Wigan Album

Wigan never gets that sort of rain anymore since the council changed to town centre

Horrible photo, bring back Woolies and the 1960s.

This fear of keeping Wigan in the Past is like Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner or something by Edgar Allan Poe. Soon you will be building hundred foot walls around Wigan to stop the outside world coming in. Stop selfishly thinking
about yourselves and more about your grandchildren who will inherit Wigan. Woolies will never return. No wonder business investment goes to London instead of Wigan. Why would any investor bother with so many people clinging onto the past for dear life. For the sake of the young people of Wigan, for heaven sakes let go, and allow the young people of Wigan to take the town we all love into the future. Saying this, I know I am wasting my time.

Most Wigan people always run Wigan down

One must beg the question what is the future for dear old Wigan?.... Most of the main stores have closed or are closing... Technology? Progress? I foresee a deserted town centre -just as well we have a an abundance of photographs to look at recalling how it was....

Spot on Julie. People used to lean on the rail at Woolworth's because they had no money in their pockets, no TV's at home and if they had it was a 12" B and W. Outside toilets, tin baths etc. Now you sit in a comfortable home with 50"+ TV, a myriad of channels, lots have cars so can travel, phones to keep in contact. The list is endless. I for one have no wish to go back to that set up.

Wigan is by no means the only town centre to be afflicted by store closures. It is happening everywhere due to shopping habits changing. O.K. maybe the council could do a bit more to slow the pattern with business rates reduction, free parking etc. but we have to accept that the changes are here to stay and adapt accordingly.

In other words - what will be left for future generations ?- We have had the best selection of stores and shops - there won't be a town centre to leave for the future population- how boring! Perhaps the centre of Wigan will become a giant warehouse for people sitting at computers ordering goods....or maybe an extension of Wigan Park - dig up the roads and pavements and plant trees! At least there'll be a cafe and they can always feed the ducks. Realms of fantasy - and yet we are talking of people's livelihoods. Wigan cannot be compared to places like London either - can you imagine British fashion designers the likes of Zandra Rhodes and co opening showrooms in the town centre!

Veronica: Your vision of how Wigan might be in future years may not be short of the mark.
On Haydock industrial estate Amazon have built a massive warehouse, with a sister Warehouse at the side, as for town centres I think they will be for cafes, Restaurants, clubs, etc, and shopping will be in large Malls away from the centre of any town.

Nothing wrong with moving with the times we live in but travelling around to other towns & cities it seem the powers that be have incorporated some heritage into planning. It seems to me that Wigan, along with some other towns, seems to be grasping at straws...always coming up with something new & fantastic that will be a one day wonder till people tire of it. I do think some vestige of history could have been saved to give the town some interest so that people might want to come to have a look around what was a busy mining & cotton mill town....with a canal as well !

Town centres are going the same way as the old corner shop. Trends change, always have done, and we have to embrace that change. Julie is right, hankering after a past that you remember as rosy (but was a struggle) will never change the future. The town centre you want is the town centre that people from the 1920s and 30s probably hankered after because they didnt like these big shops replacing the little old shops. The past maybe have been innocent but it was grim. I remember outside toilets, no hot running water, coal fires and the like. Would I go back? No I wouldn't. The past was just as bad as the present but we choose to forget that. Town centres will rejuvenate and we will use them for a different purpose. Life moves on, get out of that rut and start looking at the positives. You are almost as miserable as Boltoners (and yes I have worked there and they are miserable).

Veronica - How do you know future generations want a town centre? Have we the right to tell them how to live their lives? Maybe they want something else instead. Stores are too expensive the maintain these days thats why they are closing. The internet with the bigger choice and delivery to your door is the current trend for shopping. Let's face it, we could have been having the same conversation about out of town stores like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's about 20-30 years ago. Never assume that future generations want the same as you, they don't.

As far as I'm concerned, first and foremost this forum is all about looking back and remembering. The old photos prove that fact. This does not mean we cannot accept change - nothing stops progress! Events happen , history happens. We look back with joy, sometimes with sadness, that does not mean 'hankering' back to a better time and place - because sometimes it wasn't. Most people of my generation have accepted changes (partially)and it does not need Julie on a soapbox to tell us we are "building a wall around Wigan"! That is her interpretation - it does not mean she is correct in that supposition.
Speaking personally I love the whole experience of shopping and all that it entails. I know many youngsters feel the same. Let those who want to use the Internet do so. In an ideal world we should all be able to shop how we wish to. In another 20 or so years it will be of no concern whatsoever to me as I won't be here! The next generation will do as they please and each succeeding generation will follow suit and look back in their turn,with the fondness that I have hopefully. So there you have it Amanda in a nutshell.

