Wigan Album

He'd probably have skimmed 'em' along the surface of the Dougie in a game of his own magnificent creation called Hard Lines, and to rapturous applause from his Wigan readership, DTease. I here them now: Good shot, Charles! Well done, Charles! Oh, Charles (that's the Hard Lines bit.) And wouldn't Grip have made such a terrible mess of the dishes.
I watched part of a TV documentary that concerned our scribe, a couple of nights ago … couldn't speyk - the stuff he'd written during his 'early twenties'.

The people who lived in these houses must have been quite well off in their day. I knew as a 'little 'un' it was somewhere special when walking round there on Whit Monday. I remember the trees lining the streets as well. The late eighties was when I actually went inside that building, it was packed to the rafters! Couldn't help staring round and being impressed at how it must have looked as a family home.! It was a popular venue as I recall.. It would have been good enough for the man himself to write his novels I am sure.. Before it became a pub!

Veronica, the trees along there were Acacia trees and growing alongside one was a Peach tree, I often wondered if it was a discarded stone from a peach bought at the market that it grew from, it did actually fruit, though they never got much bigger than a golf ball and remained green.

There were so many trees around there and Wigan Lane. I believe they had to be cut down because of disease Cyril. I felt like Orphan Annie as a child in that area! So different to Scholes, I think you do sense as a child who are 'better off' but I wouldn't swap were I came from...

It was Dr Scannell's house and surgery before becoming a pub.