Wigan Album

are those the sandpits on the left?

Pru, very probably. My dad was brought up in Swinley the area around where the Brocket is. I'm talking just after WW1. whebn that area was all fields. He said he used to play in sand pits which were abundant in the area. He told me that when he worked for a building company called GAFFNEY's. The owner of the company bought some land at the top of Wigan Lane near to Milton Grove. When he started clearing the land prior to building on it he came across a large pit of sand. He never bought any building sand for years

No Wigan Council of today could better that, an imposing town centre indeed !

Another great picture Ozy. So much and so many lost landmarks to take in.

Been in Wigan this morning and the area left after the demolition looks huge,similar to this photo.

I agree with you PW I went to SpecSavers yesterday and thought the same. The character, the ambience and the heart and soul has gone. I do hope when the work starts again it will come back at least some life - fingers crossed.

Ron. My dad, Tom Parkinson was the workshop foreman at Gaffneys . I put a couple of photos on the ww site showing him and some of the other men who were working with him at the time. Could your dad be on one of them?

Graham, Where is the image???? My dad worked for them from, around 1945, when he left the army Until around the late 50's early 60's. I don't know if he worked for the company prior to joining up,?

Ron. They’re in the Album under Work/ Gaffneys.