Wigan Album

There are quite a few Prefabs still in use in Yorkshire and Lancashire. The people who live in them now will not be the original owners so can only be there from choice. The ones I have seen on my travels all seem to be very well looked after.

I'd love to look at the inside of one,there used to be some at the bottom of Beech Hill Lane.

When I lived in Rochester, Kent, in the sixties, people were very unhappy at being moved out of their prefabs, to be moved into conventional houses. I did not know of anyone that disliked living in their prefab..

We lived in one on Davidson Walk in the early 1950s, they were superb for the time as they came fully fitted out with wardrobes, kitchen units complete with a cooker range and fridge and importantly a bath and inside toilet.

There was also some prefabs on The Nook at Randalls Corner Shevington Vale, some were privately owned so may still be there.

Does anyone remember the prefabs in Standish during the 1950's/60's just off Wigan Road opposite Victoria Crescent? I think they were built on the old mineral railway track that may have fed Victoria Pit. Victoria Crescent was built on the original gully that the old line ran through. As kids we used to cut through this way to Ashfield house/park as our garden backed onto the gully.

The only prefab council houses in Wigan that I know are Bedford/ Sole /Durham Street, Whelley, and also in Hindley and Abram. I don't know the location of any prefab bungalows.

As part of the Moving Prefab Museum we interviewed someone who had lived in the James Square, Standish prefabs https://vimeo.com/233088719

I was born in one of those prefabs in Broadriding road in1950, although I seem to remember it was call Broadriding lane in those days.
My family and I move to a house in Miles Lane when I was 10y, but I remember how well fitted out they where, especially the kitchen, with fitted oven and refrigerator.

I think there were prefabs at the back of Scot Lane in Newtown in the 1960's.
We could do with a good many more of these cheap and cheerful homes to end the housing crisis. Many these days would die to have a warm and cosy roof over their heads that they could call home and build their lives for the future.

Has anyone visited the Trolleybus Museum @Sandtoft near Doncaster? There is a perfect rebuilt Prefab as part of the exhibits fully furnished and the public are allowed inside. Wife & self visited the museum in 2013 and went inside it. The on site fire brigade on the day we were there attended a "fire" and the photographs show them hosing the building. The museum reopens in the spring 2025.

I was born in one of the Prefabs in Broadriding Lane in 1947, and remember Les Lathom, mentioned above, and his Father who looked after the Legion Club in Appley Bridge.

I remember the Pre-fabs in Whelley. A couple of school friends I knew lived in them. I saw the inside of one and it was really nice - posh in fact and very homely.

I lived in one in green hey kitt green from age for 2 till 11 was great time everyone used sit on our step and chat while we all played in street