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?

I notice X-Records has finally shut up for good, well, the shutters were down and a leasing agent's board was on the building...

 

I wonder where all the vinyl went?

 

A while ago, maybe eight years, another time it was on it's arse and having a sale, I got a Happy Monday's white label from there for about £6, it's worth loads more, at least £70...

I reckon the vinyl he's hoarded is worth too much to have in a shit shop. On eBay, he'll be a millionaire.

Fuck 'em, sinking ships an' all that, who uses Travel Agencies these days? Or actually goes into an office to book? They'll be dead and buried with video shops and donkey stone vendors in ten years...

David Speakman who owns them seems to be doing okay. I have a friend who works for them and she makes a bloody good living out of it. She's currently in Tenerife on a company jolly.

 

We book all our holidays and flights through her as she has the best prices and someone off here has also used her. They don't have High St shops and do all work online.

 

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/business/11440176.Travel_Counsellors_win_Queen_s_Award_for_Enterprise/

Edited October 21, 201510 yr by freds dad

Well I don't, so sppppppppprrrrbbbb*.

 

*that was a flaccid raspberry.

I've used them and they're much cheaper than I could manage online.

 

Sometimes, Google isn't your friend. People are.

 

The price to be on the first page of a Google search is astrofuckingnominal, these guys have the inside track and know where to go.

 

I don't work there by the way

Edited October 21, 201510 yr by Spider

Fuck 'em, sinking ships an' all that, who uses Travel Agencies these days?

Loads of people, that's why there are still loads of em in town centres.

I'm not being arsey, I've honestly never been on a package holiday, not a bucket and spade jobby to Benidorm, not an all-inclusive Caribbean place...

 

Even as a kid it was mounting the creaky stairs up to Just Flights with a sweaty roll of notes for me...

And if folk like Spider and freds dad are getting mate's rates and this is common practice, well, stuff like that will kill 'em dead even quicker...

 

Joe Public doesn't like the thought of other folk tipping a wink and getting a better deal than them.

 

If Travel Agencies on the High Street haven't disappeared in twenty years I'll eat my hat (after I've bought a pint for all those queuing up at Nat's statue who said the Green Flag would be flying over Downing Street).

And if folk like Spider and freds dad are getting mate's rates and this is common practice, well, stuff like that will kill 'em dead even quicker...

 

Joe Public doesn't like the thought of other folk tipping a wink and getting a better deal than them.

 

If Travel Agencies on the High Street haven't disappeared in twenty years I'll eat my hat (after I've bought a pint for all those queuing up at Nat's statue who said the Green Flag would be flying over Downing Street).

Boundless insanity

I went in HMV to buy a carbon vinyl brush about ten years ago, the lad looked at me as if I'd asked for a gramophone horn...

 

I said they'd be tits up within the decade.

 

I bought a laptop case from Woolworths in 2007, it fell to bits within about a month, I thought that they'd be digging their own grave charging John Lewis prices for Poundland quality (and they'd go pop very soon).

 

Mary Porterhorse?

 

I'd shit her.

I reckon the vinyl he's hoarded is worth too much to have in a shit shop. On eBay, he'll be a millionaire.

 

He needs to get better people in doing the selling, I bought an item off them on Ebay once, they weren't listed as X-Records but it was them, anyhow, again it was sold at about a third of market price...

 

Last time I was in there there wasn't much in the racks, just loads of bulk/weight bought crap really, the good stuff was swamped by it, most of the good stuff was marked up at above market price too, suggesting an attempt had been made to do an audit. As for all the dross, even though it was dross, I spent about half an hour anally (as in being an anal vinyl twat, rather than using my anus) putting the right inners/vinyls back in the right outers - they were in such disarray. If I'd been a thieving c*nt I probably could've helped myself too, I was alone in the basement for ages.

Thing is with travel agencies though Youri is that holidays tend to cost a lot of money. That's why so many folk would rather deal with someone face-to-face regardless of whether they can save a few quid sorting it out themselves on the internet.

I wouldn't know, I've only been to Blackpool and Tenby.

HMV... borrowed time atm...

David Speakman who owns them seems to be doing okay. I have a friend who works for them and she makes a bloody good living out of it. She's currently in Tenerife on a company jolly.

 

We book all our holidays and flights through her as she has the best prices and someone off here has also used her. They don't have High St shops and do all work online.

 

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/business/11440176.Travel_Counsellors_win_Queen_s_Award_for_Enterprise/

 

I have a mate here nr Burnley who makes a living. Not fantastic but ok for the hours he puts in at home. plus like you say the speakman jollies. I would contest the best prices, they are good but you can always do better doing it yourself. But if you travel frequently on business and tie in your leisure travel it works.

 

On an aside Speakman was on the internet list in the late 90's were he got abused. Was the funniest tit for tat i have ever experienced when a lowly lad from halliwell got him rattled. Fair does to him for being on it for so long but procrastinating about the private box life at the Reebok was eventually gonna rub someone up the wrong way.

All piss taking apart, I can't imagine a reason I'd willing go or need to head into Bolton centre. Other than maybe those who work there, does anyone else?

I live there!

Town centre, football team, is there anything flourishing in Bolton apart from crime ?

Town centre, football team, is there anything flourishing in Bolton apart from crime ?

Decent ale. New real ale place opened on Chorley Old today.

And if folk like Spider and freds dad are getting mate's rates and this is common practice, well, stuff like that will kill 'em dead even quicker...

 

Joe Public doesn't like the thought of other folk tipping a wink and getting a better deal than them..

I can't speak for Spider but I don't get mates rates. We went to the Maldives a couple of years ago and despite spending days searching online we couldn't match the deal and better flight times that our friend got for us.

 

If I want to nip over to Portugal I'm probably better using the low cost airlines but for a decent holiday I always use Travel Counsellors.

We'll all be flocking here for a beer now...

 

http://m.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/13886600.From_Durty_Gurty_s_to_Bar_Metro_696969___taxi_firm_splashes_name_and_number_on_pub_in_sponsorship_deal/

Another big nail in the Town Centre coffin.

That looks fucking awful

I can't speak for Spider but I don't get mates rates. We went to the Maldives a couple of years ago and despite spending days searching online we couldn't match the deal and better flight times that our friend got for us.

 

If I want to nip over to Portugal I'm probably better using the low cost airlines but for a decent holiday I always use Travel Counsellors.

I suppose my antagonism was more rooted in the fact they're upping sticks from Bolton. I don't think I'm doing badly on price for 'big' holidays either, but I'm not daft/arrogant enough to perhaps give packages more than cursory consideration in the future...

My wife is a Travel Counsellor, she does well, but works bloody hard. She has too, to fund our trips to Barbados every year.

 

Oh and Speakmans made a frickin fortune, around 40 odd million we reckon, fair play. Started off in a shitty office in Atherton somewhere, he can be an arse at times, doubt he gives a shit with that cash sat in the bank, so would I.

 Acdo, Donkey Stones and Dolly Blue...

 

 

Brought a nostalgic tear to my eye.