What's going on? Had to venture into our Town Centre yesterday, Cattle Market has bit the dust, The York was shut and on Bradshawgate, all the block from the Bookies on the corner to the old BMW place is empty (Including The Leena - no great loss, the new indian restaurant up the road is good).

 

Over the road the news stand that's been there since forever has also shut up shop. Perhaps the declining sales of 'toddy mags', due to the internet, was the final nail in the coffin?

 

Is this sommat to do with the new bus/rail interchange they're planning? It's going to be almost as welcoming as the current 'Gateway to Bolton' (you know, the one way street leading out of town...)

 

It's embarrassing when the likes of Bury and even Wigan, are showing us up as a right shithole.

Edited July 6, 201213 yr by Youri McAnespie

Vote the fuckers out...

Even if that happened, do you not think that whoever comes in would struggle to reverse what has already happened.

 

I don't think that Bolton town centre is the worst in the UK yet, but I'll wager it's got to be in the top 20 or so, and that makes me so very sad.

It's gone past the point of no return unfortunately, but we should still name and shame those involved. Name me an honest councillor...

 

I've seen worse TBH, I went to Slough once. It's insular, narrow minded thinking, even when they've done something decent like Churchgate - there's actually nothing there. Even the pastie shop is closed on Saturday.

 

They've build a new multi-story car park and painted it grey. That was possibly the final straw, it's like they are stuck in the 60s. Who actually wants to park on a pissy smelling multi-story?

Lastly, let's not forget Middlebrook was their own doing. They could have said no to it all, it's not like the TC where they have no control of it.

Middlebrook is fucking miles from Bolton centre, you can get to the Trafford centre in the same time.

 

Depends whereabouts in town you live Shirley. I think you're forgetting Bolton is the biggest town in Europe.

I meant from the centre of town, by car if we are being pedantic.

The market hall was like turkeys voting for Christmas.. anyone involved in that should hang their head in shame.... The town centre's gone from one of the best to an embarrassment.. rangers has been better managed then bolton town centre

I'm clearly missing something here.......having not actually been "shopping" in Bolton town centre for knocking on 20 years, I didn't know they has done something to the Market Hall. What's changed with it? - are there still noddy little stands selling Val Doonican CD's?

They've basically closed it, it's just a walkway through to Market Place that resembles an airport. No CDs, no koshes, no broken biscuits, no snide Iron Maiden t-shirts...

Some shocking decisions taken including the market hall, the market place and the fact that you have to drive down a back street to get into the town centre if you're coming from the north.

 

But the town centre is a symptom. The root cause is the long term decline in employment within the town, ironic for a place that was once known as 'Worktown'.

 

The mills went decades ago, but engineering did too. I'm thinking of Edbros, Bolton Gate, Horwich Loco etc. Not much replaced them. I'd suspect that the town's biggest employer is Serco, who are in the old Norweb building on Manchester Road. That's 1200 bods paid not much more than the minimum wage. (Before anyone says that's Vertex, it isn't. They were bought out a few weeks ago.)

 

Get quality employment back into the town and the rest will follow. How you do that I wouldn't like to say. A while back I'd have said concentrate on the technology companies, but with competition from out of town technology parks and the UK's habit of exporting jobs and effectively de-skilling the country even that's probably a dead duck.

 

The reality is we have a dying town and it's not far off the last rites.

aye,the town's a shithole alright !

 

we don't need to ask where our money's being spent.

 

plus the shower running the place are an absolute bunch of arseholes,all jobs for the boys. fresh blood needed

Some shocking decisions taken including the market hall, the market place and the fact that you have to drive down a back street to get into the town centre if you're coming from the north.

 

But the town centre is a symptom. The root cause is the long term decline in employment within the town, ironic for a place that was once known as 'Worktown'.

 

The mills went decades ago, but engineering did too. I'm thinking of Edbros, Bolton Gate, Horwich Loco etc. Not much replaced them. I'd suspect that the town's biggest employer is Serco, who are in the old Norweb building on Manchester Road. That's 1200 bods paid not much more than the minimum wage. (Before anyone says that's Vertex, it isn't. They were bought out a few weeks ago.)

