Just had a meeting on Churchgate. Sad to see the Bolton News offices empty. And in a week or two the Travel Counsellors building opposite will be empty. Another 200+ people spending approx £20 per week on parking and lunches in the town... plus whatever other services they spend their hard-earned on - all being lost. Very sad state of affairs.

 

When will it get better? Should these empty offices be turned into apartments?

25 minutes ago, jmjhb said:

It has massively gone downhill there lately, haven't been in for months 

Its not a patch on nortern monkey

Ive been a bit slow catching on, but its a cracking bar doing lots of things really well

Did pre match there last week and will do again

 

Went to the dentist today on Higher Bridge Street. Leaving I went up Bank Street, along Bradshawgate and jumped on the A666 out. Saw two blokes in hi-viz on Bank Street and one pedestrian (ONE!!) on Bradshawgate. Parked near the old town hall next to the casino and that looked shut down. Thought that had opened up as a bar or summat? Can’t say I blame M&S

5 minutes ago, MancWanderer said:

Went to the dentist today on Higher Bridge Street. Leaving I went up Bank Street, along Bradshawgate and jumped on the A666 out. Saw two blokes in hi-viz on Bank Street and one pedestrian (ONE!!) on Bradshawgate. Parked near the old town hall next to the casino and that looked shut down. Thought that had opened up as a bar or summat? Can’t say I blame M&S

It did open as a bar and im fairly sure @tomskireviewed it and said it was a decent place

Think it was courtyard 36

looking now its unclear if its still available for functions or if theyve given up

Maybe covid killed it or maybe they didnt serve fosters

Council should have taken Lord Leverhulme up on his offer all those years ago

6 minutes ago, Casino said:

It did open as a bar and im fairly sure @tomskireviewed it and said it was a decent place

Think it was courtyard 36

looking now its unclear if its still available for functions or if theyve given up

Maybe covid killed it or maybe they didnt serve fosters

Looked totally shut down. Shame as it’s yet another building with history. Was reading the plaque on the wall. Often think that I wouldn’t mind jumping on a train (if they’re running) and having an afternoon visiting the place for a few beers but each time I go I only ever seem to see The Balmoral open during the day

26 minutes ago, Casino said:

Its not a patch on nortern monkey

Ive been a bit slow catching on, but its a cracking bar doing lots of things really well

Did pre match there last week and will do again

 

I've been supporting NM since they opened. I called in most days after work when I went on the bus. There used to be a local bar propper upper, me, a couple I've seen in Horwich and sometimes a group of deaf people came in. That was it at four o'clock. It was just a bar with good beer. No pool table, no dart board, nowt. They did deliveries during lockdown, but as I don't drink at home the only way I could 'do my bit' for a local business was to buy  myself gift tokens. When the world re-opened I had over £300 in vouchers.

Now my hours have changed, as have theirs, so I don't get in as often as I used to. It's still a good pint. Last drop, and Supera Moras my favourites.

29 minutes ago, Francis Fogarty said:

I've been supporting NM since they opened. I called in most days after work when I went on the bus. There used to be a local bar propper upper, me, a couple I've seen in Horwich and sometimes a group of deaf people came in. That was it at four o'clock. It was just a bar with good beer. No pool table, no dart board, nowt. They did deliveries during lockdown, but as I don't drink at home the only way I could 'do my bit' for a local business was to buy  myself gift tokens. When the world re-opened I had over £300 in vouchers.

Now my hours have changed, as have theirs, so I don't get in as often as I used to. It's still a good pint. Last drop, and Supera Moras my favourites.

On my increasingly rare visits to town (nobody invites me out anymore), NM is always on the list.

9 hours ago, Spider said:

How many penniless locals and non locals do you have just gormlessly wandering around your town centre?

We have a load of road men that come up from Downham every weekend, but it does pull in from a wide area because its decent shopping without having to go into London. At Xmas it was really bad - couldn't get into the town for shoppers, all the car parks were full.

It is one of those centres that even on a weekday is busy and not full of just the jobless.

Plus we have Zola's ice cream place which he opened because he couldn't get a decent Italian gelato near his home 😄

7 hours ago, Casino said:

It did open as a bar and im fairly sure @tomskireviewed it and said it was a decent place

Think it was courtyard 36

looking now its unclear if its still available for functions or if theyve given up

Maybe covid killed it or maybe they didnt serve fosters

Yeah used to bob in a fair bit. Sadly not many others did due to visibility/location/rates made it all slightly unattractive to said owners.

54 minutes ago, Not in Crawley said:

We have a load of road men that come up from Downham every weekend, but it does pull in from a wide area because its decent shopping without having to go into London. At Xmas it was really bad - couldn't get into the town for shoppers, all the car parks were full.

It is one of those centres that even on a weekday is busy and not full of just the jobless.

Plus we have Zola's ice cream place which he opened because he couldn't get a decent Italian gelato near his home 😄

What’s the cravat - track suit ratio?

