1950 (15 Jan) Tony Berry, lead singer with The Houghton Weavers, born
Former pupil of Thornleigh Salesian College
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1950 (23 Feb) John Lewis returned as MP for the new Bolton West constituency
1950 (17 Aug) Marks and Spencer (45 to 49 Deansgate): On August 17, 1950 part of the first floor was converted into a sales floor.
The main frontage remained at 62 feet but the total square footage of the store then nearly doubled to 12,400. The ground floor covered 6,500 square feet and the first floor was 5,850 square feet.
1950 (Sep) Manchester United sold John Ball to Bolton Wanderers in September 1950.
1950 (Sep) Harry McShane joined Manchester United in exchange for defender John Ball and £5,000 in September 1950. He was signed to replace the departing Charlie Mitten
1950 (26 Oct) Hon Thomas Geoffrey (Tom) Sackville, British Conservative politician, born, the second son of William Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr
Educated Eton College, Lincoln College, Oxford.
MP for Bolton West 1983-1997 (Conservative).
1950 (Oct) Bill Ridding replaced Walter Rowley, who resigned due to ill health, in October 1950 as manager of Bolton Wanderers.
1950 (6 Nov) The Oaks station closed on 6 November 1950
1950 (22 Nov) Nat Lofthouse scored both goals in a 2-2 draw with Yugoslavia at Highbury on his England debut.
1950 (11 Dec) Garry Edwin Jones (1950 – 2016), English footballer who played as a centre forward, born. Died 6 Apr 2016
1950 During a brief break from showbusiness in 1950, Hylda Baker (born 1905) owned a fish and chip shop in Farnworth.
1950 The constituency of Bolton abolished
1950 The constituency of Bolton was divided in a boundary review for the 1950 general election.
1950 Lancashire Constabulary was the first to use Winter Hill 456 metres (1,496 ft) high) for one of their base stations
1950 Winter Hill: Lancashire Constabulary was the first to use the site for one of their base stations in 1950; they had to build the road and it is said to have been built by policemen
1950 Farnworth-born Jim Halliday was 1st in the 1950 British Empire Games Lightweight Weightlifting class (760 pounds).
1950 In the British Empire Games, Bolton-born Harry Whittle competing for England, finished fifth in the 440 yards hurdles as well as in the long jump. In triple jump he finished tenth and in the 440 yards he was eliminated in the heats.
1950 The membership of the Operative Cotton Spinners Provincial Association of Bolton and Surrounding Districts was almost 7,500 (>1970)
1950–51 season saw a significant improvement in Bolton's league performance, finishing eighth, six places higher than the previous season.
1950-1951 Demolition of Moss Bank House began in 1950 and by 1951, the house had gone forever
Over many years of neglect and with no damp proof course, dry rot had set in
The only remaining part of the house is the tower, added by John H Ainsworth, for his hobby of studying uranoscopy – the study of heavenly bodies. The ground floor was used by his wife as a sewing room.
1950-1958 Nat Lofthouse (born 1925) was capped 33 times for the England national team, scoring 30 goals and giving himself one of the greatest goals-per-game ratios of any player to represent England at the highest level
1950–1958 John Ball (Bolton Wanderers) scored 2 goals in 200 appearances.
1950’s Part of the Arthur Askey Film “ The Love Match” was filmed at Burnden Park
1950s There were still 103 mills
1950s There was a decline in cinema-going with the arrival of television.
1950s A sword from the time of the Civil War was discovered in the garden of one of the cottages at Pocket Nook in Chew Moor.
1951 (11 Sep) Len Cantello, a former football midfielder, born in Manchester, England.
1951 (6 Oct) Dave Spikey, English actor, comedian, writer and producer born as David G Bramwell in Farnworth.
1951 (16 Sep) Stephen ("Steve") Kenyon, retired male long-distance runner from England, born He competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the men's marathon and half marathon. He was raised in Bolton, England
1951 (25 Oct) General Election: Arthur Frederick Holt (Liberal) elected MP for Bolton West, when he defeated the only other candidate, sitting Labour MP John Lewis
Holt was re-elected in two straight contests with Labour at two further general elections
1951 (25 Oct) General Election: Philip Ingress Bell was elected MP for Bolton East by 355 votes
1951 (29 Oct) Darcy Lever railway station closed.
