Attended BIHE 1988 – 1990, Bolton Institute of Higher Education (University of Bolton – 2004)

BIHE, Bolton Institute of Higher Education (University of Bolton – 2004)

(University status attained in April 2004)

Website:    http://www.bolton.ac.uk

Year:         1988 – 1990

Course:     BTEC Higher National Diploma in Computer Studies

Awarded:   DISTINCTION  (overall first over the 2 years)

Operating SystemLanguages / Other

VAX / VMS OPERATING SYSTEM

PASCAL, DBASE3, MS-DOS, SQL, COBOL74, ORACLE, FMS

The HND course I attended at BIHE was a 2-year, full-time course made up of the following modules:

  • Computer Systems Architecture
  • Programming Methodology Theory / Practice (final year project)
  • Data Processing
  • Business Studies
  • Quantitative Techniques
  • System Analysis
  • Business Information Systems Theory / Practice
bihesideaspectview
The old Bolton Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) building

My final year project consisted of an ORACLE SQL-forms designed GUI interface running under an MS-DOS operating system. The GUI interface provided insert, update, delete and transaction rollback facilities for recording information about students attending courses at BIHE, along with their module assignment and exam result details.

The student data was held in an ORACLE SQL database set-up on a PC local to the application. The tables were designed in accordance with Third Normal form (TNF) design methodology in order to cancel out repeating student data. The resulting application catered for both snapshot and historical reports. System analysis work was carried out using SSADM (Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology).

LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/51224

1985 to 1988 : Computing at Leigh College (now Wigan and Leigh College) Marshall Street, Leigh, Lancashire, UK. WN7 4HX

1985 to 1988 : Computing at Leigh College (now Wigan and Leigh College) Marshall Street, Leigh, Lancashire, UK. WN7 4HX
Leigh College (now Wigan and Leigh College) pre-2007

1985 to 1988 : Leigh College (now Wigan and Leigh College)
Marshall Street, Leigh, Lancashire, UK. WN7 4HX

2 ‘A’ Levels – Computer Science and Biology

(building below demolished 2007 and now rebuilt at the Leigh Sports Village – 1234 article by Julie McKiernan courtesy of PastForward, produced by Wigan Archives & Museums, Issue No. 97, August – November 2024, Marking 50 years of the borough, Wigan and Leigh’s local history magazine – Address: Past Forward, Archives, Wigan & Leigh, Leigh Town Hall, Mark Street, Leigh, WN7 1DY) 

Mark Whitfield Computing at Leigh College (now Wigan and Leigh College) Marshall Street, Leigh, Lancashire, UK. WN7 4HX

My ‘A’ Level Computing Project was developed on a Amstrad PC 1512 and was written in Turbo Pascal. The software provided a means for a local town newspaper to store, track and calculate the money payable to delivery staff based on paper round metrics. These metrics related to size of round, papers delivered and any leaflets attached to a delivery for that week. 

My ‘O’ Level Computing Project was developed on a LINK 480Z Research Machine and was written in Extended BASIC. Three submissions were required with appropriate design and testing. The excerpts here show details of a BASIC program for storing and displaying student exam results.

Leigh College, Marshall Street, Leigh. WN7 4HX – Timeline History from 1966

The Leigh College old building on Marshall Street was an iconic piece of the town’s educational landscape that stood for 41 years before being replaced by modern facilities.

Chronological Timeline

  • 1966: The Marshall Street campus building is officially constructed and opened, initially serving the local education system as the area transitioned away from traditional grammar schools.
  • 1976: Leigh College officially begins its primary era at the Marshall Street building following major local secondary and further education restructuring.
  • 1985–1988: The building serves a generation of A-Level and vocational students with highly regarded local facilities, though the physical structure begins to show its age.
  • 1992: Leigh College amalgamates with the Wigan College of Technology to form Wigan and Leigh College. The Marshall Street building remains open as a primary Leigh-based campus alongside the Railway Road site.
  • 2002: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) approves a series of radical redevelopment plans due to the increasingly poor, outdated condition of the Marshall Street accommodation.
  • 2003–2004: Major plans for the £75 million Leigh Sports Village are finalized and approved. The project officially designates a new, modern location for the Leigh campus, sealing the fate of the Marshall Street building.
  • 2007: The gates close for the final time on August 1, 2007. The 600 remaining sixth-form and adult students are relocated to the brand-new, three-story facility at the Leigh Sports Village. Later that year, the 41-year-old old building is completely demolished.
Leigh College (now Wigan and Leigh College) Marshall Street, Leigh, Lancashire, UK. WN7 4HX
1966 to 2007 – Leigh College (now Wigan and Leigh College) Marshall Street, Leigh, Lancashire, UK. WN7 4HX
  • 2026: A 50th-anniversary reunion and a dedicated local history project are organized by local historians to commemorate the 1976 launch of the Marshall Street college era.

Japan, Tokyo November 2004

Japan, Tokyo November 2004

Amazfit Balance 2 for golf yardage and score tracking with golf course maps

The Amazfit Balance 2 smartwatch for golf yardage / metres and score tracking with golf course maps. These can be imported from the Amazfit Zepp app on Android. I used it at the weekend and all worked well at the local course in Manchester, UK.

At Bangor University Open Day, 13th April 2025

Llangollen, Wales – 7th April, 2025

Aberystwyth, 5th April 2025, University Open Day

Ahead of the xxxmas paper carnage tomorrow … a Dyson ain’t up to the job of cleanup … just a dad sized sucker… 😊😊