Wigan Album

Lovely memories. Going past the ticket inspector with my Dad & him telling me that that was the M.P. for the area! For a few years I used to travel from here to Southport for my music lessons with Mr. Bailey, tragically died in an accident. My Mum used to give me £1. a week, that covered: bus journeys to & from Wigan to Platt Bridge daily, my fare to Southport - I did have a privelege ticket, didn't pay the full fare because my Dad was a Railwayman the rest was my own!

The Victoria Pub looks lovely and look at it now, whatever possessed them to paint it Pink!!! it's in a right state now.

How lovely it looked then, how sad and pathetic it looks now..

For some reason, Wallgate always seemed more interesting than North Western! I remember catching the train from Wallgate to Gathurst in the 60s, the long walk up Gathurst Hill to John Rigby [and the long walk back down the hill after the Christian Brothers had put us in detention and we missed the school bus into Wigan!]. Somehow, pulling into Wallgate on a bitterly cold winter's evening with my fellow miscreants back then was a special feeling. I still had the walk down Library Street though to catch the bus to Hindley and a tongue lashing from my mother!

My favourite memory of the Victoria has to be the day I went for my first job interview. I had gone up to the second floor of Addison Chambers to meet Tom McConnell and Alan Hebditch, the principals at McConnell News Service, only to be told by a reporter that they were in the Vic.
At sixteen I had never been in a pub and with my upbringing it was something of a stigma, so there I stood at the door of Addisins wine shop, looking both ways across Wlagate, not to avoid the traffic, but to make sure I couldn't see anyone from Newtown who might know me, when I thought the coast was clear I darted across the street and in through the pub without my feet even touching the ground.
I got the job and of course working in the news biz my views of pub interiors would very rapidly change with experience. For most journalists and photographers of the day pubs were often looked on as the office/lunch room.

The Vic used to be our first port of call on a Friday night. Our bus dropped us off right outside the door so we could literally fall into it. Good times,good times.

First street under the bridge after the Ropewalk was my street..all Wallgate is home from home to me..across the road facing the station was Gordon Isherwoods shoe shop(brother of Lawrence the artist) further up Jean Rowes dress shop..my Mams stepmothers second marriage was to their brother Billy..lovely memories of yesteryear.

Now there's a "blast from the past" as far as I'm concerned, my mother was "never out of" Jean Rowe's dress shop.

The shop was called Helen Rowe, was the proprietor actually called Jean, and just use the name Helen for business purposes, and the sign above the shop?

Up to the sixties there two public houses within the Vic .The Victoria Hotel, in Wallgate itself,under seperate management ,The Victoria Vault,entrance on the side.of the building overlooking the station veranda.

the shop on the right hand corner used to hellors , and i used to go there to pay my mams weekly payments on some furiture and carpet she bought,in the 50s

Mick..I should have said Helen Rowe,as you've pointed out,Jean was her niece and Billy was Helens brother and Jeans dad.

Many thanks, Maureen.

Opposite the station was Flo Higham's florist shop. Got my wife, twenty one red roses, for her twenty first birthday, from this florist shop. Seems like only yesterday, but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. In 1951, My mther, and dad bought a bedroom suite from Hellors, the furniture shop, on the opposite corner from the railway station.

Not a scrap of litter to be seen then, Bet it doesn't look like that now on a saturday morning after friday night;

Just reading the comments about Helen Rowe Dress shop - Helen (actually Ellen) was my Grandmother, and she originally had a shop in King Street, with a big sewing room above, making and alterations to clothes. She moved to wall gate when the rents were put to a very high rate. Jean was brought up with Jean, and they were actually cousins, but more like brother and sister. Jeans dad was Billy and her Mum was Mabel, but they never married.Billy did Marry Mary, she already had a daughter Nettie. My Gran was known as Nellie, was born Ellen but the shop was a Helen Rowe, she was a very formidable character in her day. Would love to hear from anyone who knew Nellie, Jean, my Dad Fred or Auntie Gladys who brought them up

Hello Denise..I'm very late with this reply..just to say that my Aunt Mary was my mams step mother, I loved her a lot,and her daughter was aunty Netta who was lovely and very beautiful..we used to visit her and uncle Bert in Leyland quite a few times until they both passed away..if you look on 'Album'and scroll down to 'Barnes' you'll see the photos of Netta that I put on.

You can't move there now(2023) for taxis everywhere.

All looks a bit cleaner and fresher than today.

I stood in the same spot on Wednesday on my way to the station, what a sad and sorry site.
The Victoria is shabby and needs a good repainting and those stores below and windows above where Walmsley's is on the corner an utter disgrace.
What a visual welcome to visitors to Wigan!