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1951 Darcy Lever Hall demolished in 1951
1951 Hamer’s sold out to Dutton’s of Blackburn
1951 Syncopating Sandy played piano non-stop for 193 hours and 50 minutes in Castillian Club in Higher Bridge Street
1951 Stu Francis, British comedian, born in Bolton, Lancashire, England
Educated Brownlow Fold Junior School and Smithills Base School, both in Bolton.
Lead presenter on the children’s television programme “Crackerjack” 1979-1984
1951 Ray Parry joined Bolton in 1951 and made his senior debut after playing only six games in the reserves
1951 Ray Parry was the youngest player ever to play in the First Division in 1951 when he played for Bolton against Wolves at Burnden Park at the tender age of just 15 years and 267 days.
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1951 Manor Carpets established in 1951 as one of the first floor covering retailers in the Bolton area. A family-run business, it has been managed by two generations of the same family from the start.
1951 Eden’s Orphanage was taken over by the Isis Independent School (established in Mawdsley Street in 1948), but closed in 1966 when it became uneconomic to run.
The site and buildings were sold for residential use, most of the old buildings were demolished, however the gatehouse still remains.
1951 Hamer’s were bought out by Dutton’s in 1951.
1951-1952 The following season 1951–52 Bolton Wanderers finished three places higher in fifth.
1952 (3 Mar) Daubhill Station closed
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1952 (3 Mar) Chequerbent railway station closed to passengers (>25 Feb 1965)
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1952 (3 Mar) Rumworth and Daubhill closed to passengers
1952 (15 Mar) Howard Devoto, born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. In 1972 he went to Bolton Institute of Technology (now the University of Bolton) to study psychology, and, later, humanities. During these college years, he met his future Buzzcocks bandmates Pete Shelley and Ben Mandelson.
1952 (Mar) Philip Ingress Bell’s maiden speech- concerned the National Health Service Bill, which allowed the National Health services to charge for medical appliances; he called for pensioners to be exempt from the charges
1952 (25 May) Nat Lofthouse earned the title 'Lion of Vienna' after scoring his second goal in England's 3–2 victory over Austria. In doing so he was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind and finally brought down by the goalkeeper
1952 (20 Jul) The men's 10,000 metres event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place July 20. The final was won by Emil Zátopek of Czechoslovakia
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1952 (15 Aug) Kathleen Mayoh (c.1932-) became the 50th person to swim the Channel, which she achieved from Sangatte to East Wear Bay in 16 hours 55 minutes.
1952 (22 Sep) George Tomlinson, Minister of Education, died
1952 (24 Sep) Nat Lofthouse scored six goals in a game between the English Football League and the Irish League on 24 September 1952 – a 7-1 victory at Wolverhampton.
1952 (6 Oct) Seamus Martin McDonagh, known as Jim McDonagh, a former association football goalkeeper, born. He won 25 caps for Ireland and made more than 400 appearances in the English leagues.
1952 Frederick Norris (1921-2006) was seventh behind Zatopek in the 10,000 metres at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
1952 Fred Norris (Bolton Harriers) in the 10,000m at the Olympics (>1956)
1952 Turton Tower was officially opened as a museum by the Rt. Hon., the Earl of Derby, M.C., J.P., Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire.
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1952-1953 An FA Cup Final appearance ; however they lost a thrilling encounter against a Stanley Matthews inspired Blackpool team 4–3.
1953 (2 May) The 1953 FA Cup Final, also known as the Matthews Final, was the eighth to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War. The football match was contested between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers, with Blackpool winning 4–3. The match became famous for the performance of Blackpool winger Stanley Matthews, after whom it was nicknamed. It remains the only Wembley FA Cup Final to feature a hat-trick, scored by Blackpool's Stan Mortensen. It shows the quality of Matthews' performance that despite the hat-trick it wasn't called "The Mortenson Final". Blackpool were making their third FA Cup appearance in six years having been losing finalists twice, in 1948 and 1951. Nat Lofthouse, who scored Bolton's first goal, scored in every round of that year's FA Cup
1953 (6 May) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007, born. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997. As of 2017, Blair is the last British Labour Party leader to have won a general election.
