Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 26th October, 2012)

EEEEE never had these when I lived there. Nice one.

I like the photo Thomas... just puzzled as to why with all the beer that flows through Wigan, they have to have a Beer tent in the middle of town.....:-)

This spot, Tom, has seen all kinds of `things` from Children`s amusements to the re-enactment of the Battle of Wigan Lane etc.

Lines on Ale (1848), by Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)

Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain.
Quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies
Come to life and fade away.
What care I how time advances;
I am drinking ale today.

It was NOT a beer tent

Wayne,the notices on the tent read Beer Tent,the customers appeared to be drinking beer. I checked with Wigan Council Licensing ,and a temporary licence was granted for that weekend,so I must conclude it was what it said on the tin(tent)

it was a beer tent cause i went in it. and the good thing was i only had to stand in the corner of the tent and take a pee because i were already over the old toilets. hmmmmmmmm toilets.

Housing developments spring up all over the place nowadays, should be tighter planning controls!

Okay, Wayne, just what was it?
Interesting photo though.

This must be the place I used to catch the bus to go to Standish? The black and white building looks familiar!!! Nice pic though, but what was going on? Cheers for beers!!!!!

It is very close to The Moon Under Water Pub, could this have been a temp extension to the Moon???

Depends which end of the tent you were at Harry, you might have been in the wrong toilet if you were at left hand end looking at the photo. Yes the toilets were fondly known as The White City.

Lizzie were the bus numbers 5&5a 5a for Graham farm or was it 7&7a ?

5&5a alan.

Not sure about the bus numbers Alan but I think it was the 5 or 5a to Graham Farm. The house I lived in is in Pepper Lane and is now called Graham House. My Dad built the house with the help of his brothers. It is on a big plot of land opposit what was then Ernie Ashton's farm. It was a lovely place to grow up and us kids had lots of adventures. Cheers.

Suprised they got a licence to put a beer tent right along the pavement....in the park ,ok, but not in the middle of town !
Lizzie ..you said you lived, at one time, on pepper lane in standish ..When my mum was in hospital in the late 40`s I went to stay with a family there,seem to remember it was an end house adjoining a field .The family were called WATERS Mr waters had something to do with singer sewing machines.His daughter was called CHERIE.lovely family.Did you know of them?You have brought a lot of memories back to me I was only about 12. Thankyou Lizzie.

You are very welcome Jean. All the memories that have surfaced since I have been posting on here are so great as I have been away from my home country for such a long time. Thankyou to all of you and all the lovely pictures that are keeping me up to date or bringing back memories to put a little tear in my eye. Cheers all :)

Sorry Jean I didn't know of the family you mentioned as I moved there in 1950. Could have been a family of that name I did not know all my neighbours. Cheers!!!

I knew the family Jean, Lil, Mrs Waters ran Lils Cafe on Peston Rd in Standish, it is featured on Wigan World. Cherie married a friend of mine, unfortunately she passed away when she was comparatively young, she also had a brother Carl.

Liz, thankyou for answering me.We left Wigan in 1953

Hi Roy,good to hear you knew the Waters family,I was only about 12 when I stayed with them ,they were so good to me that I still think of the times there ,even though I couldnt remember their names except cherie ,remember her brother but not his name! Sad to hear Cherie died.Whereabuts can i find on wigan world reference to Lils cafe??thanks Roy for getting in touch.

Dunno' what the ruling is now, but in the past, usually a local landlord with a licence would be asked to use his licence to set a temporary bar up for special occasions.
I know that an 'owd mate o'mine, Frank Fielding of the "Old Pear Tree"(deceased) used to do this occasionally

Hi Jean,i,ve just this minute got home from Cherie,s husbands house. You go to Album,Places,Standish and Lils Cafe is on page 4.Yes Cherie,s father was the manager of Singer,s sewing machine shop in Wigan.

The bar in the tent was from Allgates Brewery.

This is in fact a real ALE tent supplied by Allgats Brewery. It was part of Atomic festival celebrating local independent business... The festival was amazing and just what wigan needs. I will definitely be looking forward to future Atomic events and celebrating wigan with a twist!!

Hi Roy,
Thanks so much for your post and info.Really enjoyed reading the comments ....what a great photo!Glad I didnt live on either side of the building..can you imagine the noise from the bikes ...and the juke box.....always thought mrs Waters was ever such a quiet lady !Those were the days though,especially the 50`s....Kids today will never have the same good memories..Thanks again Roy.