 

Get quality employment back into the town and the rest will follow. How you do that I wouldn't like to say. A while back I'd have said concentrate on the technology companies, but with competition from out of town technology parks and the UK's habit of exporting jobs and effectively de-skilling the country even that's probably a dead duck.

 

The reality is we have a dying town and it's not far off the last rites.

 

i'm sure there was an article in the bolton news the other day about a local business who originally relocated production to china,but has now relocated back to Bolton. at this rate Tootal's will have to be rebuilt.

joking aside,it's a sad decline losing so many major employers. i pity the next generation

Bury town centre is approx 15 miles away from the Trafford Centre. You can't do your big shop at the Trafford Centre.

 

Bolton town centre is only 5 miles away from Middlebrook.

 

Comparing Middlebrook and the Trafford Centre is like comparing apeoplees and pears.

 

Fair point on Wigan though. Maybe because it's smaller and their folk are a bit simple they fear going out of town? I dunno.

 

I'm not trying to stick up for the council here, but the town centre has gone to shit because shops are shutting left, right and centre because no fucker goes in them any more. Apart from building more car parks and making them free I can't see what the council can do to change that?

 

That is exactly what Bury Council did. The massive car park, which was where the new development now is, was free for a long time. This attracted shoppers to the area. In turn more shoppers attracted more businesses. Than a lot of investment gave them a town centre 'attraction' rather than a slum as we have in Bolton.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhhSBgd3KI

I once went to a disco where the DJ only had one record, this one Or was it a dream? I'm surprised nobodies posted:

"All the club(s) are being closed down..." referring to Shitzy of course...

Me + the missus were only discussing t'other day what a desparate shithole Bolton town centre has become. I used to be quite proud of it in the 80's, but some town planners "forward thinking" has sent it backwards.

Shitty areas get grants for doing up their fronts, windows etc.

Nice areas don't.

Gets on my fucking nerves when I see shitholes with brand new windows and a towel or blanket up at the window. Animals.

Bottom of Chorley old Road just before The Nelson pub for example!Another eyesore is The Odeon,looks like the luftwaffe have been over.

Edited July 6, 201213 yr by SHAT

I was in the centre yesterday about 4:30pm and it could have been 7 at night. Apart from the guy busking opposite the card shop as you go from Nelson Sq towards M&S I could only see 3 other people. Is Thursday still late night shopping?

We're getting there. Town planners, council...............are lynchings stll acceptable?

 

Sure it was the early/mid 90's down here that various northern English folk used to say to me 'Bolton!? Beltin shopping, loved going there for shopping trips at weekends'. How the fcuk could they get it so horribly wrong? They even moved our beating heart (football club) away from the centre.

Who's that Morris councillor bloke? I saw him on a local news programme the other day.

 

Fuck me, I couldn't understand a word. He favoured a Spitting Image puppet. Is he in charge?

Who's that Morris councillor bloke? I saw him on a local news programme the other day.

 

Fuck me, I couldn't understand a word. He favoured a Spitting Image puppet. Is he in charge?

 

 

fraid so

fraid so

 

 

Fucking hell. Did people vote for him?

Fucking hell. Did people vote for him?

 

He's Labour, so of course

No fucker in their right mind would vote for Cliff Morris alone.

 

I have had the misfortune to meet him, and can confirm that he is a cunt. In my opinion of course.

 

However, the alternative would be to vote Conservative.

 

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Knew a bloke who used to work for him and he said he was a proper cunt!Wasn't there some scandal because he got paid some ridiculous amount for being a trustee at Bolton General a few years back?

If you want a laugh here's their strategy, it looks like something someone's knocked out for their Humanities GCSE.

 

http://www.boltonvision.org.uk/holdingsite/NewDocuments/BoltonVision2012-15FINAL.pdf