Edited January 18, 20233 yr by Spider

Lads are gonna be disappointed 

 

 

12 hours ago, Sweep said:

Town centres up and down the country are dead now. The last two M&S that have opened near here, have been on out of town retail parks, where it seems most people do their shopping these days

The one at stevenage is top notch

Pull up, free parking, do your shopping and you're off

No messing around trying to park, pay and get back with 2 hours or whatever

It's also why Middlebrook is so popular 

1 hour ago, Zico said:

Lads are gonna be disappointed 

 

 

fuck me, some of the recommendations just makes you realise what a dump it is

they'll be on the first flight home

1 hour ago, Spider said:

What’s the cravat - track suit ratio?

Very few cravats - you have to go to East London for that- still frowned upon in deepest South East London. Lots and lots of expensive tracksuits though and WAGs or girls who would like to be WAGs or low level WAGs of Bromley Town players 😄. There is a nice craft beer pub where all the comuter game geeks from Splash Damage (I believe they make computer games, something called Halo and Gears? Ended up having a chat with one of them once) Anyway that's very much a punk girl, overweight blokes in hoodie crowd. 

Thinking about it, its a hotbed of ex-footballers opening desert shops - Rio Ferdinand's mrs has opened a donut shop (to which he on occasion serves behind the counter) called Dolly Donuts...god they must all be really bored.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing what the £130,000 from the mayor will do for the borough's nighttime economy to help support local business who have struggled after the pandemic. Good old Sadiq.

Took my old man into Bolton for a clinic appointment yesterday at rush hour. Considering there's no one shopping there, the bloody traffic going in was ridiculous. 

I think someone posted on here the other day of a Royal visit on Friday.

 

7 hours ago, Zico said:

Lads are gonna be disappointed 

 

 

Bring walking boots, get ont th’hills

22 minutes ago, globaldiver said:

Bring walking boots, get ont th’hills

Aye.

Some decent places as well as shit holes.

was in the TC yesterday

it wasn't heaving by any stretch but was pleasently surprised to see plenty folk about

all the places I went were busy - EE, Cafe Nero, M&S and the aqaurium / museum

WH Smith's was empty like, but all in all would seem there's still life left in it

the saddest thing I saw was an unwilling girl being punched and pushed by another girl down by the Fred Dibnah statue, whist around 15 others stood round watching it all filming on their mobiles, some couple went up to intervene, were met with a ton of abuse but it gave the victim a chance to escape at least

11 minutes ago, Zico said:

was in the TC yesterday

it wasn't heaving by any stretch but was pleasently surprised to see plenty folk about

all the places I went were busy - EE, Cafe Nero, M&S and the aqaurium / museum

WH Smith's was empty like, but all in all would seem there's still life left in it

the saddest thing I saw was an unwilling girl being punched and pushed by another girl down by the Fred Dibnah statue, whist around 15 others stood round watching it all filming on their mobiles, some couple went up to intervene, were met with a ton of abuse but it gave the victim a chance to escape at least

Send us the video 

5 hours ago, Zico said:

was in the TC yesterday

it wasn't heaving by any stretch but was pleasently surprised to see plenty folk about

all the places I went were busy - EE, Cafe Nero, M&S and the aqaurium / museum

WH Smith's was empty like, but all in all would seem there's still life left in it

the saddest thing I saw was an unwilling girl being punched and pushed by another girl down by the Fred Dibnah statue, whist around 15 others stood round watching it all filming on their mobiles, some couple went up to intervene, were met with a ton of abuse but it gave the victim a chance to escape at least

How is the new museum - not been yet but going to take the youngest next time I'm home.

2 minutes ago, Not in Crawley said:

How is the new museum - not been yet but going to take the youngest next time I'm home.

same as the old one I think, though it's been years since I went

some egpytian stuff including a mummy

loads of stuffed animals, couple of dinsosuar skeletons

bit about history of bolton

small but passes a good hour or so

was nice to see the aqaurium still going, but it's tiny and not that great these days (compared to other nearby aquariums) but was pleased to see the piranhas are still there

Just now, Zico said:

same as the old one I think, though it's been years since I went

some egpytian stuff including a mummy

loads of stuffed animals, couple of dinsosuar skeletons

bit about history of bolton

small but passes a good hour or so

was nice to see the aqaurium still going, but it's tiny and not that great these days (compared to other nearby aquariums) but was pleased to see the piranhas are still there

Shouldn't be, had over a million in funding.

They are still one of the leading egyptology museums in the UK, apparently. 

7 minutes ago, Not in Crawley said:

Shouldn't be, had over a million in funding.

They are still one of the leading egyptology museums in the UK, apparently. 

to be fair, I've not been since the 80s when I was a kid

it was alright, just alright, was more reminiscent for me, but the daughter enjoyed seeing a mummy and a big stuffed bear

would probably have to have gone close to pre-funding to notice a difference

19 minutes ago, Zico said:

same as the old one I think, though it's been years since I went

some egpytian stuff including a mummy

loads of stuffed animals, couple of dinsosuar skeletons

bit about history of bolton

small but passes a good hour or so

was nice to see the aqaurium still going, but it's tiny and not that great these days (compared to other nearby aquariums) but was pleased to see the piranhas are still there

Is the piranha with one eye still there?