Login   |   Register   |   
Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Wigan Album

Unknown

35 Comments

Unknown Location
Unknown Location
Photo: RON HUNT
Views: 4,509
Item #: 29733
Postcard published by a Pemberton Photographer Can anyone identify where it is?

Comment by: DTease on 17th September 2017 at 10:06

Could this be New Springs with St John's School on the left?

Comment by: Veronica on 17th September 2017 at 13:45

I wonder what the two men are doing....I 'suspect' they are selling something-they can't be waiting for a bus surely- but you never know.

Comment by: RON HUNT on 17th September 2017 at 14:13

At first glance I thought it was the top of Enfield street but the streets on the right don't match up and Leopold Street isn't there Don't know when that was made.

Comment by: Tony on 17th September 2017 at 14:37

I agree with DTease. The walls and railings on the left of the photo are still there, and have hardly changed.

Comment by: Poet on 17th September 2017 at 14:50

The two blokes on the left appear to be the objective of the photograph and seem to be source of amusement for the people opposite. The seated man has what looks like some pipe and a Jerry can. An intriguing scenario.

Comment by: john brown on 17th September 2017 at 15:09

Beats me ?

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 17th September 2017 at 17:33

I can't say that I'd noticed the second bloke to be honest, the one standing, as he tends to blend in with the brickwork. I suspect a visit to Suspectsavers may be in order.

Comment by: Poet on 17th September 2017 at 17:38

Why would this rather unassuming image be published as a postcard?

Comment by: RON HUNT on 17th September 2017 at 17:39

Just looked on an old map of the new Springs area and if it is St Johns school then the first street on the right would be VIGO St. and the next one up Cale Lane. The shop on the right on the corner of Vigo St.? is Moore Butchers?

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 17th September 2017 at 18:57

DTease: You're certainly off the mark with this one ... blimey. There's also some film of the school, in various stages of decay, on YouTube, which you might like to see. I shared Veronica's curiosity regarding the seller and his business, but after considering the gentleman's fine array of onboard tools, I now give 'scissor sharpener' for the perusal of Veronica and yourself ('Perusii would sound nice here ... I don't know where the Dickens, that came from').

Comment by: Pieface on 17th September 2017 at 19:18

It is Wigan Road, New Springs, I also think it is unfair to the buyer of this card and many other cards to be published on WW to score Brownie Points

Comment by: GW. on 17th September 2017 at 20:04

Ormskirk Road looking East?

Comment by: Stuart Naylor on 17th September 2017 at 21:05

I think this is the corner of Catherine Terrace and Leader Street in Scholes, at the side of St Catherine's Church.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 17th September 2017 at 21:23

Jumping Jehoshaphat GW, where on earth have you been till now?, locked in the toilet? You'll have to buck up I'm afraid or I ' suspect ' your future with the agency may very well be in jeopardy.

Comment by: Stuart Naylor on 17th September 2017 at 21:25

I think the man sat at the side of the wall, could be playing a Hurdy Gurdy.

Comment by: Veronica on 17th September 2017 at 22:33

The shop sign does bear the letters OORE making Ron correct. Good idea about a scissor sharpener as he would have an excuse to be sat there on the street watching for passing trade. But you would think he would have a placard at one side though.

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 17th September 2017 at 23:12

Stuart: Yes, the gentleman might well have been a virtuoso, or in the event of the shadowy figure having been part of the act, the lead virtuosi. Whichever, and despite the glare of the sun, the seated gentleman seems set for the duration - not to put too fine a point on it.

Comment by: jack on 17th September 2017 at 23:24

New Springs first shop on the right was the Barbers shop run by ginger akin Mr Davies

Comment by: jack on 17th September 2017 at 23:27

Cale Lane first right

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 17th September 2017 at 23:57

You did very well to dig out Moore, Veronica, so perhaps you could fettle the soap 'ad' on the gable end, as well; identifying the soap manufacturer's name would do nicely. Regards.

