Being a Saturday girl at BHS Bolton in the 1960s could be mind-numbing (Everything must go, G2, 26 July). It was usually livelier for around 10 minutes on home match days.
The BHS building sits on Victoria Square, where one assistant would keep an eye on the town hall clock and an ear on the roar from what was then the Wanderers’ home ground at Burnden Park. Ten minutes after the final whistle, the cry of “batten down the hatches” would spread along the L-shaped shop floor. Home fans took great glee in running in at the town hall entrance with both arms out, aeroplane style, running their hands along the tops of the waist-high counters and throwing whatever they could grab high into the air, out of the other exit. I used to dread being on the knickers counter.
Hilary Grime
Oxford
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