A 1962 newspaper unlocked from a time capsule hidden above the front door of Jessie Graham's now demolished Cropper's Hall reveals just how seriously times have changed in four decades.

Jesse, the demon barber of Silk Street, who built the DIY bungalow in Manchester Road, had the foresight to stash away tales, pictures and maps of what life was like in Leigh just before the '60s started to swing.

How old fashioned they all seem now.

I revelled in opening up the wooden box which released a myriad of memories.

Stories from the year I became a teenager were recalled with ease, but the big news of September that year seems a world away from the worrying issues reported today.

The edition stashed away features three lads, aged 19 to 21, who were fined £5 each (that was more than a week's wages) by Leigh magistrates for plucking flowers from ornamental boxes in front of Leigh Town Hall.

A 16-year-old girl was also fined a fiver for having a drink while under age in the Church Inn, Tyldesley, and another two lads had to cough up £2 each in fines for having a scrap outside the Punch Bowl in Market Street, Atherton. The shame!

Would police bother for such petty offences these days? I don't think so.

Plans were passed for the now defunct new indoor market in Leigh Road, and crowds thronged to Oxleys department store, at the corner of Cook Street and Railway Road, to see Coronation Street's Martha Longhurst -- actress Lynne Carol -- open a wool counter.

An aerial view spotlighting Hilton Park complete with training pitch before B&Q, J and J Heyes' Victoria Mills before Asda, and the old rail line which is now the by-pass, is a fascinating look back at the scenic changes that have happened in such a short time.

What is more amazing is that in the shot that takes in Leigh Road, Windermere Road and Kirkhall Lane, there are only five cars in sight!

And as far as wheels are concerned, at County Motors in Chapel Street, Leigh, a new Austin Healey Sprite cost £636, or a top-of-the range Hillman Super Snipe for £1,444.

They say you shouldn't look back, but it doesn't half do you good sometimes. It's hard to believe that the '60s are today's olden days!