Wigan Album

Thanks Ron. I hope people will find it of interest.

Sorry Colin , It doesn't get my vote.
A souless, glass structure. Still if traders can't afford the rents no doubt it can be turned into another souless something or other.
Bet it will be named after a councillor who didnt know much abt architecture.....

Why do they make these structures so tall even the present market hall looks like an aircraft hanger. They used to turn the heating on and every one knows hot air rises so the public and vendors were cold but the pigeons are roasting.Its no good having stalls at 10-12 foot tall with 12-20 foot above them doing nothing.

Plus it's all glass PeterP, so probably be too hot in summer, and in winter with automatic doors, gusts of icy winds come through whenever someone walks past the sensor, as for the pigeons, it will be a paradise for them if they find a way in.

It will also take a lot to attract back those traders', and the customers too, who over the years have been going to the markets elsewhere.

I too am not keen on the design at all, but if it will serve the purposes of what the next generations will require, and they like it, then so be it and I wish them well.

I think I said it before but I hope they persuade some of those quality traders from Chorley and Warrington Markets to branch out to Wigan.
Also I would like to see the Victorian Cast Iron Canopy reinstated at one end or the other.
Perhaps its natural home would be on the Woodcock Street entrance.

I am all for regeneration and improving Wigan town centre, but sadly in the current climate I just think it isn’t going to bolster the town’s imagine. As another person has quite rightfully said - one of Wigan’s downfalls has been the extortionate rent that traders and businesses have endured for years. Many local and national businesses have called for it a day and moved out. Shoppers are now making purchases online or going to huge supermarkets or places like Robin Park. Wigan like many towns across the country seem to have multiple Turkish barbers and vape shops and there is simply not the attraction to grace the town centre anymore as a social environment. My grandma used to go into town 40 years ago and spend hours doing her weekly shop around the market and Standishgate, but also having a catch up with people of her generation who she ran into around the town centre. Even the nightlife of the 1990s & 2000s has gone - King Street might not have been favourable to everyone, but it was one of the North West’s biggest ‘hubs’ for night time economy. Again, a lot of people either socialise/drink at home or go to their local these days. The overall point I’m making here is that the town has declined rapidly in the last 10-20 years as people’s social/shopping habits have changed. Wigan Council really need to take stock of how bad the town is now with empty premises, waste ground areas and the general appearance of the streets before they start ploughing millions into a project that has the potential to become a white elephant. I like many people I know rarely go into the town now, so there does need to be something positive to turn things around before we start looking at new buildings that are potentially just going to be half empty venues that are doomed to fail. I even have reservations that the new venue that has recently opened at Eckersley Mill will be successful but I don’t want to come across as negative. I just believe new projects like this look good on paper, but are they really going to turn things around for Wigan?

CJ