It does look as though the grates were over some sort of storm water (primitive sewer?) drain doesn't it? When did Bolton start building a proper sewer system? I guess it all poured straight into the River Croal though. When I went to school in Bolton in the 1950s I sometimes used to go and look in awed fascination at the Croal as it flowed in its brick and stone canyon through the town centre - the stink was appalling (maybe it still is but I would have hoped that by now it has been cleaned up a tad). And before getting on to more salubrious matters, those small outhouses presumably were privvies, though they were no doubt know by the local name as petties. That's the mucky stuff over, now for some clean water. On the Public Monuments site (discussed on the Lancs list recently, mainly in connection with Vimto) I came across a Bolton monument I don't remember seeing. The PEOPLE'S FOUNTAIN. It was unveiled in ~1860 in Bradshawgate and was a bronze statue of a semi-naked female figure pouring water from jug into a pitcher surmounting a stone basin and base. It was one of a number of public drinking fountains intended to benefit the health and increase the temperence of Bolton's thirsty masses. It was soon removed to Bolton Park, and as happens to all things in time, was vandalised in 1978. Is Bolton Park the same as Queens Park that I used to walk through twice a day between the trolley bus station at Howell Croft and school? I can't remember ogling any semi-naked female statues on the way. Peter Wood

Thank you for your comments, Peter. Bolton did not have a proper sewerage disposal system until the end of the 19thC. Human effluent, muck from the streets full of horses etc., and factory chemicals and waste all poured into the Croal. Your reading of the map is similar to what I suspected, it is probable that the outdoor 'petties' (hadn't known they were called that) just flowed down the street until the effluent reached a drain - or were they serviced by an underground pipe, by this time, and the 'grate' only collected surface waste from the street?. cheers, Cassie On 21/05/2006, at 9:47 AM, Peter Wood wrote: > It does look as though the grates were over some sort of storm water > (primitive sewer?) drain doesn't it? When did Bolton start building a > proper sewer system? I guess it all poured straight into the River > Croal > though. When I went to school in Bolton in the 1950s I sometimes > used to go > and look in awed fascination at the Croal as it flowed in its brick > and > stone canyon through the town centre - the stink was appalling > (maybe it > still is but I would have hoped that by now it has been cleaned up > a tad). > > And before getting on to more salubrious matters, those small > outhouses > presumably were privvies, though they were no doubt know by the > local name > as petties. > > That's the mucky stuff over, now for some clean water. On the Public > Monuments site (discussed on the Lancs list recently, mainly in > connection > with Vimto) I came across a Bolton monument I don't remember > seeing. The > PEOPLE'S FOUNTAIN. > It was unveiled in ~1860 in Bradshawgate and was a bronze statue of a > semi-naked female figure pouring water from jug into a pitcher > surmounting > a stone basin and base. It was one of a number of public drinking > fountains > intended to benefit the health and increase the temperence of Bolton's > thirsty masses. > > It was soon removed to Bolton Park, and as happens to all things in > time, > was vandalised in 1978. Is Bolton Park the same as Queens Park that > I used > to walk through twice a day between the trolley bus station at > Howell Croft > and school? I can't remember ogling any semi-naked female statues > on the way. > > Peter Wood > > > > ==== ENG-LAN-BOLTON Mailing List ==== > To switch from one mode to the other, unsubscribe from one and then > subscribe to the other. > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx >

> Your reading of the map is similar to what I suspected, it is > probable that the outdoor 'petties' (hadn't known they were called > that) just flowed down the street until the effluent reached a drain > - or were they serviced by an underground pipe, by this time, and > the 'grate' only collected surface waste from the street?. I would have expected them to be earth middens? Best not to dwell on it too much, I suppose! Paul.