Photo-a-Day  (Thursday, 20th February, 2014)

Nice picture Rev. David.....Mere Oaks...the old Victorian house was divided into flats....I lived there as a child up to the age of 3.....cheers!!

This place was known to me as the "Standish nursery". As my mother was a war widow, she was allowed to leave my brother and myself there. Monday to Saturday so that she could go to work.It was always one of my aunts who took us and picked us up.I remember crying most of Monday,and standing at one of the upstairs windows on Saturday waiting for someone to come through the gates to take us "HOME".

sad story rolo one of many sadly

Lovely picture.Lovely house.The mention of MERE OAKS."rang a bell"I remember my dear mum always speaking of a lady/friend from there.. I have just gone through some of my Family history files .The lady I refer too was my godmother ,,a lilian Alberta hodgkinson who lived at Mere Oaks.? do we know anymore .I dont know if it was a house by that name or mere oaks just an area of Wigan,Year was 1935...can anyone enlighten me?

Hi Jean.....the old house was named 'Mere Oaks' the area was Thorn Hill....I have an old map of the area showing where the house was situated and it's surrounds .....cheers!!!

Hello lizzie.thankyou for that info Would love to know more.Isnt it strange how a name can bring back memories even though you can!t really connect with them.Mum when she spoke of this lady also referred to BOARS HEAD which i remember faintly as she used to take us on the bus to there !Why, as we got older not ask more questions of our family history !!!

Hi Jean....the Boars Head pub was my parents local pub they went to....it is so great to hear about the past.....Mere Oaks of course was knocked down and a school built on the site...then they knocked that down I think and they built houses on there and renamed it 'Mere Oaks'....there is a picture on here of the houses that are there now....can't remember which month or year.....cheers!!!

Lizzie,thanks so much for that.Didnt know anything about Mere Oaks but rmembered my mum mentioning the name often.Cheers Lizzie.
PS.THANKS fop the photo Rev.David.

Liz and Jean; Put `mere oaks` in search box above photo.
Look at P-a-D`s 19 March`09 and 24 Jan`08.
You, Liz, put a photo in Album, Places, Mere Oaks, showing you in your Mum`s arms.

Hello Ernest....yes it comes to mind now....it was a very nice place for me as a little girl to have my first couple of years as a toddler....there were amazing gardens to play in....although the old house used to be a little spooky....thank you for the info Ernest...cheers!!!

Hello Ernest and Liz,thanks again for comments.from what is being said about Mere Oaks.....when myself and 2 sisters were young My mum was always in and out of hospital, my dad was working and I do remember different people looked after us.I will always remember staying with the WATERS family on pepper lane standish.Perhaps I was looked after by someone at Mere Oaks as well.

My GG father , Thomas Latham built the beeches in 1903 .He was in mining ,however he died in 1011 and the house was sold to the Almonds

Has anyone got pictures/information of the house that was on the site before Mere Oaks school. Thank you