I made one of my very rare trips to Bolton today. I parked near Aldi just avoiding the broken bottle in the gutter and walked through the path to Topp Way.

This area is an absolute tip with rubbish everywhere.

My objective was the One Stop shop at the town hall. It was shut despite Saturday being the day when most working people can get there.

I then went into the library and selected a couple of books. My library card wouldn’t work but the assistant sorted it.

I then rambled across to M&S only to find the back door closed. Having finally found the way in, I went to the cafeteria. Latte and a scone please. Sorry no scones left — it was 3.30pm.

Myself and two others looked around the men’s department and I selected three T-shirts but couldn’t find the cash till. It was downstairs!

Onward to the Pastie Shoppe. Six frozen pasties please — sorry you can only have four or eight, we’re not allowed to split the packets. What if I only want one? — that’s OK because they’re not frozen.

Walked rather dejectedly back to the car being accosted by a beggar on the way.

The only good thing about the trip was the lack of traffic on Blackburn Road — normally it moves at about two miles an hour but today was clear as very few want to risk coming into Bolton.

DEJECTED

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