BENEATH the tramlines and the expanse of granite setts covering Salford Bridge flows the River Blakewater.

It was turned into an underground stream at this exact spot in 1885 - 25 years before this picture was taken of Salford in Blackburn, looking from Holme Street.

The gabled buildings in the background still stand.

To the right of Thomas Cook and Son’s Tourist, Excursion and Shipping Office, with its awning lowered against the sun, stands the confectionery business begun by Alderman James Boyle, who came to the town in 1818 at the age of 14.

He arrived after an apprenticeship with a barber-cum-toffee maker and made a reputation with his own sweets and earned himself the nickname ‘Toffee Jem’.

The Boyle’s Jap Nuggets advertised on the shop front were cubes with a coconut filling.

The business closed between the wars.