Wigan Album

Yes, just out of sight, behind the police station, is the area “George Orwell” lodged in, around the time he wrote The Road To Wigan Pier.....Things were so much better then

Brutal where those 1960's architects ! Yet is it not surprising their art reflects the dreadful and revolting times in which they were born and lived through? Pray may we build better.

Looking at the photo as it is reminds me of somewhere in the Eastern Block. Totally without character - completely 'blitzed' and every building I knew - gone forever!

Well said DTease.....some planners havent got a clue, a child could do better with some Lego.

And then, we are accused of looking back instead of forward .......Is it any wonder!!!!

Nice to see this photo, which includes the car park that I'd used on quite a number of occasions; going in 'at left', and then dropping anchor on its rum and varied surface, erm, a short while later. I also remember having bought a decent 'combat' coat in The Sixties from nearby Kay's shop - similar 'combats', but bearing astronomical price tags, were seen some years later at an Haydock Park Fair, . . . No, thank you, Sir!
It had been at this Fair when Dad paid £3 for 47 cig cards - part of the Players 1933 set 'Derby & Grand National Winners' (I secured the three missing cards shortly afterwards at the Bluecoat Chambers Fair in Liverpool), while I bought a Richard Tauber two-leaf spread concert programme.
Richard Tauber, eh? Although I can't read music, nor am I able to play a musical instrument, I have the 'devil' to say that Operetta has never been served-up better than when sung by Richard Tauber, . . . What?

Police station remodelled as a hotel, the gasometers demolished, the Pemberton loop line track bed repurposed as foundations for a link road....Where will the madness end......?

I am interested in the mention of Richard Tauber.Am I the last one remaining to have seen & heard hm at the Hippodrome during the War? The 39-45 for those of you who remember the 14-18

You're going Great Guns, Donald. And please tell me where you had watched Tauber perform. A 'beltin' singer was Tauber, I feel, so much so, that If I could take along just one, tenors album, onto 'that desert island' then it would have to be of Tauber singing operetta's 'best bits'. His version of You Are My Hearts Delight seems to have been the song mostly associated with him yet I prefer Fritz Wunderlich's version. However, my favourite Tauber song is Vienna, City of My dreams - it wouldn't be of much assistance to me as I hack my way through the creepers, but it would get played, sooner or later. Thanks.

Philip.Thanks for the compliment.Tauber appeared at the Hippodrome in King Street but I cannot remember exactly when but I can hear his voice as I write.The programme at the Hipp was a half year of Rep with the Frank H Fortescue Company.Producer & lead Arthur Leslie later of the Rover's Return in Coronation Street'The rest of the year Variety with leading artistes

Donald. I used to be taken by my mother to see the shows, during the war years,
at the Wigan Hippodrome, .The only two plays that I remember seeing, were “The Silver King”. and, “Johnny Belinda”. At one event, an elephant was in the show. It took short, and an attendant came on with a large shovel to clear up. I also remember an act were an artist was doing something similar to Lesle Welsh. A chap, up in the Gods shouted out “ When will Nelson ger’s his eye back”. The attendant’s torch was flashing all over the place. All large town’s would benefit from a theatre, to put on live performances.

Thanks for your kind response Donald. Old Chelsea had been performed at the Hipp' in Sept 43. And it looks as though there'd also been some 'rum' acts afoot e.g., Joe King . . . Comedian.

Albert.I saw the Silver King.They would sometimes put on a thriller for one night only.I remember also Maria Marten or the Murder in the Red Barn

Considering the billions of dollars wasted by NASA trying to establish whether or not life exists on Mars, I reckon I could have saved them a bob or two if only the President had just taken the trouble to reply to my letters.
In short, there can be no life on Mars, or very little, as all the Martians live on this planet, Earth.
Mostly, these invaders in human form are employed in the planning departments of local councils, such as Wigan, although many of the more ambitious types have managed to secure high level positions, such as overseeing the running of this country's prisons and rail infrastructure, or negotiating crap contracts with their Martian counterparts in Bruxelles.
And there in a couple of sentences you have the reason why Wigan, along with the rest of the world is going down the pan. It's all the fault of the Martian infiltrators. It's the only logical explanation that I can come up with.
So think on, don't forget to turn out and vote for your favourite Martian next Thursday.

