The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Quiz

Answer: 1307

The town was first recorded as Bothelton in 1212, Botelton in 1257, Boulton in 1288 and as its present form as Bolton around 1307. The town names derive from Old English "bothl-ton" meaning "village with buildings". Tarbolton, a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland was recorded as Torbolten in 1138 comparable to the origin of Bolton's Old English meaning.

Answer: Ye Olde Man & Scythe Inn

James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (1607 - 1651) was beheaded for his part in the Bolton Massacre, part of the Civil War, which occurred in 1644. The Man & Scythe Inn was owned by his family at that time.
The earliest recorded mention of its name is in a charter from 1251, making it one of the ten oldest public houses in Britain and the oldest in Bolton.

Answer: Samuel Crompton

Samuel Crompton (1753-1827) was the inventor of the spinning mule, which permitted large-scale manufacture of high-quality thread and yarn which revolutionized the cotton industry. It was an improvement on the spinning jenny invented by James Hargreaves. Unfortunately, he died in poverty and is buried in Bolton Parish Church.

Answer: Warburton's

It was two brothers, George and Thomas Warburton, who began the story back in 1876 when George agreed to back his brother's ambition to own a small grocery shop. From these humble beginning and Thomas's wife Ellen's loaves and flour cakes the business took root.

The company has grown from strength to strength with each generation. It is the largest family-owned bakery business in the country, and employs around 4,500 people across 12 bakeries and 14 depots across the UK.

Answer: Bolton School

Bolton School was established around 1516 as Bolton Grammar School.
The school motto is "Mutare Vel Timere Sperno" meaning "I scorn to change or to fear". Some famous alumni are Ian McKellen (actor), Jack Bond (cricketer), Sir Geoffrey Jackson (diplomat and author)and Sir Arthur Rostron (Captain of the RMS Carpathia).
The new Arts & Conference Centre was opened by Princess Diana of Wales in 1993.

Answer: Sir Nat Lofthouse

Sir Nat Lofthouse(1925-2011) was a Bolton legend. He played 660 games for the Wanderers, scoring 441 goals and made 33 appearances for England. His heroics when he scored two goals in England's 3-2 victory over Austria in 1952 saw him acclaimed the "Lion of Vienna"- a sobriquet he proudly answered to for the rest of his days.

Answer: Le Mans

Bolton was twinned with Le Mans in France in 1967, and also with Paderborn, Germany from 1975. This relationship means that the town hosts the International Town Twinning Civic Visit every three years and arrange a program of events for the delegations from each town.
The Civic Center in Bolton was renamed Le Mans Crescent upon its twinning.

Answer: Reebok

Their grandfather, also called Joseph, designed the spiked running shoe, and also developed the trainer or sneaker. Many British athletes started to use these running shoes, including 1924 Olympic 100m champion Harold Abrahams.
Grandson Joe, once won an American Webster's dictionary in an 80 yards sprint race in his home town of Bolton. This was the dictionary where Joe was to find the word REEBOK (the American spelling). If he had won an English Dictionary he would have found the word spelt, Rhebok!

Answer: The Spirit of Sport

The Spirit of Sport is a tribute to Bolton's sporting community. The stainless steel structure is approximately 30 metres tall and is covered with etched images of over 700 sportsmen and women, coaches, backroom staff and volunteers from the local area.

It is intended to be a snapshot of sport in the borough, representing elite as well as amateur sport from Bolton's past, present and future and is the largest piece of public art in the UK to be developed through public consultation. The sculpture was commissioned by Bolton Council and designed by Eaton Waygood Associates.

It was installed in December 2005.

Answer: Elephants

Hannibal would be so proud!
Visitors to Bolton are often struck by the number of elephants adorning buildings and street furniture in the town center and beyond. The true origin of Bolton's curious association with elephants is not known. The Elephant crest appeared on Bolton's unofficial coat of arms from at least 1799. Numerous Bolton companies and organizations have adopted an elephant as part of their trademarks or logos over the last two centuries.