ONCE upon a time (no, no, this is not a nursery rhyme, it's a true story) there was a firm which made varnish in Bradshaw.

I know that because I found these pictures in the Bolton Evening News' library files, and the report at the time they appeared in the paper, 1948, simply read: "Amongst the many activities in that surprising little district of Bradshaw is a thriving varnish works whose products have long been a household name in and around Bolton.

"There may not appear to be much about the making of varnish. But then, it looks easy enough to put on until you try it, when you find that there is only one right way.

"First the ingredients are carefully weighed and measured then put into the mixing drums. The finished product is bottled by a famous machine made by another Bolton firm and cases of filled bottles pass along to the packing department where nimble fingers fit caps and labels and pack into boxes. Then another load is dispatched from Bradshaw for the beautification of many homes."

For further details I had to ask Jim Francis, chairman of the Turton Local History Society, who tells me that when he came to the Bolton area as a Serviceman in 1943, on a course at Bolton Technical College, he had an excellent billet with Fred and Ada Booth of Rigby Lane, Bradshaw.

"Near the top of Rigby Lane junction with Turton Road was 'Waddicor's Varnish Works' - so I remember the smell well!", he writes.

"In the Bolton Post Office Directory of 1892, James Waddicor is noted as a Drysalter and Varnish Manufacturer. Mr Waddicor lived at 240, Turton Road, just round the corner from the varnish works, moving to Grange Road on his retirement when the works closed in the early 1960s.

"Asking my local friends, Waddicor's made good quality paints as well as varnish. Although the firm is described as being in Bradshaw, it was actually in Turton Township, and is included in the Turton section of the directories."

Thank you for those details, Jim. I am sure that these photographs will be of great interest to readers.