Ozy, rumour has it that NASA is planning an expedition to Planet Chris Grayling in the Nebulous Region of a far off Solar System named Owtado Isacoccup.
They are hoping to discover the source of electrical activity emanating from the interior of this Planet and there is some urgency in this matter because the signal seems to be fading rapidly.
Rumours that the signal is coming from the Planet's last active brain cell have been discounted by NASA on the grounds that there is no evidence that this Planet ever had a working brain cell in the first place.
In a spirit of co-operation (Grovelling) Britain volunteered to work on the Timetable for the expedition but NASA has respectfully declined our kind offer.

grovelling
/ˈɡrɒv(ə)lɪŋ/
noun
1.
obsequious behaviour aimed at obtaining forgiveness or favour.
"it was time to give in and do a bit of grovelling"

Could an alien, preferably a Vulcan please explain to me the befuddled logic of how a party that seeks to overturn a people's referendum call themselves social democrats!

Well DTease, we can hardly blame NASA for declining our offer to organise the timetable for their upcoming Planet Grayling probe can we?
To be fair, judging by the fiasco resulting from last year's interesting railway timetable changes, I'd hesitate to engage that lot to organise a lock in at The Bellingham.
Interestingly, and speaking of timetables, Northern Rail have recently announced that they will be altering a number of their timetables again, next week. Coincidentally on Thursday, the same day as the European elections.
What a dilemma. I can't decide whether to go and wait for a train that isn't likely to turn up, or go and vote for someone who will undoubtedly ignore the will of the majority when the results come in.
Decisions, decisions.
No....I've decided....it's no use trying to stop me....I've made my mind up. That lot deserve a good kicking, so I'll go along just to put the boot in. They've been bleating about a second referendum for long enough. Seems to me that's what they're likely to get this coming Thursday.

Soon there will be a piece of paper being shaken - appeasement, appeasement, appeasement for all!..... Let's bow down to Europe!!! Where is there a Churchill when we need him most.....

Presumably if one disagrees with Thursday's election result it's OK to call for another one.

Please Poet, don’t encourage them.

Yawn!!!

You're not wrong Alan, Brexit has become very tedious. But the threat to democracy shouldn't be treated with such apathy.

Ozy , Reading your posts I not quite sure whether to sell up or not ?
First you mention David Icke and the Planet Zog. You then inform we have already been infiltrated by Martians who are organising the Planning Laws and timetables in Wigan . We are already being told that if we leave without a deal it would lead to the end of the world as we know it . Are you suggesting to all on WW they seek guidance from David to find our route out ? As a lifelong subscriber to Icke , like yourself , you will remember his discussions about lizards! I must admit this vision has always somewhat worried me , true or not , I mean , who am I to know the truth .
I do remember the Tories calling Arthur Scargill a dinosaur, but never a lizard .
You are describing a lot of things Ozy that could indeed rattle any right minded stable voter . If I turn up this Thursday to vote and find ,
Martian , Icke , Lizard , Dinosaur, included on my voting card , I kind of think there would be some delay on my part ...

I have to agree with Alan!

Julie, should you even consider turning out to vote on Thursday, it won't make the slightest difference who you vote for, as in my opinion, the entire system is rigged and you'll end up getting what you're given at close of play, and like it.
Should you decide to sell up however, I'd be interested to learn where you intend to go to as it will no doubt be the same there, if not worse, and If by any remote chance you should stumble upon Utopia, please don't hesitate to contact me and I'll sell up as well and come and camp in your back garden.
But if you'll take a little advice from me Julie, you'll treat it all as one big joke. Ordinary people like us Julie, ( for ordinary, read unimportant ), are only required in times of conflict, to serve as cannon fodder, and if you consider the crazy things that occur nowadays,... for instance, only today, Donald Trump has made it known that if Iran chooses to become belligerent with the U.S., then Iran will cease to exist,... it must therefore then be obvious that the power in this world does not rest in the hands of rational beings.
Hence my reference to David Icke and his extraterrestrial reptilian conspiracy theory.
In short Julie, don't worry. Have a couple of glasses of Madeira, chill out and let it all wash over you. Do as I do, treat it all as a laugh, after all, life's far too short to worry about political issues. And whatever the outcome, remember that there are far more people out there with a lot more to lose than we have.
Regards. The Whizzer.