1953 (13 May) Paul Bernard Jones, a former professional footballer, born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. He played as a defender in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, where he spent most of his career.
1953 (22 May) Paul Mariner, English international football player, born in Farnworth, Lancashire Represented Plymouth Argyle, Ipswich Town, Arsenal and England as a centre forward during the 1970s and 1980s
1953 (20 Jul) The Good Old Days was first broadcast on BBC 1
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1953 (6 Aug) Kathleen Mayoh (born c.1932-) won the first Butlin International Channel Race in 1953, despite the fact she did not finish. She was declared the winner as she was less than a mile short and no one else finished.
1953 (12 Sep) Marian Allen died unmarried at Woodstock Road in Oxford.
1953 (6 Oct) Ben Mandelson, English world musician, and also manager and producer, born in Everton, Liverpool, England. In mid-1970s he was a student in Bolton Institute of Technology (now Bolton University), where he met Howard Devoto, future Buzzcocks and Magazine front man
1953 (14 Nov) F/O Arthur Michael Fletcher (RauxAF) of Mornington Road, Bolton, a development engineer was killed following Meteor mid-air collision with F/Lt Anthony Basil Mercer (RauxAF) of Ring Road, Christleton, Chester, a teacher, over moor land at Edgeworth near Bolton.
F/Lt Mercer was awarded the AFC 1 Jan 1954
1953 (14 Nov) Two Gloster Meteors of the RAuxAF crashed on Scholes Height while on exercise from their base in Cheshire on November 14th 1953. Presumably flying in formation and in low cloud, the two jets destroyed the stone wall as they flew into the hillside. Both pilots, Flight Lieutenant Anthony Basil Mercer and Flying Officer Arthur Michael Fletcher, were killed instantly.
The Royal Auxiliary Air Force is like the Territorial Army, civilians trained to support the RAF. 24-year-old Flying Officer Fletcher was a development officer in civilian life, for instance. These Meteors were of 610 squadron, which had seen extensive action in the Battle of Britain before the squadron returned to its home in Cheshire, and their Spitfires were replaced with Gloster Meteors.
Although no remains are visible, the damaged wall is still there.
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Gloster Meteors WH383 and WH384, Edgworth, Lancashire
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1953 “Going To The Match” - A painting of Burnden Park by L S Lowry
1953 Nat Lofthouse scored a goal – but was on the losing side – in the famous 1953 FA Cup Final (aka 'The Matthews Final'), having previously scored in each round.
1953 Nat Lofthouse topped the First Division goalscoring charts with 30 goals.
1953 Nat Lofthouse (Bolton Wanderers) was voted Footballer of the Year
1953 The Red Lion closed in 1953
1953 Rivington Hall: In 1953 Bill & Rhoda Salmon moved into the Hall.
1953-1954 A fifth-place finish came in the 1953–54 league season as well as a run to the quarter finals of the cup.
1954 (Jan) Bolton Corporation introduces the first one-man operated bus on the Affetside service (January).
1954 (Feb) Charles Frederick Sixsmith died at the age of 83
He was one of six brothers from Anderton, near Chorley in Lancashire. He worked at Bentinck Mills, Farnworth, where he held the post of managing director for 40 years until his retirement in 1933. He was active in local government and played a part in the early socialist movement in Britain. He had two sons and a daughter.
1954 (27 Mar) All regular services operating out of Bolton Great Moor Street ceased to operate. The last train was the 10.35pm to Kenyon Junction.
After closure Rugby League Specials and Holiday trains continued to use the station until 1958.
1954 (29 Mar) Bolton Great Moor Street railway station was closed to passenger use by British Railways (London Midland Region).
1954 (29 Mar) Great Moor Street Station closed for normal use but holiday services to North Wales continued.
1954 (12 Sep) Barry Alfred Siddall, English former professional football goalkeeper, born.
1954 (19 Sep) David Bamber, actor, born
Adolf Hitler in the film Valkyrie
Educated at Farnworth Grammar School.
1954 (19 Oct) Samuel Allardyce, English football manager and former professional player, born. He left his post as manager at Premier League club Everton in May 2018.
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1954 (Oct) Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh visited Bolton.
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1954 Bolton Crematorium: The Crematorium at Overdale was built in 1954.
