THIS picture shows a very familiar town centre square.

Victoria Square was clearly a popular place to take a well earned rest from shopping or work back in 1966.

So much has changed in our town centre that it often takes a couple of seconds to recognise the street where the picture was taken.

That is definitely not the case here as Victoria Square does not look considerably different more than 50 years later other than the number of people sitting around and enjoying the sunshine.

Many of our readers will recall a time when everyone headed for Bolton Town Centre for a variety of reasons.

It could be you just wanted to buy groceries and fresh fruit and vegetables so Ashburner Street Market was the destination or you needed needles and cotton or a Christening dress and then Bolton’s Market Hall would be the place to go.

Today with most families owning a car and big shopping centres having been developed and people often preferring to travel to them to do their shopping Bolton Town Centre does not have the same footfall as it did.

But it still retains its appeal to many of our readers who enjoy spending time among the old buildings that give our town its historic appeal and comfortable nature.

Nothing beats shopping locally!