Wigan Album

I remember it being so packed on Standishgate.
I bet this was on a Saturday as well. Everybody turned out on that day, busiest day of the week. I went to Chorley today it’s a great shopping centre.

What a great place to do a bit of shopping,not just the shopping but the atmosphere..the Legs of Man at the top ,then the shop with the glass tops with all sorts of wonderment for a young 'un..then Margaret Razak..I bought a lovely jumper from her..and Mr Sid Smiths newspaper stall..Voses cafe was a jewel in the crown ..I would call there for my dinner when I worked at Carleys menswear on Msrket St.then the weighing machine owned by the Ramsdale Sisters ..so I believe,but I only recall a man on the scales when my Mam used to plonk herself on the seat..she seemed to love finding out what she weighed...it will never be replaced..and neither will my memories...and of course it wouldn't have been the same without the cobbles.

It was the highlight of the weekend Veronica, when we were teenagers, " going up Wigan" on Saturday afternoon's. We used to go in Gorners Cafe for our dinner, when I worked at Plessy's Wallgate.

The Old Arcade holds so many memories for the people of Wigan. Look at the amount of people in there! I still carry a wicker shopping basket like the lady in the photo, and the child's tan-sad is typical of the 1960s. How well I remember Sid Smith's paper stall, Gorner's Cafe, Margaret Razaq's tights and stockings stall, Mr. Ali Khan's clothes stall, The Dolls' Hospital, Bob Rudd's weighing machine where you sat on a chair to be weighed and a shop that sold loose fireworks from a big box outside the door.....can you imagine that happening today?! That same shop also sold cake decorations and wedding accompaniments, such as the silver horseshoes that little bridesmaids were often photographed with as they handed them to the bride. The shop also sold little strings of paper bags and my Mam used to buy me one to play "shops" with....I still have a string of paper bags hung up in my kitchen, as I have a great love of old-fashioned packaging....brown wrapping paper, cardboard boxes and paper bags. I wonder if that started in that little shop in The Old Arcade?!

Of course I should have said Gorners cafe..not Voses...I don't know where that came from.

Memories of going up town on Saturday and picking up my Mersey Beat newspaper from Smiths. Loved that arcade best of all.

An old friend of mine named Sidney Hill from Beech Hill also had a stall somewhere along there

Wigan is in indeed a failed town centre, and people comment that Chorley is much better, and it is. One thing to consider is the council tax for a band D property, Chorley residents pay around £2100 in Wigan it is £1830. Is really worth paying less for a second rate town against a bit more for a town that can fulfil its ambitions?

If the TV news is to be believed, Wilko is about to go into administration. If this happens, that will result in another Wigan town centre store becoming empty and another nail in the coffin.

Hi EDNA YOU mentioned you worked at Plessey's ,did you ever know a ANNE WINSTANLEY ( HAYES ) my sister she worked there many years ago !

I worked at Plessey Wallgate from 1966 until it closed in 1974..BEST place I have ever worked.. I met up with an old work colleague this morning and that's all we talked about. GREAT TIMES. GREAT PEOPLE and VERY WELL PAID.

I was in Wigan today for blood tests and had a look at the demolition work from The Chippery, but no sign of the Old Arcade. It must have been been bulldozed away since the above comment about the tiles still being visible was put on. I would have loved to have seen it.

Irene, I was in Wigan this morning the tiles were clearly visible from Market street Looking through the fence opposite Hallgate. You could see the whole length of what was the Old Arcade all tiled

Ron,my comment seems to have gone walkies.

I am going tomorrow I will definitely look through from that vantage point opposite Hallgate . I might take my iPad and see if I can get a picture of the scene.

Mo Not seen it are you sure you uploaded it???

Ron,I've been thinking about that myself..but never mind eh..what am I like.

Perhaps I didn't go far enough up Market Street Ron, but I was near the RSPCA charity shop, and peeped through a gap in the passage they've made that leads to Makinson Arcade. But I glanced further up Market Street and couldn't see any gaps in the fence to look through! I wish I'd gone further up now. Veronica, if you could get a picture it would be wonderful. Even if I'd managed to see the tiles, my phone doesn't take photos.

