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Category: Features

100 years ago: Revenge on German sniper who killed ‘splendid’ Swinton soldier

As the First World War continued to drag on through August 1916 the newspapers were becoming saturated with news of the deaths of local young men in France and Belgium....

50 years ago: Hero boys rescue eight-year-old from drowning at Irwell Wharf, Eccles

For some children the combination of hot summers and open water seems to be an attraction and sadly, on occasion, a tragic one, happily though this story from August...

100 years ago in Salford: ‘Rivers of blood’ threat sparks Broughton riot fears

When neighbours fall out things can quickly turn nasty, as this story of warring families in Salford shows. It was August 1916 and at this time, with soldiers overseas...

Upside-down rainbow spotted over Salford

Settled skies and warm weather combined this week to produce a minor meteorological phenomenom: the ‘upside-down rainbow’. Adam Davies captured this image of...

End of the line for former Railway Inn, Pendelton

Another former pub has bitten the dust in Salford after plans were passed to turn it into student accomodation. Salford City Council approved plans by a developer to...

100 years ago: Worsley architect’s only son, 18, killed days after signing up with Royal Fusiliers

Hearing daily stories from 100 years ago in Salford can desensitize us to the the suffering of local families – but the First World War was in full swing and...

100 years ago: Mum ‘without hope’ loses three sons on same day at the Somme

The so-called Great War threw up daily tragedies for local people with family in the Armed Forces but this story from the Salford City Reporter of August 1916 is...

100 years ago: ‘Hell of a fight’ on Kersal Moor sees battered bobby deck deserter

Stories of miscreants being treated roughly by police when resisting arrest are no uncommon thing when looking back through the pages of the Salford City Reporter. But...

100 years ago: Brave Eccles cook who fought to enlist killed by stray shell

It would be a hard slog for 21-year-old Joe Baines to be accepted into the British Army. The pressure to enlist and fight overseas was immense if you looked healthy...

100 years ago: ‘House of horrors’ in Pendlebury sees parents jailed for child neglect

Child neglect is incomprehensible in any era, but as this harrowing story from the pages of the Eccles and Patricroft Journal from August 1916 sadly shows, it was not...