Bolton Wanderers

Bolton is a large town in the north-west of England. Located near the West Pennine Moors, it is the largest settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in the north-west of Greater Manchester.

Lying within the historic boundaries of Lancashire, the town rose to prominence during the 19th century as a Mill town. It had a population of 139,403 according to the 2001 Census, and the wider borough a population of 264,800.
Evidence of a Saxon settlement exists in the form of religious objects found when the present Victorian parish church was built.

The town's position on the west of the Pennines provides a damp climate. It is this feature which probably led to Flemish weavers, fleeing the Huguenot persecutions in the 17th century, to eventually settle here, as moisture-laden air allows for the spinning of cotton with little breakage. The cotton industry was to provide the catalyst for the town's expansion between the 14th and 19th centuries. Large, steam-powered textile mills eventually dominated the town's skyline, providing the major employment and defining the rhythm of the working week, so much so that an annual shut-down for maintenance in late June became the Bolton Holidays.

In the early 19th Century Bolton was split into Great Bolton and Little Bolton with Little Bolton being approximately the area North of the River Croal. On 11th January 1838 a Charter of Incorporation was drawn up by the councils of Little Bolton and Great Bolton. On 11th October 1838 Bolton was incorporated as a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The election was held on 30th November 1838 and Mr. Charles James Darbishire became the first mayor. Other outlying areas were incorporated into Bolton later in the 19th Century. The two parts of Bolton continued to be known as Great Bolton and Little Bolton at least until the end of the 19th century.

In recent times, the town has swapped much of its heavy industrial machinery for service-based activities including a large number of data processing and call centres and also hi-tech electronics and IT companies. It is a mecca for shoppers from all over the north of England and further afield, not only to the Victorian splendour of the town centre but to newly-developed Middlebrook park, home to Bolton Wanderers, the Bolton Arena, leisure facilities, shops, pubs, restaurants and sundry other businesses. The town retains a variety of more traditional industries, employing people in, amongst other things, aerospace, paper-manufacturing, packaging, textiles, transportation, steel and building.

Tourism plays an important part of the local economy, with attractions such as Hall I'th Wood (the home of inventor Samuel Crompton), Smithills Country Park and Smithills Hall, Rivington, Last Drop Village and the civic museums in the town centre. Townsfolk can make use of the facilities at Leverhulme, Moss Bank and Queens parks.

Bolton is the birthplace of the Reebok brand. The company's European headquarters are located in the town. Bolton is also the home of the bread manufacturers, Warburtons, who began their business in 1876 on Blackburn Road in Bolton. As well as this Bolton is home to MBDA's main production facility in Horwich.
Bolton has a Premiership football club called Bolton Wanderers F.C. who play their home games at the Reebok Stadium, and is managed by Sam Allardyce. Bolton Wanderers qualified for the UEFA Cup by finishing sixth in the Premiership in 2004/05, but were knocked out by Olympique de Marseille after a 2-1 defeat. This season they finished eighth in the Premiership. Indoor facilities for sports training and major racket sports tournaments are provided courtesy of the newly-built Bolton Arena, which was used for some of the events in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth games.