From the Evening News, April 16, 1904: THE monthly meeting of Farnworth Education Committee received an Inspector's report on St George's School, Plodder Lane.

This stated that in the mixed school the instruction was fairly and intelligently imparted, but in future proper schemes of instruction would be looked for. Suitable instruction in physical exercises was not given in the winter months and the classroom used by the lower standards was overcrowded.

WILLIAM Miller of Oakville, USA, claims to have eaten in half an hour one can of salmon, one half pound of Bologna sausage, half a pound of crackers, two raw eggs and one pound of chocolate - washed down with four bottles of ginger beer.

From the Evening News, April 17, 1954: BY distributing empty match boxes to her freinds, Mrs P Porter, of Cross Street, Bolton, has raised more than £50 in half pennies for St Dunstan's during the past two years. Mrs Porter decided to start what she calls her "halfpenny match box scheme" after she visited the St Dunstan's training centre at Ovingdean, near Brighton, and saw for herself the courage of some of Britain's war-blinded men. Mrs Porter says a large matchbox holds 1s 6d in halfpennies and a normal-sized box holds 1s.

AS thousands of Boltonians poured out of the town by car yesterday on Good Friday, the Royal Automobile Club reported "the worst congestion since the war" on the Belmont-Preston road. Three-mile queues of traffic waited to enter Preston from the Belmont and the Chorley-Preston roads.

From the Evening News, April 17, 1979: STRAY cats roaming in parts of Farnworth have become so wild that they are now dangerous, according to local RSPCA officials. Some families moving out of houses which are due to be demolished in the Peel Street area are leaving their pets behind. Farnworth RSPCA organiser Mrs Edna Lomax estimates there are hundreds of cats running wild.

REAL ale is being sold in many public houses at distinctly unreal prices, it was claimed today. Traditionally brewed beers have become so popular that a number of publicans - particularly in free houses - have started making immense profits, the Campaign for Real Ale stated. Now the Campaign has decided to call time on these pubs and bar them from its 1979 guide.

From the Evening News, April 16, 1994: HOME Watch schemes are having a dramatic impact in reducing crime on Bolton's housing estates. Statistics show that in some areas the number of burglaries has been reduced by up to 25 per cent since local schemes were formed. In Bolton as a whole there are now 1,800 neighbourhood watch groups covering 30,000 homes.

MR Blobby was flying into the millionaires' playground of Cannes today hoping to persuade broadcasters at the MIPTV programmes market to sign him up to appear in up to 42 different countries.