THIS week we take a look at some old images of Wingates.

Now sometimes seen as a part of the larger Westhoughton to the south, these pictures show the shops and houses that made up the Wingates community in the 1960s and 70s.

However, 1981 was a sad year for some residents, when 14 houses involved in the Manchester Road clearance scheme were declared unfit for habitation by the council.

Elsewhere we see pictures of a busy A6 prior to the coming of the motorway.

The Bolton News also used to be printed in Wingates, before production moved to Flint, North Wales nine years ago.