Northwest Vision and Media, create the bigger picture
Police Station Makes Perfect Location
QUESTIONS will no doubt be asked, and statements requested, when news of this month’s Location of the Month is revealed. For Greater Manchester Film Officer, Susan Williams, has discovered a perfectly preserved piece of policing history – which she’s convinced the industry will love.
“When I walked inside the building, I could hardly believe how fantastic it was!” says Susan. “We often get requests from film and TV companies wanting exactly this type of building, and now we’ve got something on our location database which I know people will be very keen to explore.”
The building Susan is referring to is officially called Bolton County Police Station, although it’s always been known locally as the Castle Street Police Station. And although it ceased to be used as a police station in September last year, it remains every inch the original building it was when built in 1876.
The front desk, where residents could call in and report incidents or concerns, still welcomes visitors to the building today – although most have another reason to be there – to learn.
The old police station, together with some of its contemporaries, was sold by Greater Manchester Police. Some of the stations having since been knocked down and replaced by new developments. But the Grade II listed building in Castle Street couldn’t be demolished and was bought instead by OLC (Europe), a training and consultancy company, which specialises in providing high quality training and consultancy services both in the UK and overseas.
“The owners of OLC came to visit the station and instantly fell in love with the character of the place. It’s just fantastic!” says Mark Milaszewicz, OLC General Manager. He says the building is perfect for their needs. “We’ve been running training programs in the UK for overseas clients for five years, training delegates from the Middle and Far East, North Africa, the USA and Europe.
“Business is booming, and we needed a bigger office. And we found this! It’s ideal. Our foreign students in particular love the uniqueness of the building,” adds Mark.
In addition to the training facilities, however, the old police station is also a fantastic film and TV location.
The original courtroom has been preserved, together with the original windows, wooden dock and public gallery. “Even the long walk down to the cells is still there. It’s really quite creepy to retrace the steps of former prisoners,” explains Susan Williams, who has worked as Northwest Vision + Media’s Film Officer for Greater Manchester for four years. In that time, she’s discovered many remarkable, and memorable filming locations. And now she can add the old police station to that list.
“The entire building has such an amazing atmosphere about it. It’s unique. Obviously, we’re delighted to have discovered this amazing, hidden gem in the heart of Bolton, and we’re confident it will prove to be a highly prized filming location over the coming months and years,” she adds.
Under the main courtroom, there are six cells in the basement. “Some still have the original beds in them, which is basically planks of wood screwed to the walls. All the doors and windows inside the cells are the originals, too. It really is a fantastic find!” enthuses Susan.
In addition to the cells, there’s also an incident room, a dark room, where police would develop their own photographic evidence, eight garages, stables and outside loos.
“There’s also ample room if a production company wants their unit base outside.” adds Susan.
Mark and his colleagues still can’t believe how lucky they are to be working in such a unique setting. “We only moved in around three weeks ago, so it’s still early days for us, but I think it would be great fun to hold lessons in the courtroom. It would certainly offer our trainees something they couldn’t get elsewhere,” he says.
It was while the company was refurbishing the interior of the building that they first realised its possiblities, and OLC is now determined to further exploit the building’s filming potential.
“There’s so much history to the place, and every room seems to have its own character and style,” says Mark. “We all love working here, and I’m sure once word gets out that we’d welcome films crews, then even more people will get to see this fabulous building.”
For more information on this location or if you have a query about locations in Greater Manchester, contact the Greater Manchester Film Office on 0161 244 3451 or visit our Crews, Facilities and Locations page.
