Wigan Album

Such tasteful shop signs in those days. Not a hint of 'gaudiness' (in your face- can't miss signage)... Very Parisienne! I'll look for this shop next time I step off the train- no doubt there will be some changes - if the building is still there.

Valerie, the true address of this building is 10, WALLGATE, as shown at the bottom of the actual photo, NOT 10 HALLGATE as in the description. You can still see the upstairs window but the doorway is no more. Very Parisienne, as you say, "Café Makinson", but everyone just called it Makinson's Café. It had the nickname The Birdcage because of all the chattering ladies enjoying their cups of tea!

still there but now solicitors office

Veronica, it's the left hand end of Moot Hall Chambers, the big building at the top corner of Wallgate, same side as the Parish Church. The upper bay window and stone features are still there!

My Mum's first job when she left school aged 14 was at Makinson's. She walked from Belle Green Lane in Ince 6 days a week to get there, and she loved it.

I can still stand and gawp Irene and imagine......I do that quite often these days!

Is the post office still in that locallity, and the passageway that lead to the Princ’s Cinema?. Has that cinema been demolished?.

OOPS.. YES IS SHOULD BE WALLGATE NOT HALLGATE. IT WAS OPPOSITE WHAT IS NOW THE DOG AND PARTRIDGE THE BUILDING IS STILL. THERE MORE OR LESS THE SAME.

Thanks Jod - I imagined it opposite the station!

The Post Office is still there, Albert, but there is talk that we may lose it. The passage is still there and the building that was once The Princes Cinema. It has not been a cinema for many years and long ago it became The Princes Nightclub for a few years. I think it is just empty at the moment.

Albert, the Post Office is still in the same location it always was i.e. set back from the main road a little and next to what was The Dog and Partridge pub.(after several name changes I am told the pub name has reverted to the Dog and Partridge). There is a lot of controversy going on at the moment about Royal Mail's intention to close the Post Office and move the facilities to a W H Smith store which occupies what was Woolworths at the corner of Standishgate and Station Rd. The Princes cinema building is still there but has been a Nightclub for many years now.

I'm sure this is Ashton's..no 20 Wallgate,I've looked at other photos on Album and am convinced it is...mind you,I don't know if it's Ashton's now or not.

Do you not mean opposite the Raven Ron?

Ron, the building that was The Café Makinson at 10, Wallgate isn't opposite The Dog and Partridge. It is at the top of Wallgate near to Church Gates Passage, almost opposite Library Street. xx

Yes it was Ashton's. I went in this morning for a paper I was thinking I was replying to a topic concerning Platt's Printers.

Ron, as Jod and watchalot and Irene have said above, the upstairs stonework and bay window are still there just as in this old photo. It's now a solicitor's office (at least if Google Street View is up-to-date). They don't usually sell papers! The paper shop is no.20 a bit lower down Wallgate.

I used to be in the wagon with my Dad,he would park outside and nip in for his Woodbines..Makinsons cafe was up the side stairs which led you to over Joan Barrie's dress shop.

Ashton's is number 20. Wallgate, Ron, not number 10. The number 20 on Ashton's shop is actually etched in the art-deco glass over the door as it was when I was a little girl. Number 10 is on the same side but further up towards Market Place. I don't think the door is there any longer but the upper window still is. xx

Irene/ Derek. The main post office in Blackpool has been closed for about four years now. It has also moved to Smith’s. It is a car ride now if you’ve got any mail to collect.

It was not only chattering ladies who gathered there.As a Sixth Formerat WGS & in the University vacations,I thought myself a member of cafe society on the basis of using Makinson's on Saturday mornings.It was still austerity time & nylons were in short supply.I was at Trinity,Dublin where there was an abundance.I presented them to ladies of my acquaintance.I tried to give a pair to the most attractive waitress.She had to decline them as she had a jealous husband

It is where Alker & Ball solicitors office is now, if you look on google maps the bay window above is still there.

