Wigan Album

All these early photos have one thing in common, the streets are so clean and the atmosphere seems so tranquil. A much slower pace of life then.

You wouldn't be able to take a flock of sheep down that road today but I do remember sheep and cows being herded through the streets of Wigan to the various Abattoirs such as Prescot Street and Scholes and pigs being unloaded at Mark Williams.
I am not sure if it was a pig or sheep that escaped running amok Standishgate and mayhem when it ran into Marks and Spencer's. and when Douglas House was just being built one cow or bull getting onto the building site and all the workmen clambering up the scaffolding. These poor things must have sensed what was in store for them.
But Such Fun!

The photo has been on before Colin and it's nice to see again, the animals are pigs and maybe coming back from the market, though that little piggy wants to follow the tram lines all the way home.
https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=34518&gallery=Newtown&page=2

I too remember the mayhem caused along Standishgate by cattle escaping from Foster's and also pigs from Mark Williams, the squeals and bellows from where they wanted to escape from wasn't nice to hear either - nor the smells.

Veronica, regarding your photo of you and you son on Hardybutts, the slaughter house at the top was so I'm told McAvoy's the butchers.

i worked in an abattoir when i was 15 as an apprentice joiner at the back of the queens hall in wigan and i will never forget the day they brought the cattle in to be slaughtered . first they put a rope around the cows neck and then through a metal hoop in the wall the rope then was tied to machine which dragged the cows head tight against the wall where the cow was terrified with its eyes wide open and helpless and the slaughter man put an electric bolt gun to its head and fired. where the cow dropped to its knees instantly , then was hoisted upside down by its legs and gutted right down the middle where all its intestines and guts spewed over the concrete floor with steam coming off into the cold air. the sight and smell still lingers with me 66 years later

That’s awful rt. no wonder the sight stays with you. I hope the process is far more humane these days. I was frightened as a small child seeing cows running up Scholes. I can see in my minds eye a man with a stick and wearing wellingtons. I don’t think I dreamt it. I know I didn’t understand what was going on but the stampede was very frightening.

Thanks rt, not a pleasant read describing the sickening reality of that time and to a certainly more humane extent still is. It must have been very hard for you to put all that recollection into words but it did need sharing and I thank you.
Most of us are conditioned to ignore this fact when we tuck into our Sunday Roast.
For those who have read this you have given us much to think about, including you. Look after yourself, Colin.

I remember a saying that if we had to kill an animal for food then we'd suddenly become vegetarians, I can well believe it too, though at one time we would have to out hunting and gathering or starve.

Thankfully vegetarians and vegans are catered for now in restaurants and supermarkets, whereas at one time they wasn't and often looked on by some as being strange, though some of the meals and products are very nice and full of flavour.

Too true Cyril, I wouldn’t kill anything to feed myself, not even a fish.
How times have changed, billions would starve without those with the stomach to undertake these tasks. I think I would be a gatherer rather than a hunter. Imagine carving up a Mammoth, I would stick to nuts and berries and probably starve!

Too true Cyril, I wouldn’t kill anything to feed myself, not even a fish.
How times have changed, billions would starve without those with the stomach to undertake these tasks. I think I would be a gatherer rather than a hunter. Imagine carving up a Mammoth, I would stick to nuts and berries and probably starve!