Wigan Album

Keith, why did the pub have to be rebuilt? Apologies if you've explained elsewhere.

Hi Loz, I think it was part of a general upgrading of pubs by the ambitious Greenall Brewery. It also coincided with the fact that the Crispin was a dilapidated pub (it still had spittoons in the vault in 1950) and I remember black conveyor belt, presumably from the mines, which "carpeted" the vault - they did do a token improvement when we first moved in, a new asphalt floor the lobby for example, but it still had outside loos and to do a proper update was probably as expensive as a rebuild. At the same time they were also building a new pub at Beech Hill, the Wellfield Hotel which my parents became the first tenants of in 1956.

keith,ann was luckier than me,thats the post icrashed into on a three wheeler bike and broke my arm.i can,t have been so old as my uncle chris carried me to the infirmary

Well Bernard now that you mention it I think I can recall the incident being talked about although I wasn't there at the time. Two words come to mind, compensation and health and safety - almost non-existent in those days. Not to mention workmen paying 8 and 9 year olds to ensure the safety lights i.e. the paraffin lamps kept lit over the weekend, when the site was deserted!