Wigan Album

Lovely photo. How sad to see it so deserted today. What the hell has gone wrong with Wigan?

There was a shoe shop along the left hand parade where I got horrible (to me ) school shoes. They had an xray machine to see how your feet fitted the shoes.....

NO YELLOW LINES and NO LITTER

Oliver Sommers the only shop I recall regularly using along this stretch. Sporting goods and hobby stuff, but they also sold shooting accoutrements.

The first thing I bought(myself) from Oliver Sommers was a JOCK STRAP

I got my Brownie outfit from Oliver Somers' and I remember the many different shops....shops selling toys, shops selling shoes, shops selling stationery. All separate, even for food.....fish shops, grocers, greengrocers, butchers, all busy. Now they're all under one huge Supermarket roof, but that's progress, isn't it?..... ISN'T it??

Its Bert Smith's shoe repairs I recall going to quite a lot. I was heavy on the stiletto heels and every couple of weeks my shoes needed the 'screw' that was put in the thin heels! I think I was charged 5s every time. I loved the smell of the shop as well- all that glue and leather! I also worked in Aspinall's Artisans - my first job - but I won't go into that!

The shoe shop was SCOTTS'

Tell you what Ron you put some cracking photos of wigan bye gone times, they are the good old days of wigan how it used to be. It brings good memories back for me the good times of my childhood days.

Great, nostalgic photo of a Wigan sadly gone. And where's the Michelin Man?!!

It was Scott's shoe shop. I was given a badge from there- a silver horseshoe with two shoes dangling from it and in the centre was a maroon infill with "goody two shoes" written on it! This was when there were proper shoe shops.

Alan..I think the Michelin man was further down over the cycle shop..and Whelans store was across the road.

what year would this be (60/s?)

1960s. The Mk 1 Cortina only came out in the 60s as, I think, did the Ford Anglia.

My Dad bought my brother and I a pair of boxing gloves each back in around 1963 from Oliver Somers. Bad move !

Don't forget Robinson's with all its horsey merchandise.

Ford Cortina mk1 came out in 1962.
Ford Anglia 105E came out in 1959.

Irene. The progress has been dictated by people and supermarkets. As more people worked longer hours, they had less time to go into different shops for different things. The supermarkets catered for the needs of the people. If no-one wanted supermarkets then they would not have survived. They were much cheaper than small shops and people didn't want to pay for personal service, hence the small shops went under. Now town centres themselves are changing and again, it is people who are dictating this change. People shopping on the Internet or going to places like the Trafford Centre and town centres cannot compete on price or convenience for many. We British are the worst in Europe for putting work before leisure and the consequence is our shopping habits.

I've known the family who owned Scotts shoe shop,for many years. It was the best place in town for quality shoes.

Thank you for such tremendous photos, Ron Hunt
Trip down memory lane for so many of us