Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 31st August, 2012)

Nice photo Ernest, but to me it is another piece of garbage. They should build a fence around it and also include the head which I think is to it's right.

One flew over the cuckoos nest

Ernest,a very good picture, good composition , and again shows the Wigan in Bloom project in action. The Council is often critisiced for various shortcomings,but I think
most people will agree,it deserves great credit for its efforts in this particular regard.

What timer of the day was that taken Ernest and how tall is the pole that the owl is on.

"OWL" it looks like a bunch of old twigs to me . how much of my hard earned cash went into funding this type of rubbish ?

I'm a bit worried now... I find myself agreeing with Dirty !
How is Girty, by the way?

Looks like a bird on a washing pole.

I think it looks very nice and I wish we had one if those in Leigh Town Centre.

Unfortunetly I did not get chance to visit the weind in May while on holiday, this photo shows part of modern Wigan I'm not familiar with, glass fronted buildings and all.

It's horrible, as is the head and the glass box of a library. If we have to have stuff like this, why can't it be something to do with our heritage? The council seems to be forever trying to make us modern,but Wigan is an ancient town and it doesn't suit "modern".

Fully agree irene
Our council over the years have made a pigs ear of the town and surrounding areas
They dont encourage people to come into town with the car parking charges going up all the time
The galleries is a ghost shopping area
Over the last few weeks ive visited bolton, bury and manchester
And they all have more to offer than our town

I reckon Wigan has never looked better. These little bits of eccentricity add to the change. I also think the giant metal face is a superb work of art. Too many Wiganers live in the past.
'The good old days?'Good riddance!

Yes Tricia,I`m with you there !

Not a case of living in the past billy boy.....kingdom brunel.?....Who`s living in the past now then??
(he really did build great things though.)

Sir Bob...do we note a touch of sarcasm there?
You can`t really be serious.

Hi Britboy
Did you go to St J though ,or Kitt Green? I remember your mum, is she still OK?
Hope you had a nice stay
T

Billy Boy, having seen and experienced the Wigan of today, I am not surprised that so many of us want to go back to the Wigan of the past.

Thank you all.
peterp, would you please explain your comment.
Tom, I agree wih you. This area is much improved, but would be a lot better by giving that ghastly `Face` the boot and putting, say, a fountain, in it`s place.
I knew you would ask me the time, Mick !! It was 14:59:26 approx.! I would estimate that the support tube is about 10 feet above the ground. Why do you say it`s an owl?
Irene, I agree mostly with your comments, but I like the library for up-to-date methods and facilities, which are a vast improvement of those previous.
Nobody has come up with any info about this wickerwork.
I`m surprised that not one of you has ribbed me about putting a `bird` on P-a-D !!
The following poem is way above my head. If anyone can make sense of it, then please let me know.

The Wicker Bird (Grey like the Shadow).

Pale as the moonlight in the clearing below,
Clear was the eve when the ash fell like snow
The light of the sun was the wicked one's gleam
Kissed by the fire of an immortal dream.

Take me away to the grimfire glen
where I know not my name nor the tales of wise men
where the wind in the willows is calm as it swings
Show me the cage where the wicker bird sings

Calm is the night in the embers dim glow
soft like a siren tune, sombre and slow.
Song without end, that knows not the start
Grey like the shadow cast over my heart.

Take me away to the grimfire glen
where I know now not my name nor the tales of wise men
where the wind in the willows is calm as it swings
Show me the cage where the wicker bird sings

Dim are the embers, when for them I yearn
Waiting like stones for a stranger's return
Dark, the desire for winter's depart;
Grey like the shadow cast over my heart.

Take me away to the Grimfire glen
Where the still of that night lives within me again
To the hills of green satin, where the wild ones roam,
Tis the call of the fire that beckons me home

Hi Tricia...yes I went to St Johns many years ago and can still remember that far back! lol
My mother is still alive and in good health at 95years young!
Not as sharp as she used to be but at 95 she's ok.
Visited UK in May for three weeks,been 5 years since I last flew over the pond,enjoyed making all the family connections again.

Glad your mum is OK. I knew she would be a good age now. I still remember her (and you!) as very young.
I meant did you go to see St J and K Green on your recent visit tho' lol.Nice to hear from you again
T

Move with the times. Wigan is now a nice town in which to live. The Wigan of the past is the past. It cannot be brought back so let it die. The past...smokey chimneys and men killing themselves in the pits. Disease and poverty for the majority. Slums, dirt and pain. I'm in my 70s but I have no rose tinted glasses when it comes to Wigan of the past...

I got the nickname of BBKB when I worked as an engineer on the railways. My name is William Brunel. As far as I know, I'm not related to the great Isambard.

Billy, do you live in Wigan and if so, which part?
You are one of the few who like that ugly, ghsstly `Face` statue.
Peter Frost (comment at 17:00) hits the nail on the head - what say you?

I live in Higher Ince, Ernest. Have done all of my life. The face is a work of art. Not only that. It just shows how skilful British workmen have been in creating the 'face'
Most humans immediately recognise faces (even as babies) therefore its an ideal representation of the human race. Its a classic.

Billy, you haven`t said anything about Peter Frost`s comment.

I disagree with Peter Frost. Wigan Council have done a superb job of bringing Wigan into the 21st Century. New super clinics, 'posh' shopping centre, etc.. It isn't the councils fault that shops aren't busy. Its the internet, the recession and the thing called progress. Like it or not, we have to change.

Billy, it is the council`s fault that shops and stalls are closing because of high rents and high parking charges, also traffic congestion-roundabout near Asda is a prime example of mis-management.

What I would like to know, Billy, is why they built that monstrosity of a Grand Arcade when a lot of the shops in The Galleries were already empty?
Its good they are building clinics but they are wasting millions on unnecessary projests and turning the town into a faceless clone of many another town that has suffered the same fate.
However , that is your opinion and you are entitiled to it. This is mine, and I am entitled to that, along with lots of other true Wiganers!

Can't agree about Wigan council charges, Ernest. That's another of those urban legends.
As for the Grand Arcade, Tricia. It was earmarked well before the recession and lack of customers in Wigan. Wigan has a massive population of around 250,000 people. The customers are there. Sadly, so is the internet and Amazon, eBay, etc. Few overheads - towns cannot compete. Have you been to Llandudno lately? Lovely shopping centre, olde worlde, most closed. Charge too little rent and you just get pound shops. Rents have to be balanced in order to try and attract quality stores. Its Catch 22 at present because of internet shopping. I never buy in towns myself.

Hello Billy
Funny you should mention Llandudno.. one of my all time favourite places and where I spent a few holidays as a child.. I have not been for at least 5 years. We spent two short breaks there and were in one of the big hotels on the front when an earthquake struck.
Hope to be there again in the next few months. In UK you are lucky to have such a good selection of shops. If I were in UK I would try to use them,, not lose them.
Sad to hear that Llandudno has such problems. Its a sign of the times I'm afraid. Still do not like some of the things they have done to Wigan though, the town of my birth!
Best Regards

The shop situation is awful in Llandudno, Tricia.
Hardly a shop open apart from the bigger stores. It ruined our trip to some extent. Luckily the weather was hot and sunny, otherwise it would have been a total washout.
The government are trying to reverse the trend, but its too easy to buy on line and in most cases, much cheaper and easier. More choice too!