Great news - Bury Local History Society have helped Bury Archives to digitise a series of trade directories and put them online: http://www.bury.gov.uk/undex.aspx?articleid=10880
Trade directories were the telephone directories before telephones, so are very useful to us history snoopers. See if you can find a truss maker....not called for so often on the high streets of today.
Other useful websites: The National Library of Scotland free digital maps, long may they reign, a tribute to how Scotland does it better: http://maps.nls.uk/ BBC your paintings - with reference especially to James 'Clock' Shaw - http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/search/painted_by/shaw-james-clock-18361915 One of the earliest maps of Lancashire, which gives a good overview of the area emerging into the world of the 1600s http://library.lancs.ac.uk/maps/Map2G1577.jpg Ditto but even better! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Lancashire_1610_Speed_Hondius.jpg |
Seems to be driving around the streets to the south and east of the present-day Kay Gardens, 1958.
Invaluable footage! |
Another useful resource is Bury Library's blog at https://buryculture.wordpress.com/