Photo-a-Day  (Thursday, 1st April, 2021)

They look like well covers but maybe not, they are very close together.

That was my thought, Helen, but odd if two wells were so close together. I don't think they are capped-off pits as I have seen quite a few of those and, again, they wouldn't be so close together. I'm sure someone will know.

Are they ventilation shafts of the old mines in that area ?

Just guessing as I haven't a clue about mine workings - is it anything to do with clean air being pumped into the mine. Or some sort of an extractor?

A lady friend just emailed me saying that they could be cesspits, the smaller one for the ladies and the bigger one for the men

When I was a kid and I asked my grandma what something was and she didn’t know the answer, she would say it was “ Lay holes for meddlers” I didn’t know then and I still don’t know now what “Lay holes for meddlers” are. I suppose it did get her off the hook though.

Ley holes would have been at the beginning and end of the Ley Lines

DTease, my grandma used to say exactly the same thing and like you I still don't know what it means.

I have visions of the tops being slowly unscrewed like in the Aliens have landed type films .

Wigans Mr Hotpot made a video about these two mystery objects.

https://youtu.be/_IZd3AzuiGY

My grandma used to say the same thing but not in the context as not knowing the answer to a question. If she was looking in a drawer or cupboard and I said "What's in there?" she would always reply" lay holes for meddlers". Along with everyone else contributing I have never known what this meant.

Same here, mother and grandma. Wonder if it's a Wiganism.

My Mam used to say Lay-holes for Meddlers too, and also Crutches for Lame Ducks!

Thank goodness it’s not just me! I was getting a bit worried!

May be the assembly and access point for a fire hydrant . Has Haigh ever caught fire ?

I always thought it was "layers for meddlers" - that's how it sounded to me. It sounds nicer than "keep your nose out" anyway. It's not just a Wigan expression though apparently it's even used in the southern states of the USA.

Wiganisms - I do remember "lay holes for meddlers" and the mantelpiece was always "t' cornish." Irene has mentioned this a few times.
As a child if I was asking where someone had gone, and they didn't want to tell me, the reply would be "Hell hob." That phrase had a follow up, not really fit to print!
A parting au revoir mimicked Cockney rhyming slang eg "Aw reet, morn neet." Or "Aw reet, pigs' feet."
That lot will be reverberating round my head for days now!

Just remembered another of my grandma's replies. This was her answer to the question from me "How old are you, Grandma?" " As owd as mi eyes an a bit owder than mi teeth"

If you mentioned to my grandma that you didn’t like the food she had served up for you, her stock reply was “Shurrupungerritetten” and she said it in such a way that you knew for certain that further questioning would be extremely unwise.

Gary. I only remember "Hell Hob in a bucket". I also remember "Hell's bells and buckets" and "Hell's bells and little oranges". I recall asking where someone was and the answer was "Up a nick i' Russia"! What a diversion of topics p-a-d brings! And if you were standing in front of the telly, "Shift eawt t'road....tha weren't made at Pilkington's!"

Derek......as old as mi tongue an a bit older than mi teeth was how it went in my family.

When I wanted to know where some had gone, ie my dad or brother, the answer was." To see a man about a dog."

If I ever gave cheek to my mam she'd say "Hey Mrs Keck - less of your lip"...
Where on earth did these sayings come from?

There's one thing for sure about this post.Its got us all going.!!!

Another one of my grandma's sayings if she was not impressed with something that had supposedly been greatly improved but turned out to be only cosmetic was: It;s still't same dog washed! Washed was pronounced to rhyme with mashed. Another when I was a little lad was "Get thi hurr combed , it favvers a boater's mop. Took me years to work
out that a boater's mop was something sailors swabbed the decks down with.

What about
" you con go' un run a duck".... if something didn't impress. I had never heard that for years until an old woman well in her eighties said it. It cracked me up.
That was really funny Derek B I have never heard that one - it must have originated from a sailor...;o))

When we were little if we were getting under the feet of our parents . Mother always said go play with Robinsons kids. Never did find Robinsons kids.

Gary, Hell Hob is another name for The Black Bull, Hall Lane Mawdesley, so nicknamed because of the big cooking hob (fireplace) in the pub when built in the 1580s. Interesting info on links below.

http://chorleyinnsandtaverns.blogspot.com/p/mawdesley-black-bull-inn.html#:~:text=The%20pub's%20nickname%20is%20%22Hell,Helen%2C%20hence%20Hell's%20Hob%22.

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/spirits-and-spooks-behind-bars-lancashires-haunted-pubs-674586