Wednesday April 24, 1968

MORE than 70 firefighters fought an early morning mystery blaze which tore through a Radcliffe warehouse on Friday.

Damage is expected to run to almost £200,000 after flames gutted storerooms and offices and destroyed stock at Lonsdale and Thompson Ltd wholesale grocers in Bury Road.

Parts of the building's roof also collapsed in and a glow could be seen for miles around as flames lit up the night sky.

Fire crews from Bury and seven other Lancashire towns battled the inferno for three hours, hampered by exploding cartons and dense smoke, before they brought it under control.

One fireman said: "It was the biggest fire we have tackled in the town since the war."

Residents raised the alarm just before midnight, after hearing explosions and seeing flames rise from the building.

Mrs Monica Fowler, whose 32-year-old husband Ronald was first to spot the fire said: "We could see a red glow in the windows and heard explosions in the building. The fire seemed to start at the back."

However the couples three children, Malcolm aged five, Paul aged three and Graham aged two, slept through it all.

No redundancies will be made following the fire, and the company is already looking for new premises.

AFTER 280 years of history Bury will lose one of its Fusilier regiments next Tuesday — but gain another.

The Lancashire Fusiliers will officially march in to history on St George's Day as part of a government Defence reorganisation

However, troops will now soldier on as part of the new Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, joining two other regiments from Northumberland and Warwickshire and The Royal Fusiliers.

The unit will be headquartered at the Tower of London, Newcastle and Warwick, but will continue to hold events in Bury, such as Gallipoli commemorations.

St George's emblem, borne by Fusiliers since 1958, and red and white hackle — the colours of St George — will be worn by all members of the new regiment.

All four of the merging Fusilier regiments have almost three centuries of strong peace and wartime links, and were raised in the second half of the 17th century.

They saw action together in the Netherlands in 1674, during the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion, at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, as well as during the War of Spanish Succession, the Seven Years War, The American War of Independence, The Crimean War, and both World Wars.

BURY'S bus crews will soon be among the borough's fashion trend setters when they start to wear their new uniforms from next Friday.

The female conductresses of Bury Corporation's Transport department will all be sporting shorter skirts or slacks, and air hostess-style hats to replace their current peaked caps.

For the 230 conductors and drivers it is new suits of single breasted jackets and tapered trousers.

Both women's and men's uniforms will be made from a woollen worsted material, which is expected to be lighter, but just as strong as previous clothing.

THE FIRST trickle of decimal money will make its way in to Bury from next Tuesday.

Phase one of the new pecuniary system is set to get underway with the UK's first decimal coins, the 10 and five new penny pieces, written 10p and 5p, entering circulation and becoming legal tender.

The two coins are exactly equivalent to current two shilling and one shilling coins, and are of the same weight and general appearance.

The only difference between the new and old coins are designs on their faces, but recognition is easy.

They will also fit gas meters, parking meters, and other coin operated machines that take shillings and florins.