I think I may have seen the young people of Wigan that you speak of Julie. In actual fact I see them quite often, more frequently than I care to if I'm being honest, and far more frequently than you do most likely. Aren't these the individuals than can usually be observed pushing prams around the town centre, their bodies covered in tattoos and pierced to the nines with studs, whilst simultaneously being shrouded in swathes of strawberry flavoured vapour?...Correct me if I'm wrong....Or am I confusing them with the ones that sit on a square of cardboard, rattling a can and looking as though they've just lost a quid and found ten pence?..Are these the young people that you speak of I wonder?....I have a name for them, I like to call them inbred retards, or sub imbecilic zeros...And by the way, rest assured you needn't concern yourself with regards to the outside world coming in, as, just in case you haven't peeked out from the safety of your security bubble in the past ten years, they're already here. If you don't believe me, then I suggest you try walking through Wigan town centre and counting the number of times that you hear the English language spoken....Where do you live Julie? It ain't Wigan, that's for sure, but it can't be that much different than anywhere else surely?.....Would you like to know what I ask mysel Julie?....I ask myself this,.... Why should England tremble?...That's what I ask myself.

I Totally agree with Amanda.

Alan's soon changed his mind! What's happened to 'bring back Woolies and the sixties'!

Beware Amanda, the last person Alan agreed with was Howard P and he went off into an Horlicks induced coma and hasn’t been heard of since.

Good words Veronica. I wonder what nostagic memories the young of today will have. Today they are tied to mobile phones, shopping on line, every gadget you can think of that lessens them thinking for themselves & they love it, its all they want...ok, have it but dont drag me along with you because I dont want to go down that road !

And Alan , you seem to have changed your tune !

I shant be writing another word on this subject either.

I don't blame you Helen, I feel the same but Dtease cracks me up! Also Ozy's 'address' hits the nail on the head!

Veronica,you tell 'em gal..Wiganworld is exactly that..memories,I personally dread what the future generation will bring,pushing buggies across the road while looking at their mobiles..memories are your personality,and if Wigan Council planners carry on they way they are there will be nothing to look back on for anybody..I was brought up not far from Wigan town centre, and what it did have was character..no more it doesn't..for anybody else reading these comments..Veronica is speaking for the majority of Wiganers..so there.

Thank you Maureen - you get 'cheesed off' trying to justify your reasons for looking back. As if we haven't got the sense to see that change happens! Like you I delight in remembering and looking at the photographs of my youthful roots and 'spiritual' home- the people, and the place I grew up in.

I’ve had days like that Ozy, days when you get up in the morning feeling a bit rough, maybe you had a curry last night and this morning it’s burning and bubbling it’s way through your lower intestine like the inside of Mount Vesuvius.
You put your Shredded Wheat in the bowl, make your way to the fridge and guess what? NO MILK ! Back to the table and while you sit and wonder if it’s possible for a human being to eat a dry Shredded Wheat, the smoke alarm goes off. The one remaining crust that you had to force into the Toaster has failed to pop-up and is now engaged in an act of self-immolation while still in the Toaster. In a panic you try to save it by poking it out with a fork. Unfortunately, you forgot that it was still plugged in and BANG! there goes the fuse.
By now, the Toaster, complete with sacrificial crust is little more than a scene of blackened, smoking wreckage and you just know that when the Missis sees it you will need rag ears for the rest of the day.
A plea for sympathy comes to mind given your near death experience with the Toaster but the chances of you getting any breakfast made for you are very slim.
In the circumstances you do what any man would do in the same situation. You blame it on the next generation.
The tattooed children with iron bars in their noses pushing prams with even younger children in them, children who are slowly being cooked into the next generation sub imbecilic zeroes by a combination of diesel fumes from below and Strawberry flavoured vapor from above.
But not to worry, some time during the day Mount Vesuvius is sure to erupt, soon all will be well again and things won’t seem half as bad.

Priceless! From the pair of you.... That's what we need a good belly laugh!

DTease: Send Ozy Micks sure fire remedy for sorting out curry problems, send him the coconut matting scratching post, that should help him get things moving.

