Nat's Exhibition.

[TANGODANCER]

Opened today in Bolton Museum and Art Gallery. It lasts into October so plenty chance to see it. I went down, had a peruse and took a few pics, so mainly for the benefit of all our non-Bolton based members, here they are:.

Like the man himself it’s a modest quiet sort of affair but gives an interesting and comprehensive view of his life and times with Bolton Wanderers. Photos of school, early working and playing days and his triumphs as a football legend and some videos running of his England triumphs, plus a tidy collection of all his trophies, medals, honours and memorabilia.

Typical Bolton humour is on show at the entrance where the local dinosaur ( think it’s a Trottersaurus) has been adorned with a Wanderers scarf . Might be the museum staff with a sense of humour and maybe just a wag for fun. Either way, it got a laugh out of me.



Nat’s 1953 Footballer of the Year trophy.



The great man’s commemorative “Lion of Vienna” cap.



And the trophy he declared was his favourite of them all:



A pair of those famous rock-hard, blister enticing, toe - crunching , shin - rattling 1950’s football boots. Not Nat’s, but very common in the game back then.



Here’s the song of the 53 Cup Final era chalked up on a local café notice board. Don’t think the lady won any caligraphy awards, but the sentimet’s there.



And finally, could you resist doing it? I just couldn’t and a local taxi driver in a Bolton shirt (who tells me proudly he used to chauffeur Nat around regularly) duly obliged with the pic.

[Gary the Enfield]

Nice one, TD. Although it does look like Lofty's trying to shrug you off!

[thebish]

Typical Bolton humour is on show at the entrance where the local dinosaur ( think it’s a Trottersaurus) has been adorned with a Wanderers scarf . Might be the museum staff with a sense of humour and maybe just a wag for fun. Either way, it got a laugh out of me.

isn't that the gunnersaurus that we slayed at the end of last season??

[thebish]

Nice one, TD. Although it does look like Lofty's trying to shrug you off!

swift elbow to tango's ribs!

[thebish]

those boots are awesome!

[TANGODANCER]

There were two rather sad reminders of the way things change in football:

Nat being laid off and then being offered a job in the kit room cleaning the players boots. "It was a bit of a come down (to say the least) but I was always going to take the job as it kept me at Bolton".

And his leaving to take a job as scout for Arsenal!!!!!!!!

Thankfully it all came out right in th end.

[hat360]

thanks for the images TD. Those boots looked multi-funtional .... down the pit in the mornings then straight out on to the pitch in the afternoons! Can you imagine any of todays "stars" managing a game in a pair of them...

[Lofthouse Lower]

Two iconic images of Bolton there. Nat Lofthouse and a dinosaur.......

[thebish]

thanks for the images TD. Those boots looked multi-funtional .... down the pit in the mornings then straight out on to the pitch in the afternoons! Can you imagine any of todays "stars" managing a game in a pair of them...

they'd certainly slow down those nippy buggers who run rings round robbo! little theo would look like a 2yr old wearing his grandad's shoes...

[TANGODANCER]

thanks for the images TD. Those boots looked multi-funtional .... down the pit in the mornings then straight out on to the pitch in the afternoons! Can you imagine any of todays "stars" managing a game in a pair of them...

they'd certainly slow down those nippy buggers who run rings round robbo! little theo would look like a 2yr old wearing his grandad's shoes...

Ha, imagine Robbo wearing them. Shades of Tommy Banks.

[hat360]

thanks for the images TD. Those boots looked multi-funtional .... down the pit in the mornings then straight out on to the pitch in the afternoons! Can you imagine any of todays "stars" managing a game in a pair of them...

they'd certainly slow down those nippy buggers who run rings round robbo! little theo would look like a 2yr old wearing his grandad's shoes...

Ha, imagine Robbo wearing them. Shades of Tommy Banks.

With those boots he's be more Tommy Walsh than Tommy Banks ..

[Dujon]

Thanks, TANGO, most interesting. I too grinned (when I'd worked out what the image was) at the scarf.

The football boots I remember only too well. They were heavy, but you soon got used to them. Re-lacing them seemed to take ages and when you finally put them on your feet I'd swear that the excess laces were two yard long on each side. Round and round the top of the boot and under the arch of the boot in opposite directions. It was quite an art for a young fellow.

Then there was 'dubbining' them after use. It was an onerous task, but it had to be done lest the leather and stitching rotted before their next use.

[TANGODANCER]

You'll remember then, Dujon, that said boots were stiff as fxck when they dried (hence the extensive use of dubbin). After a game my dad always used to make us wash them in a bucket of water then pack them with newspaper to dry gradually. One weekend we played on Saturday and had another game Sunday; my brother, in his wisdom decided his weren't drying quick enough and popped them in the gas oven. They came out like a pair of bananas and, in trying to straighten them out, he broke one completely in half. It just snapped like a cream cracker. What followed when father found out is not for the tender ears of human-rights enthusiasts or child-protection societies. We often laugh about in now, but back then....

[Bruce Rioja]

On the back of your post, Tango, I called in to see it today. If I'm honest then I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed. I'm of the firm opinion that if something's worth doing then it's worth doing properly, and this seemed to me to be a right old copy and paste affair with precious little by way of original artefact. Though the days of Lofthouse pre-date me I'm as proud of the guy and of his achievements as anyone that was fortunate enough to see him turn out for both us and for England, and as such I expect his town to be able to mount something by way of a tribute that'll not only do service to the guy's status, but to also attract the attention of both a national and maybe even an international audience.
That someone there has chosen to hang a Wanderers' scarf on a plastic dinosaur is somehow very fitting.
Samuedl Crompton died a penniless man and they fetched his son from the workhouse to unveil his statue. There is currently a statue of Fred Scuttle marked up as being that of Fred Dibnah.
Our town is basically, utterly shite when it comes to honouring its own outstanding sons and daughters.

I actually spent longer marvelling at the three Morans. How many on here know of him?

[TANGODANCER]

Certainly less than a grandiose affair I agree and I think the setting made it all look a bit sparse. I didn't have as much time as I'd have liked on the day I went and my focus was on Lofty, but I'll be back to the art gallery shortly. I do agree entirely about Bolton's attitude to its famous sons and daughters. There were also only a couple of dozen folk in there at tops. Makes you wonder that when the exhibition ends might Nat might become just another forgotten hero to anybody but Whites supporters?