Frank Orrell took many fantastic photos in and around Wigan.
Personal memories are fine, but can never be as clear and detailed as a well taken photo.
His work is instantly recognizable.

Ron is correct, it's there alright, but remember it's not right in front of you, it's in the distance - If there was a gap at the bottom end, where they have made that 'tunnel' to get to Makinson's Arcade, we'd see it much closer up.

Alan, I can't recall your sisters name, but having said that, I saw a lady who worked at whelan's when I did, and for the life of me couldn't remember her name!!

Irene, opposite Hallgate there is an access gate for all the diggers etc to get through, just where the Crofters is/was. You can see the whole area from there, although the Arcade is right at the far end from that view.

Ron you must have been at Plessy's when I was.I was there in the 60s. But when I first started it wasn't Plessy's, It was Garard's Record Player's.It changed over to Plessy, while I was there, we had people coming over to train us.I remember Lily Breatherton and her husband.She was y supervisor.

Thanks Mick. I wish now I'd gone further up. I would never have believed that the tiled walls of the Old Arcade were still there! I was only 19 when they closed it and imagined there was nothing left.....to think that those tiles have been there all these years!

Edna, Lily Bretherton was a supervisor on CABLES along with Christine Lathom. I worked on the FUNCTIONEERING/TEST SECTION as a FUNCTIONEER then Supervisor. Which section did you work on?There are some photos on the ALBUM under WORK. PLESSEY WALLGATE. The day before I got amrried i.e. Friday 7th September 1973. Ken Jackson came down to the factory and told us that the Factory was closing... Nice wedding present.

Edna
My wife eunice worked at Whelans Bert wild was manager , she saw a lady in wigan other day said the same thing , funny ,

When the " Legs of man" pub at the top of the little arcade was being demolished a frien d of ours was a policeman and the boss of the whole task asked him if he would keep an eye on things over the weekend..so on the Monday morning Alan called in to ask the boss if things were okay.." oh more then that he said..guess what we found" they found a door behind a bricked up wall with a long table and very old chairs seated around it...plus a large book with lots of men's names in it obviously those that must have lodged there..that would have been so interesting,but on asking the gaffer what had happened to this glorious find he just said "Oh we just had to burn them all"..speaking for myself and I suppose a lot more folk could cry at the very thought of this destruction...Ron you like myself would have been in your glory reading through those books.

Ron, I worked on Cables.Lily was my supervisor, I remember Christine as well. Also Tommy, the electrician, his mother worked in the canteen.

Tom, your wife may have been at Whelans when I was there, Bert Wild was manager when I was there.His wife worked there as well.I think she was a relative of Dave Whelan.

By the way Ron, sorry about the closure, just as you were being married.I hope you found another job.

Hi Edna, yes I got a job at Plesseys in Edge Lane. Then I moved to a new Plessey factory in Huyton. You might remember. I was engaged to a girl who worked on cables, Jennifer Grundy... She went to Canada to visit her aunt and never came back.. I had been away with some lads from Wallgate, to Newquay. for 2 weeks. and when I got home I had received a "DEAR JOHN" letter. You will no doubt remember Joe Hinnigan<g>

I hope she sent the ring back Ron. It reminds me of when I got myself engaged to a lad because all my friends were getting engaged! My dad made me send the ring back which I did. How daft were we when young! Mind you these days couples get engaged and don’t bother getting married - live together or get married years and years after. It wasn’t the done thing in Scholes at that time.
It was just not meant to be Ron I believe in ‘Destiny’ what will be will be! Que serra, serra, !

I've been into town today and the tiles are still there. I took some pictures of those and other parts of Wigan destroyed in the blitz. I'll have a go at uploading these later.

I meant to go yesterday Standisher to take a couple of photos but the weather put me off. I look forward to seeing yours.

