Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 2nd February, 2018)

Somber photo, there has got to be something wrong with the system for this to happen.

New houses came to mind

You have taken the words right out of my mouth Ken R.

I remember going through those gates on the left for my first day at school, September 1945. I was wondering what would happen to the building. It would be nice to salvage an item of the ornate brickwork, especially the 'Boys' and 'Girls' notification pediments.
Anyone know how to go about this?

Its scandalous that the building should be demolished. A lovely solid building like that.
It could be used as a night shelter for the homeless.

Ken R whats wrong with the system is these old leaking buildings are damp, drafty and expensive to maintain so best thing to do is knock them flat and start again.

That is such a shame. I have never been in that school but it is such a landmark. It always looked so cosy and homely when the lights were on on dark afternoons, and it has "Girls" "Boys" and "Infants" picked out in the lovely red brickwork over the entrances. I hate to think of it empty and silent after all those years of children's voices. A lady I knew used to teach there and told me that one little infant thought it was called "Pretend-you're -a-Bridge" school, instead of Britannia Bridge!

There was an appeal a few years ago asking former pupils to volunteer memories and go into the present day class with these memories and photos. I went, the interior layout had changed but it was an interesting vibrant and welcoming place, no draughts, leaks or any other building problems to be seen. The reasons for the move to new premises was given as more up to date facilities needed. As Veronica suggests such a substantial building should be a useful asset.

Very sad to see it closed, and even
more to see it demolished.
We seem to be throwing money in the wrong direction, I mean, what is wrong with the building or I'm I missing something?

Politicians seem to think homelessness is caused by a lack of housing and propose further incursion into the greenbelt. Yet how can a homeless person ever afford to buy a home. Hostels are the answer to the immediate problem.

Hasn’t changed a bit since my dad went there in the early 1900,s. He was born in 1902. My grandparents had a chip shop on Britannia Bridge and the teachers used to send him home to get their fish and chip dinners. No school dinners in those days.

‘Knocking them flat and starting again’ is the very reason that Wigan town centre is in the sorry state it is today; ‘New’ doesn’t always mean better unfortunately. I agree with Ken there’s something very wrong in the system, and we should be doing our utmost to preserve these buildings.

Sad photo,same thing happened to my old school Spring View,it was left empty for a while,before being demolished! Why go to all the expence of boarding up when everyone knows it will be demolished?

Cliff, we have to board them up so that the vandals cant get in and cause more damage.

I first thought to argue and put what could and should happen with this building . Then I thought what is the true reality . Like many old buildings in Wigan , according to the Council , their time is up . It’s like someone ,year by year ripping another page out of the book of Wigan’s history and throwing it into a fire or skip. Our generation are fighting to keep the book intact . The reason being because they are part of us . We remember their inner walls , we remember their spirit . So when a building like this goes into the skip like this one will a part of us will go with it . The new will replace the old ... The one question I always ask myself is , by doing so , are we better or worse ? Our rush to be modern ,will in my eyes , make us weaker in the end, because we lose our depth and values. Just like a microwave oven.

Well said Julie, Pat McC and Veronica. As far as Mick's comments go, he has ever looked to see the flats in Scholes, they seem to be perpetually being repaired.

Garry your missing something.

Julie maybe we all should start going on our holidays on old fashioned sailing galleons instead of them jumbo jets

That's true Elizabeth re the flats - huge chunks of concrete dropped off the side of one of the buildings. It must be very worrying for the residents. It's not so much the history of these old buildings but the practicalities - surely in the long run it would be cheaper to maintain such well built property instead of building with inferior materials. Or at least extending with the same materials.

it's very sad indeed to see this however the building was not fit for purpose: the only job of any school is to deliver an outstanding education to our children. this old building prevented that very aim.

Now the kids of Ince have a brilliant school which can meet their needs in the 21stC.

Congratulations to the Chair of Govs, Head teacher and Governers for bringing a new school to Ince - much needed!

Well said Andrew, finally somebody who is not living in the past.

Even in a state of 'decay' the old building looks better than the modern housing to the rear.

Better to live WITH the past and cherish it's grand buildings that outlast. Not to live in a future with eyesores that have no lasting power. The building would make a very good community centre for that matter, with groups of all kind using it.

Not only will the building disappear but also the little cobbled street (Parliament Street) will disappear as well, along with Pitt Street. I hope these names will be retained in any new development as they are part of our local history.

The little row of terraced houses facing the school (addresses Parliament street) along with the back to back ones facing Warrington road went long ago.

I've seen workmen in the building taking out central heating radiators and other useful items.