Wigan Album

Great colourisation Keith, it's a cracking program you've got.
I can see one young girl with her basket and possibly another girl next to the policeman on the right, or is he a conductor with that hat? but strangely no other females?

Great photo Keith. A big difference in that location today, after alterations by the council. Sad to think some of the young lads would have ended up in WW1.

Very good Keith.

Is this Market Place, looking back towards Station Road ?

Yes Gareth, I am fairly certain it is Market Place, Station Road at the rear.
The sign showing Lace & Co was a bakery and confectionery shop. Ray

It is Gareth. Google Living Wigan 1902 for a short film.

Thank you for those comments, I should have mentioned that the film from 1902 has recently been coloured (presumably using software similar to the one I have access to). All I have done is to capture certain stills from it and tried to enhance a little, mainly by giving them more depth. Gareth I think your assumption is correct.

I think I should add more information so that anyone can access this old film on Wigan. It’s under the umbrella of “Living History AI Enhanced”
The title is “Living Wigan, 1902. AI Enhanced. Colour Added. Sound Added. Updcaled sp. (Upscaled) To HD” so in this case someone else, i.e. Artificial Intelligence, has done the work, I’ve merely captured a few still images and tried to improve slightly. The film lasts 2mins 51 secs.
The link to watch it on your computer is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27_7qTAIGCM

What a wonderful scene Keith, I noticed the lack of women to Cyril. I would love to see the film.

Helen of Troy, it could quite possibly be that the women who were around the town centre at the time would have busy shopping or other chores, and would anyway have kept a distance away from what they may well have seen as a coarse rabble of men, and also as to how women were restricted by their social expectations and the norms of that time.

Keith, many thanks for the link, totally engrossing. All those people who may very well be our ancestors now long gone, makes you think.
I found something similar on the BFI (British Film Institute) site a few years back which had a few more films but cannot seem to find it now.
Thanks again.

Lace & Co was a hardware and iron monger store : Lace confectioners was on Standishgate.

Thank you Mike, I expect the Lace family owned both shops, because
it is a very unusual surname. Cheers, Ray.

I take your point about a ‘lack of women’, it wasn’t the age of today's white goods that have, to some extent, ‘unshackled’ our fair sex from the arduous work of the house. However, this is the beginning of the film which as it continues does show a few more ladies, a number of whom are wearing shawls. Larger families those days, I would have thought, could also contribute to the under representation of women here. I will post an example where a few more ladies are shown.

Lace & Co. Ironmongers shop was still on the site in this picture into the 1950s/60s.

People seem much smarter and better dressed in 1902 than the do around Wigan today!