WN1 Standisher, Wigan town centre was not destroyed in the blitz.

No S... Sherlock, arh arh, humour. Seriously, have you seen it recently ? Having a few probs uploading Veronica, bear with me :)

I would be wonderful if you could upload those photos, Standisher. I could kick myself that I was in the wrong place to see them when I went to Wigan the other day.

Veronica If we ever Meet Up I'll tell you the story, after 45 years...

I’m sure it would be a very interesting story Ron. In fact we must all have interesting stories to recall at our age. If ever there was a meeting of Wigan Worlders count me in…we are half way to knowing folk on here anyway! It would be fun guessing who people are! ;o))

The grid, bottom right I would think is the Legs Of Man cellar, It may still be there.

I wonder if the workmen found any unexploded bombs?

Veronica and Ron.....neither of you will win a coconut for guessing who I am because you both know me! But it's a nice idea.

Maureen, Vose's shop was opposite Mark William butchers, Vose's sold tripe amongst things. There was a cake shop next door, remember feeling sick after a strawberry meringue nest it was so sickly sweat!
Further down was the old electricity showroom, timber framed frontage full of character, demolished along with the church next door to make was for that soulless parade of red brick shops.
Wigan was not destroyed in the Blitz but a bomb or two fell at the top of Scholes/Greenough Street. Having said that Wigan today looks like a Ukrainian City after a Russian bombardment.
Chorley, particularly on a Tuesday is excellent but the best escape for a full day or evening out for refugees from Wigan is Warrington. Absolutely brilliant town centre, vast range of shops, pubs, restaurants and entertainment. Constantly kept clean and tidy and none of the down and outs you see shuffling around Wigan. Talk about levelling up, more like levelling down thanks to Wigan Council.

Colin,I only remember Voses being just further down from where Lloyds bank is now,in fact my Sister in Law worked there...and I used to go to the cafe there..
My mam was brought up in Harper St Scholes and when the bomb dropped my Mam said that she was found under a table.
As for Wigan centres demolish men's what more is there to say..I go to Wigan twice a week so have seen the slow murder of it..may God forgive them.

My I pad is playing up something shocking today..
it should have said demolition not 'demolish mens'.

Thanks Maureen, it did make me laugh, I'm still laughing now!!!!!
I think the Tripe Shop near Lloyd's Bank which was Lowe's Department Store was the UCP??

Your correct Colin..by the way have you got a sister named Margaret have you ?.

Colin I remember the pies from the UCP. They were oval shaped with a little squiggle of pastry on top NEVER tasted anything better since ...

Voses and UCP were actually the same company.
I believe UCP took Voses shops over, but some still traded under the Voses name.

Vose’s pies were exactly the same Ron. It’s was my duty most Saturdays as a 10 year old to go to Vose’s with my basket for 4 steak pies. I have never tasted such good pies since. They were scrumptious. Sometimes I had to go to Pie Joe’s in Scholes instead but Vose’s were the best.

VERONICA YES YOU ARE CORRECT IT WAS VISES WHICH BECAME THE UCP..

Talking of pies......Who wishes you could still get a 'Special'?

What's a "special" Mick Raithe, please?

Irene, it was a Poole's pie they sold originally only on Saturdays, a meat & potato that had just that little bit extra something hence them calling them Specials. People queued up for them!

Thankyou Mick Rathe.....the mind boggles as to the secret ingredient!

Hi Maureen, I cannot think of any relatives named Margaret with surname Traynor. My father born in 1908 was one of (can you believe)18! all but six died in infancy four boys and two girls. I think they all lived in or around Morris Street. I think that myself, my son and grandson are the last of the Traynor line.

There was a family in Scholes who had a shop. If I remember they sold tripe. A girl called Cynthia and 3 boys one named Keith and the other two were called David and Steven. ( I think) could they have been related Colin?

Thanks Veronica, no relation. Of the six there was Mary, Elizabeth (Betty) Daniel, Frank, Arthur and Thomas (My Dad). All now long deceased.