Wigan Album

Another interesting and well researched photo.Good one Chris.

This photo was taken some 5 years after I had briefly attended Howe Bridge School, not sure where the school is in relation to the bridge though.

The school is just visible at the very end of the road on the left hand side.A temporary bridge was put back across the road when open cast mining was started down Millers Lane.

Sorry the school is in the opposite direction looking towards Atherton on the right hand side

earl st first left under bridge, st michaels school opposite, bowling green row first right.

Was there a Lancashire United Bus depot here about's and in which direction would it have been, can anyone tell me please ?. I remember also a Leisure Centre where I saw the 'Five Penny Piece' sometime during the 1970s. I havn't passed this way in over 40 years. What a lovely old photograph !. Ozimandias or Gary should be able to answer the next question for me. "Is that a Bedford O series furniture removal van in the distance".

Hi JJP, The Furniture Removal Van does look like a "O Type"
Bedford. I have called it a Furniture Removal Van, because
I cant spell Pantechnicon !!

Yes jjp a Bedford o series, could well be Pickfords, and yes again LUT was based at Leigh road Howe Bridge, and later became GMB, now an housing estate.

Jjp if you turn round looking back towards leigh the bus depot was on the left about a quarter mile further down

Gary, thanks I thought so. Ray- thanks also, by the way, I couldn't spell Pantechnicon either so I was tempted to write Luton van.

Since you've mentioned the Luton van jjp, this may be the perfect opportunity to inform people as to where and why the name originated. I'm sure you know, as will both Ray and Garry, and it's so easy nowadays to glean knowledge from Google, but how many people actually bother? So come on Garry, you first, why were they called a ' Luton'?

JJP, I vividly remember often seeing the Lancashire United Bus depot (Omnibus Depot as described on the 1953 map) from the house where we lived in Leigh in 1949, which was further down Leigh Road heading towards town.

Note also the trolley bus wires.

A nice clear view,the Trolley buses were the commonest on this stretch.

NO, I thought if we were looking back towards Leigh the LUT depot would have been on our right, am I wrong ?. Ozimandias, I don't know from where or why the Luton got its name but - I always thought the difference between that and a Pantechnicon was --- the latter was coach built in effect, a single construction, were as, the Luton was simply a extension of the van body over the cab. I'm sure Gary will know, over to you Gary !!!.

A Luton van is where the van bodywork extends over the cab
of the vehicle. Its origin is in the Bedfordshire town of
Luton, which was once the hat making capital of the world.
Years ago, Rich folk would have their bespoke clothes and hats delivered to them in a "Gown Van" with hanging clothes
rails, The forward section of the van,above the drivers head
was where the hats, in "Hat Boxes"were carried.The nickname
of Luton Town Football Club is "The Hatters".

The LUT was on both sides of the road,on the left going towards Liegh was the bus garage and on the right were offices and I seem to remember the social club and a canteen

The lads are right, about the Luton body. A removable body from the chassis and covers the cab, this design was used for storage.

I suspect we are looking towards Atherton and Tildesley.

Good explanation Ray. Just to elaborate a little, Luton, coincidentally, was also the home of Bedford lorries, and it's alleged that the very first Luton bodies were mounted onto Bedford chassis. The section extending over the cab being referred to, as Ray states, the ' Luton '.
I went to a bit of a ' bash ' at the L.U.T. social club referred to by Pw, in the early 80's, with a group of Safeway drivers. I can't remember now who provided the entertainment, but I recall that it was a good do. I wonder if this place may have been the leisure centre that JJP remembers. It was more or less almost directly opposite the garage, but raised up on a bit of a banking if memory serves.

Chris: A nice photo, thanks. I know next to nothing about vehicular transport, but Ray's mention of Gown Van, reminded me of a chap that sold fabrics from what might have been his converted ambulance, at the lower end of Billinge during the late 'fifties'. I seem to remember the fabrics being layed around the sides, down the centre, and draped from the roof of his mobile shop. The seller's name was Mr Clitheroe. Happy Days.

I can't in all honesty say that I remember the name Clitheroe Philip, but I do remember a chap and his wife that used to come through Garswood in a converted coach, ( we called them a saloon back then ) selling clothing. I wonder if it's the same bloke?. The only thing that I do remember is that they came from St. Helens. There used to be another fella as well. His name was Johnny Costello. I recall he was of a slight build, with slick combed back hair and he used to push a home made cart, mounted on bike wheels. When he opened the lid, the entire thing would expand like a cantilever tool box, revealing all manner of sewing requisites. He'd come by quite regularly. I'm pretty sure he lived in Pewfall. He must have pushed that truck of his monumental mileages over the years. Poor bugger, and for coppers. How sad is that?

Ozy: Thanks for your response to my post.
Converted 'coach', St Helens ... That's done it!
I'm now 'going nap' on the fact that a mobile shop seen in Billinge, and Garswood during The Fifties, had indeed been the same vehicle; its driver with hat, and brown smock.
I don't remember Johnny Costello, though, but his surname, apparent dexterity, and physical appearance would certainly have appealed to his female clientele (I hadn't been blessed with his gifts).
The ice cream seller, sat behind his three-wheeled ice box, was another character seen around Ashton at that time - I remember him. Keep well.

"One man's sadness is another man's happiness"

I remember that in the 1980s there being a scrapyard/car breakers on the left (just out of shot) & to the bottom of the railway embankment....(Howe Bridge Breakers I think it was called).
from the scrapyard you could also see where Howe Bridge East Junction signal box was......on the subject of signal boxes at Howe Bridge

There was also another signal box further along the line towards Wigan called Howe Bridge West Junction, that I understand was an all timber modern replacement 1960s flat roofed box & because it was quite new, when the line closed in 1969 the box from Howe Bridge West was taken down piece by piece to be transported, rebuilt & reused at Heysham Harbour Station, where it remained in use with BR until the late 1980s/early 90s when British Rail finally closed the signal box at Heysham.

Heysham Harbour signal box (that was formerly at Howe Bridge West) was purchased from BR for preservation in the 1990s by the Dean Forest Railway/Severn & Wye Railway in Gloucestershire to be preserved.
The box was dismantled removed from Heysham & transported (for a second time) to be restored, rebuilt & reused at Lydney Junction, Glos.

A former signalbox from Lancashire that has moved twice & now lives on as Lydney Junction.

Just Google Lydney Junction Signal Box SW ..(that will show you the former signal box from Howe Bridge West) now living on at it's present day site on a heritage steam railway in Gloucestershire.