1954 Wild Birds Protection Act
1954 There were 19 cinemas with 21,200 seats, which worked out at one seat per 7.9 people in Bolton.
1954 The Television Bill
1954 Farnworth-born Jim Halliday was 1st in the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Middleweight class (800 pounds).
1954-1955 The 1954–55 season saw Bolton struggle for form in the league, narrowly escaping relegation, finishing the season in eighteenth place
Mid 1950s The major decline in the Bolton cinemas began in the mid-50s.
1955 (17 May) Neil Whatmore, English former footballer who played as a striker, born.
1955 (13 Jun) Anthony “Tony” Knowles, English professional snooker player, born in Bolton. His father was steward of a local Conservative Club
He was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s.
1955 (9 Nov) The Astor was converted back to roller skating and was opened by footballer Nat Lofthouse on November 9th 1955.
1955 The rest of the spire at St Matthews Church, Mount Street, Little Bolton was removed, leaving just the tower (<1947)
1955 After 40 years in the theatre business, Hylda Baker (born 1905) became an overnight star following an appearance on television's The Good Old Days: her act with her tall, silent friend Cynthia and the famous catch-phrase "She knows y'know" became a national favourite,
1955 Hayward Grammar School opened
Planned in 1946 and closed in 1982.
1955 Hayward Grammar School in Great Lever opened in 1955.
1955 The Cottage, 58 Cannon Street, closed down in 1955.
1955 General Election: Philip Ingress Bell improved his Bolton East majority to 3,511
c.1955 Stan Hanson (1915-1987) returned to top-flight football and stayed playing with Bolton until he was nearly 40. He was Bolton's keeper in the Matthews' Cup Final. When he retired from football he stayed with the club as coach of the reserve side as well as running the post office near Burnden Park
1955-1956 The television station was erected on Winter Hill.
1955-1956 Bill Ridding's men bounced back the following season to finish in a respectful eighth position,
1955-1959 Between 1955 and the end of 1959 eight Bolton cinemas closed, the first being the Astor.
1956 (Mar) Trolley buses to Four Lane Ends ceased running (The last trolley bus Service in South Lancashire stopped 31 August 1958)
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1956 (30 Apr-5 May) An unshaven “Syncopating Sandy” Strickland sits wearily at his piano on the stage of the Keighley Hippodrome after beating the world record for non-stop playing. He had played from 10am on April 30 till 11pm on May 5, 1956.
“Syncopating Sandy”, a Bolton textile engineer, needed to play for 133 hours to beat the then record-holder, New Zealander Jim Montecino. His attempt, advertised as “A World Sensation” and “The Greatest Event Staged in Keighley for Years”, provided a boost for Keighley’s theatre, then in its final active year.
The public could attend between 10am and 10pm daily, price a shilling for adults and sixpence for children. Press and officials could watch at any time. As regards his toilet arrangements, a screen was put round him while he played with one hand!
Nearly 20,000 paid to see him, half of those on the final day. The Hippodrome was full to see him finish, playing the “Dam Busters” march he started with. The audience threw coins on stage, and cheered as his 14-year-old son lit the last of the 600 cigarettes he had smoked during the week.
1956 (3 May) The original mast at Winter Hill was a 450 ft high tower which came into service on May 3, 1956, and carried the programmes of Granada ITV (weekdays) and ABC TV (weekends).
1956 (20 Jun) Michael Thomas "Mike" Walsh, English former professional footballer who played for many clubs, born in Manchester. A defender, he was probably best known as a captain of Bolton Wanderers and also for gaining honours representing the Republic of Ireland national football team.
1956 (30 Sep) Trevor James Morgan, English football coach and former player, born.
1956 (20 Oct) Danny Boyle, filmmaker and producer, born in Radcliffe
Studied at Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton
2009 Academy Award: Best Director- Slumdog Millionaire.
1956 (23 Nov) The Men's 10,000 metres at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, held on Friday November 23, 1956. There were a total number of 25 participants from 15 nations.
1956 (1 Dec) The Men's Marathon at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, held on Saturday December 1, 1956. There were a total number of 46 participants from 23 nations, with 13 runners not completing the race. Fred Norris (GBR) DNF
1956 Fred Norris (Bolton Harriers) in the marathon at the Olympics (<1952)
1956 Fred Tillotson, son of W.F., retired, having guided the company both as director and chairman (and on a couple of occasions as editor) since 1901.
