JOIN the Bury Times as we travel back 50 years to the headlines on April 23, 1969, when election battles, new baths, and another forged fiver were the talk of the town. BRAD MARSHALL takes a look back in the archives...

BURY will have its biggest council polling day battle for years on May 8.

Nominations closed at noon yesterday with a final line-up for 34 candidates who will be competing for 16 wards.

Conservatives have a full panel of 16 contestants, Labour have 14 in the field, the liberals have three and there is one Independent.

There were no nomination day surprises and for the second year running, Communists will be absent from the polls.

This year's elections have also opened up new ground with three newly created seats in Unsworth ­— bringing the ward up to six councillor strength, the same as the town's five other wards.

BURY'S long-delayed public baths could be on the way up next year.

The Government has given the £420,000 scheme the green light and, provided the working drawings and tender documents are ready by the end of the year, work could get underway in 1970-71.

The site for the baths, of Bolton Street, has now been acquired and building work is expected to take two years.

Cost of the new baths will be about £180,000 less than the original project which Whitehall ruled out as too costly.

The new baths will boast a main competition standard pool, a teaching pool and a separate diving pit.

There will also be a cafe with an automatic vending service, as well as a laundry and car park.

SHOPKEEPERS were yesterday again warned to be on the lookout, following the discovery of another forged £5 note.

This time the note was passed at a confectionary shop in Bury New Road, Heap Bridge, in exchange for goods.

The proprietor, Mr Jack Shepherd, said he thought it had been handed over the counter last Wednesday, but there was no recollection of the actual transaction.

Last Wednesday a forged "fiver" was passed at a tobacconists shop in Bolton Street, Ramsbottom.

The man, who was described as tall, with ginger hair; on that occasion bought cigarettes.

A police spokesman said yesterday that forged notes had also been passed in Royton and Rochdale.

Shopkeepers are asked to keep a sharp eye open for the man and any suspicious-looking £5 notes.

PREPARATIONS are in order and thronging crowds expected as this year's Holcombe Hunt races are now just days away.

With the Nab Gate course said to be in "super condition" and a record entry for the ladies open race, it now rests with the pulling power of the FA Cup Final to determine whether a crowd of 100,000 turns up of Saturday for the races.

To combat the counter attraction at Wembley, three large-screen television sets will be strategically placed in bar tents around the course and in between the six races, football fans will be able to keep abreast of developments in London.

This year's event consists of the usual six races: those for members, Adjacent Hunts, an Open Race, the Ladies' Open Race, the Adjacent Hunt Maiden Race, and the Heavy-weight Cross-country ­— in which horses have to carry a weight of 14 stone.