Wigan Album

What year please Ron if you know.

Hi Julie, The Leyland PD2 bus has a 1964 Registration Number
so it could be mid to late 60s,or even early 70s.

Ron. I presume the vertical sign, towards the rear of the bus, refers to Mark Williams, the purveyor of meat products, especially pork. Are they still a Wigan business?.

Mark Williams shop moved to the bottom of Makinsons arcade. What is now THORNTONS. I loved going into the original shop in Standishgate. I can see and smell it now as I'm writing this. There was a Slaughter house at the rear and I can remember on at least a couple of occasions cows getting free and causing chaos in Standishgate.

The slaughter house was Forsters. Demolished in the 1980s when they started work on the road system.

In the mid-late 1960s, the building on the corner shown as Walmsley's Insurance was Lewis's Separates, which later became Chelsea Girl, so this must be early sixties or before.

Bob, Mark Williams had their own slaughter house at the rear of the shop, Foster's was over the backs on Water Street.

You're right about the aroma too Ron, you could smell it when walking past the ginnel just after the chemist, and it would stink to high heaven on a hot summers day with an easterly breeze wafting up from there.

I'm sure there's a Mark Williams butchers shop in Ashton-in-Makerfield but whether it's the same business I'm not sure

Lewis's Separates was there in 1961 as I worked in Aspinalls on Mesnes St in my first job. I recall buying a 'tight' skirt and pale blue jumper to go 'bopping' in! They sold lovely clothes.

What is now Primark but started out as C&A is already in this picture and a friend of my wife's worked for C&A from it's opening in Wigan circa 1961/62. I think Walmesley's Insurance actually occupied the office space above street level. I remember the shop beneath the Walmesley's sign was a jewellers in mid/late seventies named Pidducks of Southport.

Ron. Didn't they unload cattle at the railway Station, in Station Road, for the Scholes slaughter houses, and on occasions the cattle ran amok. They must have had a sixth sense.

I remember the cattle running out of control up Scholes ...I must have been about four and I was so frightened I was hysterical! That's something you wouldn't see nowadays....thank goodness.

The bus was new in September 1964 and the picture pre-dates the one-way system in the town centre so I think this dates the picture to the late 1960s. I remember a slaughter house at the rear of Market Street (up the entry next to Lloyd's Bank) and that was J&J Forster's too.

Stuart, the Walmesley's Insurance building was definitely Lewis's Separates in the sixties and Chelsea Girl in the early 1970s. I bought clothes regularly from there.

I also remember Bellman's Wool Shop ...would that be after Chelsea Girl? I seem to remember going in there quite a lot as well...especially when I knitted for the children in the seventies.

Veronica, I can't bring the wool shop to mind but either Chelsea Girl or the shop next door became one of the first charity shops in Wigan in 1976. I worked at Debenhams and I bought a forlorn-looking second-hand teddy-bear from the charity shop for my expected baby.....I felt sorry for it looking so sad on the shelf.....how daft am I ?! Anyway, Jamie is now 40 and still has the teddy. It is in my grandson's room now.

Just wondering Irene if Bellman's was next door on the side. I have tried to make the picture bigger to make out the wording - it looks like Wools to me but I could be wrong. It would have been after 1975 as that's when Catherine was born. My son was born in 1970 and I knitted all their baby things and kids jumpers and cardigans up to junior school. Although Crawfords was another wool shop I went in as well.

Walmsley's Insurance occupied the offices ABOVE the shop so Lewis Seperates or Chelsea Girl are probably the shop you can see in the middle of the picture. The bus dates the picture nicely because we know for a fact it was put into service by Wigan Corporation in September 1964, the picture cannot be from before that date.

You're right, Stuart. I hadn't noticed but the shop-window at ground level DOES look as if it is displaying clothes, and would have been Lewis's Separates, I think. The sun-canopy is obviously hiding the shop name. Thanks for pointing that out.

Good old Walmsleys. I had a series of incidents that led to insurance claims; in 1970 I had a car stolen, in 1971 a lorry reversed into my car, later that year I got an Escort Mexico and on Xmas Eve I wrapped it round a lamp post, they got sick of the sight of me!

Might seem like a daft question but what was a No7 Abbey Lakes bus doing coming down Standishgate approaching town centre ? I always thought the Abbey Lakes route started from Market Place then either down Wallgate or down Library St ?

Hi SteveM, The number 7 route to Abbey Lakes commenced its
journey in Standish,at either Preston Road,near what was
Langtree Garage, and some journeys commenced at the junction
of Pepper Lane and Old Pepper Lane. If you look at the
destination blind,it reads "Abbey Lakes via Wigan"
Regards, Ray Smyth.