1956 The Keighley Hippodrome closed in 1956 and was demolished in 1961, so ending 56 years of fondly remembered entertainment at the venue.
1956 The Bank Of England situated at 36 Kay Street closed in 1956.
1956-1957 Bolton Wanderers - ninth place in 1956–57
1957 (2 Mar) On March 2, 1957, Preston beat Bolton 3-2 at Burnden Park in front of a crowd of 37,090. Sir Tom Finney scored twice – one of them a penalty – with Sammy Taylor also on target.
1957 (10 Mar) Hilary Lorraine Devey CBE, English businesswoman, television personality and entrepreneur, born in Bolton, Lancashire, England. Best known for her two-year role on BBC Two programme Dragons' Den until she left to present the Channel 4 series The Intern.
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1957 (14 Mar) Greenhalgh's Model Bakery Limited incorporated.
1957 (4 Jun) Neil McNab, a former Scottish footballer who played in the midfield position, born.
1957 (10 Jun) Peter Simon Barnes, footballer, born in Manchester
Played 2 games on loan for Bolton in 1987 and 3 games in 1988-1989
1957 (4 Jul) Minnie Whiteside remarried in 1957; her wedding to an old friend, Edward Bull, took place on 4 July.
1957 (24 Aug) Two men discovered “curved lines of stones” sticking out of the peat on Winter Hill that formed a two-foot-high wall. The wall surrounded a raised area located in the middle of it. (> Jul 1958)
1957 (Sep) The Fylde Street disaster: Nearly 400 people were evacuated from 60 houses in Fylde Street, Hall Lane, Hall Street and Annie Street, in Farnworth, after a huge hole opened up. Seventeen houses, the road and the pavement were wrecked as they slid into the muddy void. And they were forced to stay out for three months as sewer works were carried out and safety checks completed. The most amazing things about the disaster is that no-one was hurt - and no-one accepted responsibility. The area has never had a house built on it since although the St Peter's Way by-pass directly crosses the site of the disaster. Following the disaster there was widespread anger as Farnworth Corporation and the Coal Board both denied responsibility, laying the blame on "natural causes". To bring some relief to the victims, the Mayor of Farnworth set up a Disaster Relief Fund and just under £21,000 flooded into the coffers from a variety of sources, including a whip round at Burnden Park on October 5, 1957 when Wanderers lost 0-1 to Arsenal. Members of Farnworth Boys' Club took the collection. The majority of the team who played that day went on to win the FA Cup that season, except Nat Lofthouse who was injured. In addition, a charity concert was organised, headlined by the late Farnworth-born star Hylda Baker. Other big names on the bill included Jimmy Clitheroe, and Bolton tenor Tony Vallance. All those affected received £200 - £50 in cash and £150 in vouchers - from the Mayor's Fund. That was to pay for damaged and lost furniture. Less than a year after the disaster a report came up with the most likely explanation for the sewer collapse. The Bolton Evening News of June 19, 1958, said: "The primary cause of the disaster was a 90-years-old assumption that the sewer was being laid on fairly substantial boulder clay when in fact it was being laid on silt clay which disintegrated." Two other factors, says the report, are that the houses most seriously damaged and which had to be demolished were built on a 'filling' of what was once a wide valley between Hall Lane and Fylde Street and the damming of the river."
1957 (27 Nov) The last steam locomotive constructed at Horwich Works left
1957 Greenhalgh’s founded
Greenhalgh’s Bakery Shop was originally owned by Mr James Greenhalgh. It was bought in the 1940’s by Bolton Palais de Danse Company, primarily to supply their local dance hall with bakery products. Allan Smart was recruited to be the Bakery Manager. He learnt his initial skills by watching his mother performing huge weekly bakes in the back kitchen of a house on Tudor Avenue, Bolton. Whilst working for the Palais Company. Allan spotted one of their young lady office employees and identified the woman with whom he wished to share his life. He married Kathleen in 1950 and from that day forward she was at his side in everything he did. When Mecca took over the Palais Company in 1957, they were prepared to sell the operation to Mr Smart (1924-2003) as a going concern. Mr and Mrs Smart initially named the enterprise ‘Greenhalgh’s Model Bakery’ (later to be renamed Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery) to show that it was a model for all others to follow. The original small shop expanded very quickly to a small bakery in Horwich at 188 Lee Lane. It supplied shops in Adlington and Bolton in addition to the bakery shop.
