Wigan Album

Remember the Majestic at Orrell and the town centre picture houses, was born just to late to remember the Lyric in UpHolland though the building still exists as a cleaning materials wholesalers.

My wife's uncle lived in Wigan and it was known for him to go to see a fresh picture twice a day for a whole week, with matinees and first and second houses at all the different cinemas

The Wigan Observer served Wiganers well with plenty local news.It was handy though if each arm was four foot long, whilst reading the paper, it certainly was a large news-sheet. My local cinema was the Regal, in Lower Ince. They built it just before the outbreak of war. Saw "Lassie come Home" there. Cried my eyes out, also "National Velvet".Cracking films.Fell in love with Elizebeth Taylor.Thank you Tony for rekindling wonderful memories.

The old broadsheet Wigan Observer was printed Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The advertisements you see is on one full page, it had a 10-column 25" cutoff, a real "arms stretch" newspaper. When all the family had finished reading it, the paper could be used to spread over the table for tea.
This Wigan Observer format was printed at Rowbottom Square until 1966, the building is now known as the "Observer Building" the machine that printed it, the Victory-Kidder press can be seen if you click onto WORK and then Printing.
Thank you Tony for showing a bit of Wigan history.

Colin, I used to deliver papers in Ince in the 50's and I am sure it was the Wigan Examiner on Tuesdays and the Observer on Fridays. Don't ever remember delivering the Observer on any other day but Friday.

I too remember the Majestic, spent many Saturday evenings at the Lyric as a teenager and Heavens,I remember being taken to the Ritz to see the Jazz Singer,by a friend's mother.(as advertised in this cutting!)Happy days!

Sorry, I meant The Jolson story!!

Jacklaw: The Wigan Examiner was founded by the Rennick family in 1852, it hit the streets each Tuesdays and Fridays, it had the same front page format as the Wigan Observer, but Tuesdays Examiner had all the sports results from the weekend, but by the late 1950s the paper's circulation was down and big trouble lay ahead. In June 1961, and with much regret the Wigan Examiner closed. However, to meet the needs of a mid-week paper the proprietors of the Observer did decide to print a Tuesday edition with sport and advertising, but the old press couldn't print more pages than 16, so to add more colums it went even wider, hence "arm stretch" or "carpet reading".
In the end of it all, Friday's Wigan Observer was the real weekend Newspaper and Tuesdays and Saturdays Observers were scrapped.

I've been associated with the Wigan Observer for 51 years. When I began work as a junior reporter on the Observer in 1960, the Examiner was in its death throes. It ceased publication in the early summer of 1961. At that time, the main Observer, which sold 48,000 copies, came out on Friday morning. The Tuesday Observer - mainly devoted to sport - was published on Tuesday, but it's low sale resulted in its closure around 1964. The Wigan Observed employed Protestants and the Examiner, Catholics. When the Examiner closed, a number of its employees were taken on by the Observer, including several Catholics. As Colin Harlow says, part of the old Wigan Observer press, which produced its last papers in January 1966, is now preserved in the Science Museum in London.

Hello Geoff, it's nice to hear from you, I hope you're keeping well.

Geoff love to read your page every week in the Obby, Just like Wigan World here, your very much appreciated.