened in 1939.

It was the start of World War Two and a time of great uncertainty in Bolton and Great Britain as a whole but the amazing architectural work created right here in the town centre would be much admired and still is today.

Our photographs show a T Rex ready to meet the Bolton public at the museum in 1969 and little Maia Roberts learning all about the history of radio in 1972.