Comment by: DTease on 18th September 2017 at 00:07

I deduce that the seated man is intent on a day fishing on the canal.He has made his way up from Whelley and is now sitting on his fishing basket resting. In his left hand, he is holding his fishing net. In his right hand, he is holding an Army Surplus Ammunition Pouch containing two jam butties and a bottle of Dandelion and Burdock. He his now contemplating whether he should carry on toiling his way up to the canal or cross the road to the Free Trade which is just behind where the Photographer is stood. I suspect that the lure of a cool, refreshing pint in the Free Trade will be too much for him to endure.
The next man is carrying a bunch of flowers which he has just picked from his Allotment round the back of the School. he intends to present these flowers to his good lady wife who is across the road with their two children. His good lady wife had hoped for something more substantial for the children's tea but is resigned to the situation.
The man and the boy behind her have just left the Butcher's Shop after purchasing two of Mr. Moore's finest pork chops. they are now on their way home and have no bearing on the case.
Shortly after this photograph was taken the Photographer was run over and severely injured by Jimmy Marshall's Milk Cart. The general consensus was that "It served him bloody right for standing in the middle of the road taking pictures"

Comment by: JJP on 18th September 2017 at 05:59

If as thought it is New Springs then the street on the right is Vigo Street, my dad was born here 1911. The next street would be Cale Lane, it certainly fits but -- I would have expected to see tram tracks heading towards Aspull, would they have been there when this photo was taken ?. The photographer would have been stood almost in front of the 'Free Trade Hotel' a Maggee Marshall pub close to the Boundary.

Comment by: Ken on 18th September 2017 at 06:55

Definitly New Springs and the man is playing a Hurdy Gurdy

Comment by: fred on 18th September 2017 at 08:53

New Spring shops on the right now site of chemist

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 18th September 2017 at 10:10

Excellent piece of deduction DTease, what a star!. If you're passing the office, you'll find an envelope on my desk with your name on it containing a few beer vouchers. Be sure to pick up the right one though, as the other envelope contains a P45.

Comment by: Tony on 18th September 2017 at 10:11

JJP - The tram service to Aspull started in April 1906, before that date they only ran to the Whelley/New Springs boundary.
Fom what can be seen of the clothing of the people in the photo (especially the boy and girl), it could well have been taken before the tramlines were laid.

Comment by: Phil on 18th September 2017 at 11:29

The man/tinker seated is sharpening knives for the boy next to him who was from the butchers across the road.

Comment by: Veronica on 18th September 2017 at 12:46

I just wonder what the man taking flowers home for the wife has been up to! Especially if he's just 'bunched' them up off somebody else's allotment! I bet he's been in the pub and forgot it's her birthday! She'll have left his pork chop dinner to dry up sp she can throw it at him when he gets in!

Comment by: Veronica on 18th September 2017 at 17:53

Philip I can only make out 'soap' on the bottom -over that it would just be a guess- 'soda'? Or 'Suds'! It's not as clear as the lettering over the shop.

Comment by: Dave on 18th September 2017 at 17:59

Here's the stepped wall.

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5579573,-2.606256,3a,75y,74.65h,79.2t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAE1bgpckGMIwPlKgMfXqUQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Comment by: Mick on 18th September 2017 at 20:54

Veronica - ref. the Soap advert on the gable end - it's for 'Mother Shipton's Soap', which was a proprietary brand available at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. A few adverts for it can be found on Google Images.

Comment by: Veronica on 18th September 2017 at 21:26

Thank you Mick I would never have guessed that one !!! I have heard of a 'Mother Shipton' from Yorkshire - found that in the 'cobwebs' of my mind!

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 18th September 2017 at 21:53

Mick: You're a knockout! It had been my intention to tell Veronica about the difficulty I had, when trying to identify the manufacturer's name and how Sunlight Sephton's Stephen's and the blurred image of 'Wigan', at top right, had caused me to reach for the tab's - pack it in if you like. Well done!.
Veronica: Thanks for trying to identify the soap 'ad' for me. I hope you enjoyed Saturday's art exhibition. I've also had a look at Tom Newton's paintings, as you suggested, on Images, and you are right, they are very good. Take care.

Comment by: Mick on 18th September 2017 at 22:42

Thank you Philip. A spot of jiggery-pokery with a photo editing suite made the image legible.

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 18th September 2017 at 23:30

And thanks for your reply Mick. I was fairly confident that there was a break immediately before the final letter, which as far as my limited knowledge of punctuation goes, could only have paved way for the apostrophe - followed by a small 's' -; the large 's' at the begining being the only 'banker'. I wish you the best of health as you 'chisel' your way through this here punctuation. Paracetamol in the cabinet, I guess.

Leave a comment?

* Enter the 5 digit code to the right of the input box. Don't worry if you make a mistake, you will get another chance. Your comments won't be lost.