25 YEARS AGO

AN Army bomb expert was killed today as violence raged on in Northern Ireland. The bomb he was working on blew up in his face. Earlier today another soldier died in hospital after being hit by a sniper late last night.

There has been a steady flow of evacuees from Ulster since the crisis took a dramatic turn for the worse at the start of last week. Trains have daily left Belfast for Dublin packed with fleeing women and young children.

50 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News, July 16, 1947

TEACHING staffs of Bolton schools are doing a great piece of work under difficult conditions, and Bolton schoolchildren are happy. These were two outstanding impressions of yesterday's inspection by Bolton Education Committee of certain primary and nursery schools. A visit to the Authority's camp school, Somerford Hall, at Congleton, gave an indication of the progressive lines along which the Committee hopes to develop.

125 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News, July 16, 1872

CHURCH bells have had their praise sung by many, but in this very practical age, Sabbath morning chimes from 'merry bells' count for little. An indignant correspondent asks: 'What has civilisation done for us in the way of removing irksome nuisances? Here we are in the 19th century, and have still to listen to the monotonous and wearisome din of Church Bells. Why cannot people go to church, like they go to the theatre, without being called by a bell? We never see such crowds at a church door as we see at a theatre, long before the commencement of the performance, and that without the aid of a bell. If the Church cannot gather her flock together without ringing a bell for half an hour every Sunday morning and evening, and also on week days, it is evident that her performance is less attractive that that of a theatre. If a bell must be rung, then, in the name of goodness, let the din not be kept up for half an hour at a time.'

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