‘Excuse me sir, you can’t leave that there!’
This wonderful photo dates to April 1904 and records an unusual incident in Bolton town centre.
At the time, the motor car was very much in its infancy with many sceptics saying this new fangled idea would never catch on.
Early motoring pioneer George Edward Cain from Bromwich Street in Bolton decided to show the doubters that anything a horse could do, a car could do just as well.
And so he drove his air-cooled 10hp Lanchester up the steps leading to the main entrance to Bolton town hall.
This picture shows him reversing the tiller-steered vehicle back down on to Victoria Square the gaze of one of the lion statues.
What the photo doesn’t show is Mr Cain being fined for endangering public property by his actions which must have been one of the first traffic offences in the town - and probably remains still one of the most unusual.
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