2 L M S Refreshment Rooms Wallgate 37 1 Ellen Kiley Female 23/06/1893 Single Manageress Refreshment Room 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
3 This record is officially closed.
4 This record is officially closed.
5 L & N W Wallgate 38 1 Martha Matley Female 31/03/1882 Single Attendant ?? 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
6 L & N W Wallgate 38 2 Ada Small Female 16/02/1916 Single Attendant ?? 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
7 L & N W Wallgate 38 3 Marina Potts Female 04/02/1919 Single Attendant ?? 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
8 This record is officially closed.
9 L & N W Wallgate 38 5 Alice M Griffiths Female 06/03/1907 Divorced Cook General 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
10 Court Bldgs Cr?? 39 1 Elizabeth Askin?? Female 10/12/1871 Widow Caretaker 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
11 1 Crawford St 40 1 Thomas Hill Male 16/11/1896 Married Police Inspector 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Miriam Jane Hill
12 1 Crawford St 40 2 Miriam Jane Hill Female 13/07/1895 Married Unpaid Domestic Duties 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Thomas Hill
13 This record is officially closed.
14 1 Crawford St 40 4 Margaret Booth Female 10/06/1923 Single Machinist Messenger 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
15 1 Crawford St 40 5 William J Male 21/02/1925 Single Not Previously Employed 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
16 This record is officially closed.
17 2 Crawford St 41 1 Edward Hunter Male 19/07/1895 Married Policeman Motor Driver 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Lily Hunter
18 2 Crawford St 41 2 Lily Hunter Female 13/07/1899 Married Unpaid Domestic Duties 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Edward Hunter
19 This record is officially closed.
20 2 Crawford St 41 4 Eric Male 29/05/1932 Single At School 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
21 3 42 1 Thomas Duxbury Male 07/06 Married Superintendent Of Police 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
22 3 42 2 Bertha Alice Duxbury Female 05/04/1886 Married Housewife 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
23 This record is officially closed.
24 L A G King St West 43 1 Samuel Foster Male 22/03/1879 Married Caretaker Building 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Sarah Ellen Foster
25 L A G King St West 43 2 Sarah Ellen Foster Female 06/07/1879 Married Assistant Caretaker Building 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Samuel Foster
26 Clarence Hotel 40 Wallgate 44 1 Marjorie T Laithwaite Female 11/02/1881 Married Licensee Building 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
27 Clarence Hotel 40 Wallgate 44 2 Richard P Laithwaite Male 15/03/1881 Married Engineer Mechanical 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
28 Clarence Hotel 40 Wallgate 44 3 Thomas Henry Male 22/12/1848 Widow Retired Licensee 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
29 Bank Chambers Wallgate 45 1 Ernest Bowler Male 29/09/1886 Married Caretaker Bank 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Polly Bowler Albert Bowler
30 Bank Chambers Wallgate 45 2 Polly Bowler Female 02/05/1892 Married Assistant Bank 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Ernest Bowler Albert Bowler
31 Bank Chambers Wallgate 45 3 Albert Bowler Male 17/01/1919 Single Coal Bagger 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Ernest Bowler Polly Bowler
32 This record is officially closed.
33 26 Dog & ?? Wallgate 46 1 Eliza Jowett Female 28/12/1871 Widow Manageress Hotel 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
34 This record is officially closed.
35 Most Fall Chem?? Wallgate 47 1 James Davies Male 30/11/1870 Married Jam Foundry Labourer 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Mary Ann Davies
36 Most Fall Chem?? Wallgate 47 2 Mary Ann Davies Female 17/10/1886 Married Caretaker 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub James Davies
37 Black House Market Road 48 1 Horace D Wade Male 22/06/1902 Married Manager Hotel 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Edith Wade
38 Black House Market Road 48 2 Edith Wade Female 22/09/1902 Married Household Duties 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Horace D Wade
39 Black House Market Road 48 3 Joseph Wade Male 26/03/1873 Widow Licensee Retired 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub
40 This record is officially closed.
41 White Lion ?? 2 Market St 49 1 Ernest R Magnall Male 25/12/1889 Married Licensed Victualler 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub May Magnall
42 White Lion ?? 2 Market St 49 2 May Magnall Female 16/01/1889 Married Housekeeper & Assistant Hotel 1939 Wigan Lancashire England NSJC Wigan Central & Sub Ernest R Magnall
43 This record is officially closed.
4

I made sure I looked this morning at the beautiful carved stone masonry. No one can take that away even if , 'Bet Fred' 'upstages' below! The solicitors are a bit more reserved.

Did this belong to Makinsons of Makinsons Arcade?

Albert.It would seem that now there are two Albert’s

i remeber the prams being stored under the stairs here.