1957 In 1957, the Belle Cinema was destroyed by fire. Damage was so severe that it was not considered worth repairing. It was demolished several years later, and housing has been built on the site.
1957 Belle Cinema, Belmont Road, Astley Bridge burned down
(<12 Aug 1914)
1957 Jack Clough was invited to referee the 1957 Coupe de France Final between Toulouse and Angers at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes. He was the first and only foreign person to officiate the final of French football's premier cup competition
1957/8 Demolition of one side of Newport Street and north side of Victoria Square
1957-1958 Two burial mounds are located near the peak of Winter Hill, dating from the Bronze Age
1957-1958 The 1957–58 season saw Bolton win their fourth and, to date, last FA Cup with a victory over a post Munich Manchester United. Nat Lofthouse scored twice in a 2–0 win. The team that won the cup had cost just £110 in signing-on fees.
1957-1958 George Hunt (1910-1996) was a member of Bolton 's backroom staff when they won the 1957–58 FA Cup.
1957–1969 Freddie Hill (born 1940) made 375 appearances for Bolton Wanderers 375 scoring 74 goals.
1958 (6 Feb) The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958 when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany. On the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes", along with supporters and journalists. Twenty of the 44 on the aircraft died at the scene. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich where three more died, resulting in 23 fatalities with 21 survivors.
Ian Greaves was not with the United team when eight of their players died in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958, as he was ruled out by injury
1958 (27 Feb) Winter Hill Plane Crash: On 27 February 1958, a Silver City Bristol 170 Freighter (G-AICS) travelling from the Isle of Man to Manchester crashed into Winter Hill (also known as Rivington Moor) several hundred yards away from the mast. 35 people died and 7 were injured. The weather that night was so severe that none of the engineers working in the ITA transmitting centre were aware of the crash. Several feet of snow hampered rescue efforts and a snow cat vehicle had to be diverted from the A6 to cut a path for emergency vehicles though the track had been cleared by people using spades by the time it arrived.
1958 (Feb) Philip Ingress Bell opposed the government’s Recreational Charities Bill, arguing that it extended the definition of charitable causes too widely.
1958 (21 Mar) Anthony Caldwell, English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a forward, born in Salford.
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1958 (3 May) On 3 May 1958, almost five years to the day after losing the 1953 Final, Lofthouse captained Bolton in the 1958 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. There was a national wave of sympathy for United, who three months earlier had suffered grievously in the Munich air disaster. Bolton won the game 2–0 with Lofthouse scoring two goals, the second of which was highly controversial and remains a talking point to this day. Lofthouse went into a challenge with the United keeper Harry Gregg and barged him into the net to score. Shoulder charging the goalkeeper was a legitimate tactic at the time, but Lofthouse later admitted that his challenge was a foul.
1958 (18 May) Tommy Banks (Bolton Wanderers) (born 1929) made his England Debut v USSR, 18 May 1958 aged 28 years, 188 days.
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1958 (27 Jun) Jim Cartwright, English dramatist and actor, born in Farnworth
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1958 (Jul) A group from Manchester University excavated the central mound of a Bronze Age site on Winter Hill only to find it had been excavated 250 years before.
The site was thought to have originated from 1500BC in the Middle Bronze Age.
(>Aug 1958)
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1958 (31 Aug) Last South Lancashire Transport Company (SLT) trolleybus runs (31 August).
1958 (31 Aug) The last trolley bus Service in South Lancashire stopped 31 August 1958.
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1958 (Aug) The site of a second Bronze Age mound was found higher up than the previous mound, on the southern edge of Noon Hill. It was excavated by the Bolton and District Archaeological Society. It revealed two lines of stones and two piles of human remains.
1958 (1 Sep) SLT is closed and is incorporated into LUT (1 September).
1958 (4 Oct) Tommy Banks (Bolton Wanderers) (born 1929) won his Last Cap for England v Northern Ireland, 4 October 1958 aged 28 years, 327 days
1958 (26 Nov) Nat Lofthouse made his final England appearance, against Wales, at the age of 33.
