Wigan Album

Lovely. Possibly it was walking day which would have fallen around the Coronation time at the beginning of June or maybe he was off to a street party to celebrate the crowning.

Generations of New Springers were brought up in housing like this and I'll bet if you asked them the majority would have nothing but good memories of their time spent there.

Hi Stephen, are you related to Fred Oakes.

Hi bricky, I'm no relation to Fred as far as I know.

Lovely pic, very smart lad. Love the old fashioned dustbin, refuse collectors had a hard job in those days before wheelie bins were invented.

These were basic terraced houses, built at the end of the eighteen hundreds, or in the early nineteen hundreds. They usually had a clothes line, in the kitchen, above the fireplace, that was lowered, by a rope, through pulleys, screwed into the ceiling. Excellent way of keeping the clothes aired. I presume the outbuilding on the left of the photograph was the scullery, and on opposite side, was probably the privy. What these house lacked, in some amenities, it was made up, in a great many instances, by the happiness, and love, that was found there. Neighbours, usually in most cases, were the salt of the earth. Dependable.

Hi Albert, Although I was very young, I remember the house quite well. The small room on the left was indeed a tiny scullery/kitchen. There was a small sink near the window, and I was bathed in there a few times as a baby. I hate those old fashioned face cloths to this day. There was a cooker & a mangle in there too, and possibly a small boiler. Two people would create a crowd in there. What probably should have been the kitchen, the back room, was used as a living room come dining room with one of those wooden clothes lines on pulleys over the fireplace. My gran always made toast on the open fire using long brass forks & mum remembers warming large flat stones on the fire used to warm the beds at night. The front room wasn't used when I was young, but it had been the living room/bedroom for my gt. granddad after his wife died, and my parents used it for a while before getting married. There were two bedrooms upstairs either side of the very narrow & steep stairs. By the way, there was no heating upstairs, and for a long time there was no electric light. The extension to the right of my grandma on the photo is actually next door's scullery. The toilet was outside in the yard. There was a row of 4 toilets made out of brick with slate roofs & wooden doors with latches, which are out of view to the left.

Stephen. Your gran's house was similar to hundreds of thousands of others. I was brought up in a house just like it. I got many a clout off my dad for breaking the mantle, on the gas lighting, and the privy was similarly situated as you describe. A small scullery, with a small sink, only cold water, also a meat safe, (a cupboard with a mesh front) no fridge. Looking back, I think the cast iron gas cooker was in the kitchen. We had very little, but we were happy. everybody was in the same situation. This was throughout the middle, to late thirties, and throughout the forties. We were very fortunate to move into a council house, in 1950. A different little world.

Longfield Street is on the 1881 census

hi stephen,when your uncle ernest left school,did he start work at horwich loco works ?

The first house we had after getting married,had no electricity until we moved in,the loo was outside,but it was a board with a hole cut in,and a big bucket underneath,this was emptied once a week,also no dustbin,but a midden instead,and this was in 1961,the house was on Wigan Rd Bryn,close to the rail station.

Hi t, Yes, my uncle Ernest did go to work at Horwich Loco Works after leaving school. Very sadly, he died at the young age of 28. I have his British Railways Workshops Record of Apprenticeship book. He started there on 22 Aug 1960. Did you know him?

hi stephen, yes i did know him.i was in the training school at the same time as ernie, got to know him very well.i started there jan 61.everyone did 12 months in the training school then went into the workshops, different shops for different trades. i left in 63 to continue my apprenticeship elsewhere so i lost touch with ernie, so so sad to hear he passed away so young, had some fun times with him.

Hi again t, It's really nice to hear from someone who knew him & had good times with him. I know from mum he was obsessed with cricket, and played cricket for a team in Aspull. He suffered a major heart attack and died having played earler in the same day. I hope you did much better than my uncle in the G.E.C. & M.E. Tech courses during your apprenticeship :-) I'm sure he would have laughed about it now.

hi stephen, i don't think i did any better or worse on the courses we had to do,we didn't seem to take them as seriously as we should have, i suppose. i don't think that back in those days we were too bothered about sitting in classrooms and taking courses. i remember we had to go to horwich tech once a week, we didn't like it, but your uncle ernie used to cheer us up by singing.he would put his own lyrics to the songs, "rude" one's! after all these years i can still see and hear him singing billy furys "jealousy" and putting his own words to it, priceless. r.i.p. ernie.

The size (and number) of today's wheelie bins is a measure of what a throw away society we have become. Especially when folks tended to do small frequent food shopping, buying what they needed, when they needed and it coming wrapped in paper or in paper bags which would go on the open fire.

Hi Stephen, I remember Ernest, my dad used to have a shoe repairers shop in the yard, he then later moved on to the main road, I am sure there is a photo of Ernest among my dads photos, I will have to look for it sometime. Joan

Hi Joan, I remember your dad. My mum, and sometimes my grandma, took me in the back of his repair shop when we visited. He let me watch him working on a few occasions. He was very kind to me. I can almost smell the leather & rubber when I think about it. We have a few photos in which you can see the side entrance and window, but sadly none of the front of his shop. I'll have to check with mum, but I'm sure he took some of their wedding photos in 1965. If you find any photos of my uncle or the shop, I'd love to see them. I've just come across your Prescott St Children photo :-)

PS t, I now have Billy Fury's 'Jealousy' on my playlist. It'll always make me smile.

Hi Stephen I have just spoken to my dad and asked did he take some photos of your mums wedding, he thinks he could have, but if it was 1965 it could possibly be on a still photo he used to have a cine camera which took stills around that time I do have the negatives for these and also they have been put on cd I will look sometime this week and let you know joan

Hi Joan, my mum, Kathleen Oakes (nee Hodkinson), says a big hello to your dad and sends her love. Your dad did indeed take their wedding photos & we have the copies on slides & now scanned to the computer. Apparently, the local butcher took the prints they have.

Hi, I know this picture was posted in 2014, but this is a picture of my dad! It's only just been found by my brother, but it's lovely to see xx

my twin brother and I have been in the house were that photo was taken, my brother Brian was his mate they used to hang out together, I remember the three of us watching a wedding at st johns church leaning against a garage door near Bithells scrap yard, it was cold I passed out and they took me home.it was the eldest girls wedding who lived opposite I think it was Gregory the girl, remember he had a cousin in the same yard think he lived to the right of the picture the clogger was to the left.remember a big bill board at the end of the yard going onto wigan road chippy on the right. Was his sisters name Kathleen my memory is not the same at 72years the house was turn right off wigan road then first right longfeild st the house was about 15yds from the top on the right a little entery a bit further down to access the back yards a big square one with the cobbler in. that's all I remember he was a great friend .it was devastating for us at that time so young

Tracey there is a school photo of your dad the class of 1955
I new him very well, im on the front row on the left with my twin brother Brian your dad and Brian were best mates, web page below http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=2&id=29530&gallery=St.John+the+Baptist.+New+Springs&offset=0

There is a photo of Ernest in Facebook Jennifer whittle photos just at back of Atherton twins,

Hi Stephen. Just been looking at the photo of Ernie, I also worked at Horwich locomotive works and he played cricket with us for Aspull. On the Day your uncle died we played at Leighton House at Orrell in the afternoon and bowled them out for 45 Runs. Our team was also struggling at 26 for 6 when Ernie came in to bat with me and together we knocked off the runs required to win the game. It was a terrible shock when we learned he had sadly passed away that night. Ernies wife donated a cup in his memory to be played by Aspull and Aspull Methodists Cricket teams, I did not live far away from Ernie and our house I lived in 137 Wigan Road is still there