OFTEN, in our Looking Back features, we talk about Bolton’s disappeared buildings and how the face of the town has changed over the years.

Today, we focus on those periods of transition; a time in the 1950s and 1960s when widespread slum clearances were taking place so Bolton could face a “brave new world”.

Many of these photographs are stunning in their composition and style. They capture the atmosphere of the times, and wouldn’t be out of place on the cover of a Smiths album.

Take the photograph of Merrick Street. The forlorn man is wearing an apron, suggesting he is looking at the site of his recently demolished shop.

Another shop undergoing demolition proved an attraction for two children looking through the window frame. The location of the building is Argyle Street.

Standing like a lonely sentinel are the remains of a building in Bullock Street.There is something truly evocative about ruined buildings and the photo puts one in mind of that iconic photograph of the jagged remains of the World Trade Centre.

Todd Street looks like it’s in the aftermath of a nuclear war with a headscarved survivor the only sign of human life.

It’s no wonder the rag and bone man’s cart is empty in the photo of Green Road. Householders would have made sure nothing was left behind when they were left from their soon-to-be demolished homes. It hasn’t stopped the man on the ladder taking a peek inside just in case though.

Everyday life goes on as normal in the photograph of Fold Road, with deliveries to the shops and people going about their shopping.