Students from a school in Westhoughton paid a visit to the Mayor to learn about the role, to see the town hall and to see the civic parlour.

Children from Eatock Primary School and council members, joined the mayor for tea and biscuits and they loved it.

During their visit, they had a close look at the items in the cabinets that previous mayors had either donated or had gifted to them.

And they had a peak in the ‘blue room’ as well as the hall where all the meetings take place.

Helena Pendleton, Year One class teacher and school council lead, said the students loved the visit.

She said: “We do these visits annually but we couldn’t go last year due to Covid-19.

“During the visits, the children learn the roles the mayor does and the roles they do for the community and how important it is to be a representative for the community.

“As school councillors, the children are given a voice as representatives for the school and these visits allow them to see how they can represent the school further.

“The children loved the tea and biscuits in the parlour mainly but they were also fascinated by the history.

“At the visit they learnt about the elephant being a symbol in Bolton and they were looking for them as they were hidden around the room.

“It’s been a fantastic experience for them and they all really enjoyed it.”

One pupil from Year Five said he enjoyed the visit and particularly liked looking at all the past mayors and learning about their roles and a Year Four boy said he would like to be a mayor when he’s older as he would like to be a representative for the community.

Cllr Stuart Hartigan has emailed schools in Breightmet with details how to book onto the town hall experience, if they feel their child would benefit, to get in touch with their schools.