I suspect this latest Howard P is an imposter.

I suspect you're right DTease, it's probably Alan agreeing with himself.

Alan’s recent bout of yawning got me wondering what causes people to yawn and I came up with this on Google “Yawning is a mostly involuntary process of opening the mouth and breathing in deeply”.
So there you have it Alan, all you have to do is shut your mouth and stop breathing and you’ll be fine.

In animals yawning can serve as a warning signal according to Charles Darwen. In his book "The Expression of the Emotions in Men and Animals" Baboons yawn to threaten their enemies whilst displaying large canine teeth". Watchout!

Yes Veronica they can also inflate a large proboces on the rear end, which would indicate to the ape or man in question that you are a right pain in the nether regions.

Well that's the yawning pretty much comprehensively explained then, which just leaves the puzzling incident of a row of question marks left as a comment to ponder. What's your theory on that one DTease? It couldn't possibly indicate the onset of senility by any chance could it do you suppose?
I mean, a row of question marks left as a comment? It seems a little bit off the wall to me, but then I have to admit that I have no experience of dealing with psychotic maladjustments in the elderly.
Perhaps a short course of temazepam could prove beneficial.

Perhaps the poor lad is just very tired and he nods off whilst typing, banging his head on the ?????????...sometimes it's the zzzzzzz and he's dreaming of honey bees....but we don't know if he really is 'yawning'. A dose of Sanatogen used to be a good tonic for the over 40's , but it's a remedy that we don't hear of these days unfortunately.

John G, I once had a large proboscis on my rear end, so I went to the Doctor and he lanced it for me, but, I can tell you that was a right pain in the nether regions for weeks after. Made my eyes water.

Ozy, I have noticed that with the coming of age there comes a tendency, even without a cup of Horlicks, to nod off when reading. There is also a tendency to wake from these little nods very suddenly asking yourself a lot of questions, such as “Where am I” or “What’s happening” or “What day is it”. I think Alan is just shortening that to ???? to signify that he has just awoken in a bit of a fluster.

There's also a very good clip to watch on Ytube it's called 'The Yawning Man'. a lovely song,I can guarantee it will send anyone to the Land of Nod who has difficulty in dropping off....

Someone's mentioned David Icke. Now there's a man I really do admire. A lot of the things he talks about have come true and a lot of people (though not to most of the Muppets on here) are starting to respect him and take him more seriously. Read one of his books or go to one of his packed full talks and you may see a different side. They've even banned him from speaking in Australia (on the usual rubbish that he's anti-simetic). Last year he went around Manchester City Centre handing out money to homeless people because a charity wouldn't accept his donation (so much for the council helping the homeless).

Well going back to the photograph ....

DTease

That photograph looks to have been taken in the late 1990s I would say 1997 that is unless yoo have been in a time warp, that is 22 years ago.

Going from left to right.

The glass enclosed garage belonging to the police station ... Gone.

The police station .... Gone, it is now a very smart looking Premier Inn Hotel.

Derelict buildings opposite courthouse .... Gone.

Gas Holders .... Gone

Gas Works Pipes .... Gone

Car Parks opposite old police station, now tarmacked and looks nice.

Rough Ground adjacent to the railway line, that is now a tarmacked car park.

I would suggest that you go and take a photo of how it looks now and then criticise ....

Sir Bob, the same Council that created this mess or allowed this mess to be created is still in power. Yes, they have done some cosmetic work....but it’s still a mess.