Wigan Album
Market Place, Wigan
41 CommentsPhoto: Dennis Miller
Item #: 13602
Not sure of the date, I can see tram lines, but no power cables for the trams, this would date it after 1931, but I am not really sure.
Great pic but I'm lost, which way are we looking ?
Anyone know what the big building with the chimmney is? It appears to be in the Greenough St. area.
helen the building on the right is now the moon under water.
were the expert is in the bottom left is were thomas cook is now the road bends round into station road the chimney will be in the greenough street area but have no idea what it is
Could it be the building along by the River Douglas, between Crompton St and Greenhough St ???
(Called the Blueprinters???? My husband thinks they printed material there.Going back a long time!)
Sorry but I'm none the wiser...no Moon under the Water when I lived in Wigan ! Is the road that goes off onto the distance where the 2 station were ?
Is the chimney the mill by Mesnes Park?
Ron, I think the chimney that you refer to is at Water Heys Mill at the side of Greenough Street. This area eventualy became Calderbanks scrap yard.
'Rylands' The perspective is very flat.
Here is the same shot taken recently:
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/images5/wigan10.jpg
Taken from the top of Wigan Parish Church towards Standishgate.
I can't see the Ritz, so it is pre,Ritz. the white frontage of Burton's can be seen to the left of Woolworths and the vertical name, Empire,in the centre of photo' for the cinema, the roof of which can be seen up the narrow passage.For you older Wiganners the old underground toilets are in the foreground.
You can view the image full sized here, your browser may resize it, just click on it in Firefox to view full sized, not sure about IE?
http://www.ecadfael.fu8.com/027.JPG
Helen the Moon Under Water is a pub on the corner of Library Street and Market Place.
Right...I think I've got it now. The road that turns to the left is Standishgate, the one that goes into the distance is where the Ritz Cinema was the one that goes round to the right is Wallgate. Please say I've got it right!
The mill was where Water Street multi-storey car park is now. If you look to the right of the mill, the houses you can see ran along the far side bank of the Dougie
As Kevin says, the chimney belonged to Water Heys Mill, but it was not part of this mill, it was further back nearer to the end of Great Acre.
Belting photo.
Spot on, Helen.....Give the lady a coconut!(as they used to say on Wigan Fair).
You have cracked it Helen, you are right.
The Moon Under Water is not actually shown on the photo, but before it was converted to a pub it was the Halifax Building Society... before that I have no idea.
The building extreme right was Martins Bank, next door to the Cross Keys Pub, which later became Moon Under Water.
The one extreme left was Jacksons the tailors Now Thomas Cooks.
There's also Burtons Tailors, Woolies, Th'Owd Dog, Laces Ironmongers, Craddocks Shoes, Maypole Dairy & just over the top left of the Empire Cinema, the Palais de Dance, The Empress Ballroom & the Ship hotel..
I thought the Moon Under Water used to be a shop.....was it Broadmead's? I have a video, Bygone Wigan, which shows it, I think.....I will watch it soon and report back.Why do Dennis Miller's pictures always cause so many comments.....he always WAS awkward!(Only joking, Dennis!)
Nearly right, Helen.
The building with the Tudor style timbering on the fork in the road (top left) was Woolworths. Standishgate runs to the left of it, and Station Rd to the right.
Wallgate is out of shot - it starts beyond the bottom right hand corner of the pic.
On my Bygone Wigan video, the name of the shop on the corner of Library Sreet and Market place is maddeningly out of shot, but the side window, (in Library Street), is displaying what appear to be washers and spin-dryers.The film is from the early 60s I would say.
It was a Halifax immediately before it became Moon Under Water, I used to bank there.
Just for info... maybe this would help...
http://www.ecadfael.fu8.com/market_place.jpg
21 Comments on the day of first publication of the original picture. This is what Wiganworld is all about. Keep going folks you are doing tremendous work. Well Done.
You are Right Irene it was Broadmeads I bought a record player there in 1968 with my first wage on tick of course my dad had to be guarantor for me and he had to sign the documents through a halfpenny stamp
My compass got in a twist there.ne'er mind eh.
If you care to look at this:
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/5/yxfgiojw.jpg
You will see that Martins Bank is at the bottom of the Wiend. Next door is the Cross Keys pub (Walkers Warrigton Ales partly hidden behind the bus.
The delivery entrance is the tunnel, which is now the front door of the Moon Under Water.
Between the time it was the Cross keys & the the "Moon U W"
It was a building society for a short time
By Art...
[The building extreme right was Martins Bank, next door to the Cross Keys Pub, which later became Moon Under Water.]
Martin's Bank, was this in later years the Marble Arch Cafe, and then a material store?
By Irene...
[Why do Dennis Miller's pictures always cause so many comments.....he always WAS awkward!(Only joking, Dennis!)]
My wife would say you are not joking!
I had another shot waiting in the wings on my laptop, but the hard drive has just died big time... so I will have to hunt it down again. :"-{
But it was a belter!
There was a shop near where the Moon is called Dunn and Co,a mans taylor's.Think most of the clothes where made at Coop's.
HARRY JONES (bespoke taylor) had a shop in The Wiend next to GEORGE LYON (gents hairdresser).There was also a bookies.This was in the fifties.
You got it Dennis, the red tiling hasn't changed since it was Martins Bank. There's another pic in album>marketplace which was taken before Library st was there, & on the left is the corner of the cross keys, then two buildings that were demolished to facilitate the entrance for Library St.
Dave Marsh the bookies up the wiend would surely have been in the sixties as they were illegal before then. That particular betting shop was frequented by one of Wigans old characters, Clapper. Many times I have been in there many times hearing him shouting home his horse.
Jem, Dunns Stood where the Britannia Building Society is now on Wallgate and you are right most of the clothes were made at Coops I know cos I made some of them..
Was the bookies Wally Mills,
The gents barbers in the Wiend was Russell Lyons, handed over to George (surname unknown to me), When Russell went into the paper bag business.
They were my barbers..;o)
The chimmney is the water hays cotton mill off Greenough street just over the river douglas from central park i looked it up on two old maps1908 and 1929.
The building seen down station road was next door to the Ritz that hadn't been built at the time of the photo,it was i think the original Dole office. i remember going with my mother to get our ration books
The Ritz cinema opened in 1938 and ration books started in 1940 . Does anybody know where ration books were issued?
1960 was the year of the legalisation of off course betting shops.
In the seventies The Moon Under Water building on the corner of Library Street used to be Civic Stores, In the sixties it was Broadmeads Electrical.