Wigan Album

That's just how I remember the town centre , packed with crowds jostling on the pavements passing each other. It must be a Saturday afternoon. Oh! For those days again - nothing can compare. You could get lost in those crowds....nobody who hasn't experience the Wigan of old would ever believe it.

It would have been busier when Wigan were playing at home. I’ts now dead mans gulch.

Your so right Veronica, this is Wigan of bygone day's, like Ron says as well.Never to be seen again.How sad!!!

I'd go back to this time tomorrow,
I know this to some is absurd,
To go back to hardship don't make sense,
But feelings speak louder that words.
The young will now make the future,
Each memory will choose where to be,
And one day they'll open this diary,
To playback the moments they see..
I'm sure when they do they will realise,
that they were a part of that place,
and when you are part of a moment,
Your soul stays behind in the space..

I could weep! My grandchildren were born in Wigan but will never see it like this. To re-phrase and old song, "Will the last to leave old Wigan please turn out the light?".

This photo made me cry when I looked at it how Wigan once was bustling with people in the 60s doing there shopping. Everything was so good the shops to its so sad to see this photo to this to nothing now. There isn't anything left to remind me of how it once was. The ladies with there hats on carrying there straw baskets, no more marks and spencers. Thanks Ron for this lovely photo off our beautiful wigan I am so sad.

This is the land of lost content I see it shining plain the happy highways were I went and never will again.

Big business won out in the end. From a scene such like that to what has happened since, seems too ludicrous for words. Those crowds represent money being spent. How and why has it happened.

Julie, I still wear a hat, (1920s cloche-style), in cold weather and I still carry a wicker shopping basket every day and get lots of comments on it! They are the best thing for carrying bread, cakes, pies etc. I have five baskets! I agree with you and Linma, though, but at least we saw our town like that and have our memories. Ron, can you make it possible for me to do a "Somewhere in Time" back into your wonderful photo please? ....ps....Our Jamie asked me if you were American when he returned the dvd!

I was born in the 1970s and I vaguely remember the town centre being like this, particularly on a Saturday.

I think the turning point for the town centre and many others was the introduction of large hypermarkets and retail parks which began to materialise in the 1990s.

I certainly don't remember seeing scenes like this in the last twenty years.

As other forum members have stated, Wigan town centre and many others will never see scenes like this again.

Saturday was the highlight of the week for shopping. Most single people worked so there would be no time to go into town. It was something to look forward to, especially for buying new clothes. Living in Scholes with many, many shops there was no need to go into 'town'. It was more of an exciting excursion then. Then again when you are young going into town in the evening was something not to be missed!

What have we done to our lovely Wigan Town. Even before lock down we'll never see it like this again.
A double sherry for me.

big business or council folly,the owner of the galleries was a certain pension fund so i was told.my wife never goes into wigan because it as no soul.
councillors need to ask what their voters want instead of themselves.
wigan is a pitiful shadow of what once was thriving commerce.

baker; i was told the galleries were built by using MPS
money; someone on wigan council should know? . I was born 1950 ;remember wigan like this. what a sorry sight today!

I too remember these days, and find myself asking why town centres no longer attract crowds. The conclusion I gave come to is that people simply no longer wish to visit them on account of the fact there are now more convenient ways of shopping. You can all blame the government and the council and car parking costs for the downfall but in the same respect no one is forcing you to use the internet, amazon, ebay, on line banking and shopping etc. There is a saying `use it or loose it` and it would seem more and more people are choosing not to use it. I myself am one who uses on line services more and more and as such am partly to blame for this situation but why waste 2 hours of your time going into town to visit the bank or do your shopping when you can do it with your computer in seconds and have it delivered to your house . On this basis the outcome for our town centres is inevitable, particularly as society and the younger generations are depending more on information technology. In my schooldays we did woodwork and metalwork and bricklaying, today the focus is on computer sciences and IT. It is the way society is drifting, as my grandchildren will testify. We have had our day and need to accept the future belongs to the next generations and what they they want and it is starting to happen now.I can remember my Grandfather saying electricity in houses was a bad thing and will never catch on, how wrong was he?

I agree Mike W with what you are saying., that's the way it is now. The problem is it's not just business that's done online, it's nearly everything. Who wants to stare at at a device for hours on end, because that seems to be what's happening. What else do people do to replace going shopping and handling merchandise. I have just ordered a new Fridge Freezer on line, I must admit I 'm on pins because I haven't had a good look at various models in the store because of Lockdown. I spent a few hours reading other people's advice on whether to buy it. That time could have been spent looking for myself. What if I don't like it and it's not really what I want. There is then all the bother of returning such a large item. Or putting up with something that itsn't what I really wanted. I think you still need to look at various items before clicking and adding to a basket. The next purchase I need to make is a new gas cooker to replace one I have had 20 years, there's no way I will do 'click and add to basket' for that item. I will just have to wait until the Lockdown has ended and have a good 'root' to satisfy myself that it's what I want. I don't think you can judge quality from and photo. It's a matter of relying on a good name or just hoping it's good enough!

Whatever the reasons for a decline in towns , many being logical eg use of the internet to save time as stated by Mike W, do town centres not give people a sense of belonging and identity. ?
People have a choice to shop where they wish but a lot will be lost if the town centres disappear. There is no easy answer.

Oh what a delight going to Wigan town centre with my Mam on Saturday afternoon,going to Woollies for mine and Mams make up,then to British Home Stores where my Mam insisted I try all the hats on,they were on the left hand side as you went in,she kept saying,oh that one suits you love,then on to another until I'd tried them all on,then off to Gorners Cafe for our tea..but not before she got weighed on the scales that were at the side of the Cafe..being served with ladies with black dresses and a little lace apron..then a last look at the shoe shops,my Mam as I've said before was shoe mad..where can you buy shoes now only in Supermarket and McNultys..I'm so glad I didn't miss all that in my teens..Wigan has no soul now and that's a fact.