November 9, 1968

A GIANT industrial trading estate is planned for the former RAF headquarters at Pilsworth.

This week an undisclosed London property firm agreed to pay £1.25 million for the 170 acre sites on the Bury and Heywood border.

The move comes just a week after the lot was withdrawn from one of the largest auctions ever held in the North West, following bids of £1 million.

Development work is expected to start at the site as soon as final take-over terms are settled.

The site includes the No. 35 RAF Maintenance Unit Headquarters and the adjoining Nos.1 and 5 sites, as well as the officer's mess and recreation grounds.

It also boasts more than a million square feet of buildings and six miles of internal roads.

Further large-scale industrial developments are also in the pipeline for Pilsworth, including £1 million of new warehouses and offices on Moss Hall Road for Imperial Chemical Industry's dyestuffs division.

And another 37-acre section of the RAF maintenance unit near Whittle Lane, was sold to a Midlands-based company to be used for warehousing and storage for £200,000.

NOVEMBER roared into Bury this weekend with gales, torrential rain and frost.

The first hint of the stormy weather arrived with 50 mph winds on Friday, and the elements kept the fire brigade and Corporation Cleansing Department busy all weekend.

In the blast a tree was uprooted and partially blocked Walmersley Road, and bent a lamp-standard near the junction with Chesham Road.

The standard had to be cut off six feet from its base as it was a hazard to traffic, and the fire brigade removed the tree, diverting all traffic except buses.

Firemen were called out again on Saturday when rain began seeping through the roof of a dormer bungalow in Newington Drive, a drainpipe fell from the side of a house in Nuttall Street, and there was a flooding at a house in Rochdale Old Road.

The football match a Gig Lane between Bury FC and Derby County was also cancelled due to flooding.

Weather conditions improved into Sunday but temperatures dropped to -4.5C, meaning an early morning call for Cleansing Department staff who targeted known trouble spots with salt and sand.

ELSEWHERE, not the sort of day to bring out half-hearted riders, the wind and rain provided a miserable atmosphere for the first Holcombe Hunt meet of the season.

However hunt members were well protected from the deluge and not to be deterred as they set out on Saturday.

Close to 60 riders took part in the opening meet, setting off the Bull's Head Hotel, Bradshaw, before moving to Hawkshaw and land adjacent to Quarlton Farm.

During the afternoon the hunt continued on land near Turton Road and resulted in a brace of hare.

ON the first ever Royal visit to Whitefield, Princess Margaret interrupted her tour of the Lintafoam Ltd works to enjoy a 6d. cup of coffee from a factory vending machine.

Princess Margaret spent an hour touring the Moss Lane site, on Tuesday, where she was presented to the firm's directors, chatted to workers and unveiled a plaque.