Wigan Album

The way to the woods. It was a crumbling concrete path 60 years ago if I remember . It’s not as open around there anymore and covered in trees.

The hill in the background was / is known as Kings Hill.

Brings back a lot of happy memories. Thanks! Ozy.
Wasn't the area from Coppull Lane (the retaining wall) across to King's Hill known as The Scroggs?

I’m not certain how far it extended Ian , but the area at the bottom of Haigh View is what I’ve heard older residents refer to as the Scroggs .
Perhaps it’s a little farther to the left of this shot , bearing in mind the area bears very little resemblance to this picture nowadays.

Don't worry about it, Ozy. I, for one, certainly appreciate what you are doing and if some details are not always perfectly accurate, this is quite understandable as we all do not know everything - and, also, some available information has been passed on through sources with some details being slightly changed.

I know, when I was a kid, we always called "The Scroggs" the area of small hills which ran from the wall (which began after the last house) on the left side as you went down Coppull Lane, across towards the Plantations. I am not totally sure about the exact point in which the area no longer was "The Scroggs" as such accuracy was unimportant to us kids. But, we always called that one hill in the background (photo), which is visible, King's Hill and this seems to be the same for Rich.

I remember, there were a number of paths. One path started at Haigh View, which was at the bottom of Kingsway (off Monument Road) and took you to King's Hill, then went up King's Hill, across the top and then became wider and slightly sloped down to the tractor path in the Plantations and close to the bridge over the River Douglas.
There was also a lower path, which ran acrooss The Scroggs, dropped down from the hill off the photograph, across the low ground (close to the River Douglas) and along the bottom area of King's Hill - and, wound through the trees. Also, as you went through the tree area, there was a swamp/pond on the right; this narrow path brought you out on to the tractor path and just before the bridge over the River Douglas.
There was also a path at the bottom of the first hill (The Scroggs) from Coppull Lane, but this took you to a small pond. Additionally, there was a path from the upper path across The Scroggs which joined the top upper path (from Haigh View to King's Hill).

Ozy, I had a look at the area at the bottom of Coppull Lane last year. I walked down Coppull Lane, up Maloney's Brew, through the housing area on Camel's Hump to where Whelley Middle School once stood and then all the way round (down Greenough Street and up Wigan Lane) until I got back to the top of Coppull Lane. Yes, it certainly has changed!

I’m familiar with all those paths that you mention Ian as prior to Covid I spent years attempting to maintain them to a useable condition .
The bottom path in particular , where fallen trees were blocking it in several places and needed moving using the chainsaw .
This area had also become a quagmire so required draining , then flagging . But you can ride down it on a pushbike now , which is something that I frequently do .

I’ve given up on maintaining the paths now though , as both my age and the labour involved appear to have taken their toll .

You've described the area and those paths perfectly Ian, the children, dogs and I would love walking down there at weekends, and would go along the top or bottom paths just for a change even though they led to the same place, and then it was still mostly au natural like on the photo, now it's all concrete.
To the right of the path that led off from Haigh View, I was told that the area got dug out in the 1980s and 1990s by the Victoriana, bottle and relic hunters, apparently it had been an ancient dump where household rubbish had been thrown, I had seen a couple of men digging there, but I'd presumed they were just getting soil for those allotments at the top.

As children, being chased by Red Cloggs we could run along pathways , jump large voids and find nooks any crannies in our step as we ran - in TOTAL darkness ! And never falling once ! They were so familiar -and we did it laughing ! True story, believe it ! Maybe it was because we where born street kid Council who knows , but my god we claimed it and made it ours ! Cheers Ozy ,

I spent a lot of time as a kid on the Scroggs.
In fact I can see where we used to play cricket on this photo on a piece of grassland next to the River Douglas at the bottom of Kings Hill!

The Victorian dump that you mention Cyril is the precise area where the suspicious sausage links and rabbit carcasses that I’ve mentioned previously were discovered .

I’ve also been informed that the RAEI used this area as a tip for the residual ash from their coal fired boilers at some point , and I have no reason to disbelieve this , as I managed to discover the location of this ash tip and used it as an ash quarry whilst working on the paths .

The site is overgrown with ivy , but it provides the perfect environment for foxes to breed ….
….. hence the sausages and other types of bait I should imagine ….

But let’s not concern ourselves with innocent people’s pets … eh ?

I believe that the poisoning of any animal other than a rat , whether it be wild or domestic is an illegal act…. But you’ll know far more about this particular subject than I do .

Discharging a firearm in a populated area is also an illegal act .

I suspect that there’s illegal activity taking place here Cyril .

I don’t know you Rich , obviously , but I do know several people who were brought up in the Springfield St . /
Monument St . area who have informed me that they also used to play cricket on the particular patch of ground that you have described … One of them being female by the way .

Assuming that we’re all of a similar age , it’s possible that you may even know some of them .

I won’t identify any of the individuals specifically , but I’m prepared to tell you that the girls name is Christine … Gingerish hair … ring any bells ?

BTW Dave , who the BH was Red Cloggs ?

Rings a bell Ozzy!
Was the 4th letter of her surname an L?

Cricket on that small area of relatively flat ground next to the River Douglas was okay, as long as there weren't any big hitters going for a six and putting the cricket ball into the river. The long grass also held up the match sometimes.
Enjoyable on a sunny summer's day as it was quite sheltered and seemed to catch the best of the sunshine.

Thanks! Cyril.

Yes Rich , that’s correct.

Ozzy, I knew who she was but I didn't really know her. I also knew her mother.
I knew her brother slightly better. They were a bit older than me, not much though, but when your a kid 3 or 4 years is a big age gap, so you tended to hang around with kids nearer to your own age give a take a couple of years. . Her brother was a nice lad. Ive not seen any of them for years.

You’re right about the age gap Rich . I speak to people nowadays who remember me from school days , but I don’t remember them because they were a year or two either younger or older than I was .

Both Christine and her brother are still knocking about . They still live in the same house that they were brought up in.

I bump into both of them quite frequently .
I never knew their mother though .

Ozzy.
What I should have said was that I knew who their mother was, but I didn't know her personally. She seemed a nice lady.
My Grandparents lived in that area that is why I knew quite a lot of people around there as I spent a lot of time in that neck of the woods.
My Grandmother used to say to me " don't get into any trouble or i'll tell Bobby Wareing"

That did the trick! She was referring to Jack Wareing who became I think Chief Constable / Inspector of Wigan police force? He was policeman then in the 1960's. He lived on Kingsway. He was another decent bloke. Strict but very, very fair. I had a lot of respect for him as I grew older.

Ozy, I don't know if there still are allotments there? but if they are and someone is keeping hens then that may explain if the bait is meant for foxes, though as you say they shouldn't be doing that, not just for foxes, because as you also mention that if someone's pets also happened to eat it, then it would be a double catastrophe.

Red Clogs was a fictional ghost that chased children away when playing around dangerous places. When living he supposedly bled to death in having his feet badly injured when doing something he shouldn't have been doing, his feet were bleeding profusely all over his clogs, hence the name Red Clogs. It was a tale told to keep children away from railways etc.