Bolton Wonders

[steepholm]

Last night I had the chance to look around Bolton for the first time, and was very taken with the statuary in the main square. Some of it was the kind of thing you might expect - civic appreciations of formers mayors and leaders of corporations, and the like.





But there were also more unlikely subjects, such as the People's Steeplejack, Fred Dibnah.





There was also what purported to be a War Memorial, but which I prefer to view as a before-and-after allegory of the danger posed by unlicensed chiropractors.

This won't hurt a bit...


Oh dear.




Then came a statue of a man whose only identification was the single word CHADWICK, carved boldly into his plinth. No doubt I should know who Chadwick was, and why he needs no further introduction, but I don't.



I walked round all four sides, but no more writing was to be found. There was a however a mute clue, in the form of a plaque on the plinth ("plaque on the plinth" is a wonderfully cheering phrase to type or indeed to say aloud, by the way). From this I infer that it was Chadwick's custom to don a poke bonnet and pass amongst the poor of nineteenth-century Bolton, bringing cheer to all he met. I will be rather sad if this turns out not to be the case.







(Oh, all right. I googled him, of course. The statue is probably of this bloke. [ETA: Or, more likely still, this one. Thanks to mraltariel for the link.])


Finally, I would so like to see a Romeo and Juliet story in which the son of Sizzles falls in love with the daughter of The Food Factory.



Bolton beats Verona, any day of the week.

Comments

[gillo]

Guessing from the apparent period, I would guess this was Edwin Chadwick, who devised the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834, the one which introduced poorhouses in all the glory Dickens was so inspired by. To be fair to him, he also did a lot of work on public health and sanitation. Yes, my O Level History had a function after all.

I notice the determined patriotism of the Food Factory, unmatched by Sizzles, though possibly only for lack of a second storey.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Yes, I couldn't resist googling Chadwick and came to the same conclusion - though he doesn't seem to have a particular Bolton connection.

Sizzles may not have a second storey, but you will see it has a window!

How they must loathe each other.

[gillo]

Perhaps Bolton was particularly grateful for its workhouse, which no doubt provided a ready stream of child labour to the mills in the 1830s and 1840s. I only googled to find the Wiki page, because I remember way too much of my O Level history course. Good teacher or brain otherwise unoccupied?

I dunno about the loathing. Possibly sibling rivalry. The ageing father split his inheritance between his children, retaining only the right to have a pizza or kebab of his choice on a Saturday night for himself and his Blowling Club friends. But it all went horribly wrong - it's all fun and games till somebody loses an eye.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That sounds very plausible. I assume the father is the moustachioed gentleman whose portrait graces the top-left-hand corner of both establishments.

[gillo]

Could well be, unless he is the eminence grise of Bolton catering. I notice the Food Factory does an all-you-can-eat buffet - possibly a sinister gangland meeting-place.

[mraltariel.livejournal.com]

I think it is more likely to be Samuel Taylor Chadwick, creator of Bolton's Orphanage and endower of its first museum.

http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/collections/bolton-museum-history/historyofboltonmuseum/

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

By Jove, I think you've got it! The children in that plaque do have a bit of an orphany look to them. Thanks!

[mraltariel.livejournal.com]

*puts on happy hat* *blows weird inflatable snake kazoo thing that they have at parties*

So today will *not* be a day of Zero Achievement after all!

[sovay]

I notice the determined patriotism of the Food Factory, unmatched by Sizzles, though possibly only for lack of a second storey.

I like how the flag makes a sort of unintentional vocative to the buffet ad.

(I approve of your icon. Unfortunately, I have nothing Ronald Searle-related with which to illustrate this. But it's awesome.)

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember that we had a lodger who was very excited by Bolton Town Hall, which he said was the same as the Town Hall of Portsmouth, where he came from, but undamaged by bombs. I haven't seen the Portsmouth version so don't know how great a difference that made.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

It's certainly a very impressive, lion-flanked building (partially visible in the first of the photos above) - the kind that makes you think about nineteenth-century civic pride, and such.

Though a Hampshire child myself I'm afraid I've no memory of Portsmouth Town Hall at all, though I doubt either version was designed with Ruinenwert in mind. My sense is that bombs would have a pronounced negative effect on the overall look of the thing.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I expect they did some repairs, but I'm not sure whether they would have recreated the original as faithfully as the citizens of Dresden did the Frauenkirche.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

That increases my knowledge of Bolton a few hundred percent; thanks.

[sovay]

Oh dear.

*snerk*

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Given the positioning of the statue my vote goes to the guy who founded the museum.

It's a jolly good little museum- with a surprisingly impressive Egyptological section.

My wife used to be a Chadwick. Her parents still are.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

If I'd known about the museum, I would have checked out the Egyptological section for sure. Maybe next year, when I return.

My wife used to be a Chadwick. Her parents still are.

I understand it runs in families.