Ah! I now perceive an opportunity here to educate you in the ways of an aged single person DTease. First off, bin the toaster ( and the missus as well if you'll take my advice ) and invest in an AGA, like the one that I possess....err...did I ever mention the fact that I possess an AGA DTease... Well maybe not, but anyway, moving on,...you just can't whack the old AGA for making toast. Just chuck a couple of crusts on top of the thing straight from the freezer and Bob's your mam's brother, or maybe he was your dad's, I just can't recall at the moment to be honest, as I've just necked a couple of special brews and everything's becoming a bit hazy. Oh! Just one thing, and this is crucial to the entire operation....Do try to make sure that the thing's lit before you start. Don't just do like I did. If there's one thing on this planet that I detest more than wimmin with tattoos and lip furniture, ( and bloody ambulance sirens ), it's stone cold untoasted toast....Now the beauty about this method of making toast is the fact that if you doze off owing to an overindulgence in The Famous Grouse, or whatever, then the crusts just harmlessly smoulder to cinders, leaving a black sooty mark on the ceiling without actually reducing ones Anderson shelter to a pile of smouldering embers. It may be a good idea however to open all the windows before considering dozing off. although I don't recall mention of anyone being carted off to A&E due to ' asphyxiation by toast ' or ' death by black sooty marks '. I've got lots loads of other helpful cooking hints DTease but limited space available precludes me from mentioning them here, and although I'm also aware that advertising is frowned upon, I'll just risk mentioning the fact that most of them can be found in my new book, entitled ' Cordon Bleu Cooking avec le Grumpy old Git. ' This handy pocket sized reference guide contains many smoking and cremated illustrations ( in glorious black and grey ) and is available in both hardback and paperback form. This latest masterpiece forms part of a trilogy which includes the best selling ' Getting Legless For Under a Tenner avec le Grumpy old Git ' and the slightly less popular, but still avidly sought after
' Le Grumpy old Git's guide to Tracking down votre Dentures' . All three are usually available to purchase at most good car boot Sales in Reykjavik,, but in the event that you can't get your hands on a copy....well...tough!
Incidentally DTease, when I described Wigan youth as being Sub imbecilic zeros, I hope you understand that I was merely using polite language in order to avoid censorship by the mods.

I can absolutely guarantee Woolies will return to the High Street and that the High Street will thrive again. It will of course be part of the Museum of the North in the fashion of the Beamish Museum and you'll have to pay to get in.

Oh my giddy aunt..you two do make me laugh !
I have just read out your comments to the man sitting across the table from me...we were both in stitches, laughing so much that I had to keep stopping to wipe my eyes...a real antidote to the woes of Wigan, the next generation & what will become of us , that have been aired about the posted photo.
You really do keep us on the bright side of life !!

If the town centre is made into a museum half as good as Beamish I will still come to Wigan even if I am doddering with two sticks. The Beamish Museum is fantastic, a lovely vibrant community. I love the two-ups and downs housing and the old - fashioned shops not to mention the pubs!

Helen of WHAT ..Troy ..there's good medication for your complaint you know...hope that's tickled you too.

Veronica, I've had a vision, I can see you now in my minds eye turning out for the bus in your bottle green, school made shorts, balancing on two doddering sticks and your rear end under constant attack by a flying legion of angry wasps all seeking revenge for the untimely death of their ancestors from a noxious substance administered by yourself.
Exterminate! Exterminate! They seem to cry as they come in for yet another low level attack.

Helen/ Maureen laughter is the best medicine and we certainly get it with Ozy and Dtease when they get going. A Comedy Duo - better than some of those cynics/ satirists on the telly. I won't be able to stop laughing when I see those' tattooed childreren smoking strawberry flavoured vapours!

It's not only the blithering wasps that I have to contend with - it's the mosquitos when I go abroad and the damned midges over here. If there was only one mosquito it would come looking for me. I stink like a chip shop sometimes wiping vinegar on the bites.....I don't know why they pick on me!

Veronica,are you red haired? they seem to like red haired folk,I have read that if you take yeast tablets they don't like that..do it's either you chew a bit of yeast when you bake bread or...get pie eyed on lager or anything with yeast in it..apart from that,I'm at a loss.or carry a lovely big snake around with you.lol

Just leaving the main topic aside for a moment if I may DTease, your recent mention of Shredded Wheat and then Maureen's reference to redheads reminded me of an incident that occurred only the other evening. Following my habitual repast of half a packet of ginger nuts and a 2 lire bottle of White Lightning, I fell asleep in the bath.
As I slept I experienced the weirdest dream..... I was having breakfast in the first class dining room of the Titanic at the very moment that the vessel was going down.
The musicians were playing ' Nearer my God to thee ' and I was getting to grips with my Shredded Wheat. I recall there was only one of them but it was an unusually large specimen, and just as I had finished it and was busily engaged in licking the bowl, I suddenly woke up in the freezing cold water and discovered that my loofah had completely disappeared. I've searched everywhere for the damn thing but as yet to no avail.
How odd is that?
I've been having lots of weird dreams just recently though, I reckon I may have to start cutting back on the ginger nuts.

More browny reddish hair when young - faded now Maureen, with fair skin. I suppose it's the Celtic colouring. I need to get something from the doctor before I go away or it will be anti- biotics when I come home! It's the UK for me this year anyway. Wherever I go 'they'll' be there waiting... ;o))

Ozy, if you cut off the nuts and add another litre of White Lightning I think you will find the Loofah far more palatable and you won't miss your nuts at all.

STOP PRESS! Ozy, I think i’ve Found your top set. Check out the doggy on the latest Aldi advert on the Telly.

Reminds me of when I worked at the hospital - patients somehow got containers with their false teeth in mixed up with somebody else's when moving to another ward!! Imagine putting someone else's teeth in...what a job that was trying to locate the correct teeth.