Wigan Album

Good one Ron, as a Standish lad i've been in both these pubs on many occasions and LONG before Chris Hall had the Hesketh, i'm going back to the late 50's. I remember seeing Nat Gonella there on one of the Friday jazz nights, never ever seen a trumpeter blow like he did, cheeks the size of tennis balls, brilliant. Two great pubs, i well remember the 'penny' bar in the Crawford, you definitely have to be of a certain age to remember that.

So the Hesketh Arms was just off the M62 was it. Couldn’t get the location right. Not very helpful if you didn’t know the area.

M62 ?

Roy I saw Nat Gonella at the KING OF CLUBS one Christmas Eve. Also saw Eddie Calvert there, again it was a Christmas Eve or a New Years Eve mid 1960's

During later months in 1963 and early 1964, this was the stopping off point for the McAlpine' s staff & some key workers travelling from the Preston-Lancaster motorway construction to Wigan. See Album (work M6 #29861) Every Thursday evening (payday), I used to get a lift with one of the guys in their car, stop there for a drink and get a round in then walk home to Standish later leaving the "lads" to continue. Once the lighter nights came it didn't happen so often as in construction "make hay whilst the sun shines" and we worked later into the evening.

The M6 motorway opened in 1963 and by 1967 when this photograph of the Hesketh Arms pub was taken would not be on the main road from Standish to Parbold as it became blocked off. A new road, Crow Orchard Road was built to the motorway. The way from Old Pepper Lane to Shevington used to be Shevington Moor, Arbour Lane and Aspinall Road to Shevington Lane.