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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Photo-a-Day Archive
Photo-a-Day Archive

Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 17th April, 2018)

Daffodils


Daffodils
On Haigh Road, Aspull.

Photo: Ron Dawber  (Canon power-shot)
Views: 2,970

Comment by: Mick on 17th April 2018 at 06:16

What a shame the Ratcliffe road chippy gone

Comment by: John D on 17th April 2018 at 07:49

Yes indeed Mick and also the New Inn.

Comment by: JJP on 17th April 2018 at 08:17

Each year my wife and myself promise to go back to Aspull just for a day to see the Daffodils on Haigh Road, Bolton Road and Wigan Road --- but--something always seems to get in the way. Ron, any chance you can post photo's of all the Daf's in the village just in case we miss out again TA! .

Comment by: irene roberts on 17th April 2018 at 08:33

I agree about the chippy. Happy memories of it. Lovely area though and daffs always cheer me, even though I "wander lonely as a cloud" now.

Comment by: Gary on 17th April 2018 at 08:34

And the New Inn.

Comment by: Mick on 17th April 2018 at 08:43

JJP you dont need to go back to Aspull to see the Daffodils because they are coming up all over the place now we have got rid of that freezing cold easterly wind.
I saw some in Shevy yesterday.

Comment by: Elizabeth on 17th April 2018 at 08:49

I love Aspull,it's my favourite area of Wigan and surrounding districts.

Comment by: Veronica on 17th April 2018 at 09:15

Its always a pleasure coming through Aspull on the bus at this time of year with all the Spring flowers on show.

Comment by: DTease on 17th April 2018 at 11:22

As a Marra myself I think It's good that people say nice things about Aspull but I worry that it may lead to us ending up like Standish.

Comment by: JJP on 17th April 2018 at 14:17

Mick, being a Marra in exile there's nowhere nicer than your birthplace, we have millions of daf's over here in Yorkshire but its about seeing the old place again in all its springtime glory, cheers Marra.

Comment by: Dave K on 17th April 2018 at 14:51

Vague memory of "hotfeets" chippy in that area?

Comment by: Janine on 17th April 2018 at 16:37

I hope to goodness Aspull doesn't end up like Standish, or should I say 'The Village'???

Comment by: alfonso on 17th April 2018 at 18:25

Standish, ten bob millionaires.
aspull`s aw reete, but there`s only Shevington, gods country

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 17th April 2018 at 18:29

As a kid in the sixties, hanging around Fred Rose's garage in Blackrod, I would frequently hear the workshop staff and the drivers, mostly local chaps, address each other by the term ' marra '. Despite growing up In the Wigan area, ( generally ), this word was alien to my ears at that particular time, although I've since learned that the term is also commonly used in Cumbria....Now I'm curious as to the origin of this word ' marra '. It seems a little odd that the term appears to be particular to two specific areas, 60 odd miles apart.
Looking ont' th'interweb hasn't been particularly helpful either, as, apart from telling me that it translates roughly as
' mate ', which I had already ' suspected ', the only other mention of the word that I can find is an old Australian Aboriginal language called ' Marra '.
I wonder.....is it possible that your forebears may have brought the word halfway across the world when they set off from Tittybong in search of a new life in the northern hemisphere DTease? Any thoughts mate?

Comment by: irene roberts on 17th April 2018 at 19:07

Just intrigued by the mentions of "ending up like Standish"....what do they mean? And why "The Village"? I live in Abram so not criticising the comments, just being nosey! I only pass through Standish now and again but worked there many years ago in the seventies and it was a nice place.

Comment by: Poet on 17th April 2018 at 19:38

Janine, our village has died so the rest of Wigan may live.
Standish deserves thanks not scorn!

Comment by: Poet on 17th April 2018 at 22:08

Alfonso
If Shevington and Aspull had taken their fair share of executive housing, you'd have ten Bob millionaires as well.

Comment by: JJP on 18th April 2018 at 07:56

Ozy, I'm told that the term Marra is also used in the Durham area and is thought to come from the time when pitmen would boost there earnings by working in the Marra fields. This may or may not be true but--- I have a friend who comes from Durham and he is familiar with this term, you are right though, it does refer to friends.

Comment by: Janine on 18th April 2018 at 08:53

I think Standish is quite a pretentious place.Also it's just a complete gridlock of traffic.

Comment by: Janine on 18th April 2018 at 08:55

Irene, it's not been a village for about 70 years but people still insist on calling it one.

Comment by: DTease on 18th April 2018 at 09:34

Ozy, when I was a youth I often wondered where the term "Marra" came from myself, so I asked an old, retired Aspull miner about it and this is what he told me.
He said it was common practice for old Collier's to carry, hanging from their belts a tin can with a lid. Now people will tell you you that this can or "Tay Con" as it was known contained cold tea but that isn't true. Marrowfat Peas Ozy, that's what they had in that can, Bachelor's Marrowfat Peas. Apparently they were excellent for shifting dust from the throat.
Unfortunately Management considered them to be a serious safety hazard and not without good reason. You may well imagine the build up of explosive Methane Gas that would be produced by a group of heaving, thrutching Colliers after eating a surfeit of of Bachelor's Marrowfat Peas in a confined space.
One careless spark and BOOOM!
For this reason it was important when changing shifts that the incoming Crew inquired has to the likely level of Methane already on the Coalface.
Hence the usual greeting of "Nethen Fred how's thi bowels"? If this was a Wednesday and Fred replied " Fair ter Middlin' Jack" you could reasonably assume that conditions would be pretty good. However, if it was Monday and you suspected that Fred had been out all weekend supping Tetley Bitter then you knew that it would be wise to take extra precautions.
Most people think that it was gas from the Coalface that killed all those Canaries. Well now you know the truth of it. It was Marrowfat Peas and Tetley Bitter that did for them.
This is what the old Miner told me Ozy and I wouldn't lie to you......would I?

Comment by: Veronica on 18th April 2018 at 11:22

Well I for one will never be able to look at a can of Marrowfat Peas again without thinking of the poor canaries and dust and feathers everywhere! ;o))

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 18th April 2018 at 19:26

I can well imagine there may be an element of truth in what you're telling me DTease, however, as I've stated on several previous occasions, I have no personal experience of deep mining, although I have experienced an alarming build up of firedamp in the old trolleys on several occasions over the years. Oddly enough, as you say, usually after a heavy night on the lash, and unfortunately, usually at the most inopportune moments...err, sorry about that vicar, would you care for a hobnob with your tea marra?

Comment by: Bod on 22nd April 2018 at 11:32

Didn't think could ever take tin cans down the mines.

Comment by: Rev David Long on 23rd April 2018 at 09:12

Bod - snap tins were metal - so were other bits of kit - your self-rescuer, and your lamp's battery top. There's also lots of metal down mines - railway lines, rings, tools, machinery....
As for mara - the men at the pit I worked in in Kent came from all over Britain, so there was a range of accents - and different words for for things. 'Mara' came from the North-East, 'butty' came from Wales - most men from other areas either adopted one of those terms, or simply said 'mate'.

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