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1958 Frederick Norris (1921-2006) won the bronze medal at the 1958 European Athletics Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, behind two Soviet runners: Sergei Popov and Ivan Filin.
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1958 Tommy Banks (Bolton Wanderers) (born 1929) played in six matches for the England national football team in 1958, including all four matches in the 1958 FIFA World Cup.
1958 Buses replace the trolleybuses and are operated by Bolton and Leigh corporations and LUT.
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1958 Claremont Service Station was established in 1958. It has been owned by the Smith family since 1991.
1958 Magee, Marshall & Co., Ltd were taken over by Greenall Whitley & Co., Ltd, of Warrington.
1958 Greenall Whitley bought Magee’s in 1958.
1958 Great Moor Street station completely closed
1958 New shops (Battersby’s) built on Newport Street opposite Ault’s
1958 The Trinity Street station canopy is demolished
1958 Hulton Hall fell into a state of disrepair before being demolished in 1958.
1958 Bolton Wanderers FC won the FA Cup a fourth time thanks to two Nat Lofthouse goals
1958 35 people killed in an air crash on Winter Hill
1958 Bolton: The Palladium cinema – – became the Wryton Stadium in 1958 and staged wrestling matches for the next 20 years.
1958-1959 The FA Cup victory inspired Bolton in the league as they embarked on their finest league performance in 33 years, finishing the 1958–59 season in fourth position.
1958-1962 Sir Gary Sobers, the West Indies captain and one of the greatest cricketers ever, played for the Radcliffe Cricket Club from 1958 to 1962.
1959 (7 Feb) Samuel Lee, English professional football coach and former player, born.
1959 (6 Apr) Brian Aspen, freestyle wrestling, born in Bolton. Son of Albert “Bert “Aspden. Brian Aspen had the following finishes at major championships :1984 European Championship: 57.0 kg. Freestyle (2nd); 1984 European Championship: 57.0 kg. Freestyle (7th); 1982 Commonwealth Games: 57.0 kg. Freestyle (1st); 1986 Commonwealth Games: 57.0 kg. Freestyle (3rd); 1994 Commonwealth Games: 68.0 kg. Freestyle (7th). Attended 1980 and 1984 Olympics.
1959 (2 May) The 1959 FA Cup Final was contested by Nottingham Forest and Luton Town at Wembley. Forest won 2–1, with goals from Roy Dwight and Tommy Wilson just four minutes apart. Dave Pacey scored Luton's consolation goal. Referee Jack Clough (Bolton)
1959 (May) Grand Theatre closed but used for other purposes for a time afterwards
1959 (19 Jun) Jeffrey George Chandler, former professional footballer, born.
1959 The Grand closed
1959 Philip Ingress Bell opposed the Legitimacy Act, contending that removing the legal disabilities of illegitimate children would be a risk against the institution of marriage.
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1959 The Bay Horse pub sold to Marks and Spencer in 1959. (>Apr 1960)
1959 Crown Brewery was taken over by Duttons brewery of Blackburn in 1959
1959 Canon Slade School moved from Silverwell Street to Bradshaw Brow
1959 The Gem Cinema was closed in 1959
1959 new shops on Great Moor Street are in use, the Wheatsheaf has not yet been demolished
1959 F W Woolworth: So robust was the business in these early years that despite the recession of 1959 the shop was redesigned and staff numbers increased by 50 per cent.
1959 The Crompton Cinema was closed in 1959,
1959 The United Kingdom Cotton Industry Act 1959 aimed to reorganise the Lancashire cotton industry to prevent its further decline. It provided for grants to replace equipment. The reorganisation process was voluntary in large part to be managed by the Cotton Board (United Kingdom).
It was the last major legislative intervention, following other attempts to help rationalise and modernise the industry including the Cotton Industry (Reorganisation) Act 1936 and 1939.
Implementation of the Act ran into considerable trouble as demand for cotton collapsed.
1959 Cotton Industry Act
The Act aimed at a crash programme in modernization, subsidized mill closures and scrapping of outdated machinery, particularly the mules. Redundancy was paid to displaced operatives.
Over 27 mills closed in Bolton as result of the Act.
1959-1960 The 1959–60 season saw Bolton finish sixth, a position it would take another forty five years to replicate.
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