Photo-a-Day  (Saturday, 8th May, 2021)

Looks like its a nice warm day, with the shoppers in shirt sleeves and cars with there windows down.

Looks a lot less busier than yesterday's photo. A couple of grand buildings on there. I can think of another one further down set back from the road and almost hidden. St Benedict's church is another.

Well done Dennis,from the top of a bus.Very good clear photo.This is another place I like, I have a friend who lives in Hindley.She had a shop at the top of Market St.I used to love a browse in this street.Lets hope these shops keep going.

That's a nice photo. I have always liked Hindley. Sadly, Market Street seems to be all Beauty Parlours, as we used to call then, (hair, skin, nails etc), or Take-aways. Sadly, that seems to be the way of things these days, wherever you live. I remember Hindley Market, (which as a very young child I always thought was "Ingley Market" due to my Mam's Lancashire pronunciation!), which was a brilliant market....sadly gone the way of most markets these days. I went to school there and have somehow always felt at home there, even though I never lived there. A friend of mine from Hindley moved to Australia and where she lived, all she ever saw of her neighbours was them driving out of their garages to go shopping, coming back, opening the garage door from inside their car with a remote-control and driving back in. When she decided to come back home she said, "I just longed to walk up Market Street in Hindley and have people shout "Hello love" across the road". And they did!

Irene - "t'Ingley market" was a common phrase in my grandma's house in Aspull, followed by "bargains theer!"
This is a pleasant photo Dennis - a street I haven't seen in fifty years.

I've always liked Hindley,the Market used to be great,I used to buy knitting wool there,they always seemed to have a better choice.My lovely late Brother lived in Whiteside Avenue, and my great friend Elizabeth lives there to give it extra ambiance eh! Elizabeth...and thank you Dennis,your camera gives some beautifully clear photos and of course added by your expertise.

It's true Irene, however humble, there's no place like home

Irene Ive lived in Perth Western Australia and found the Aussie to be very friendly, your friend who moved to Australia sounds like what the Aussie call a whinging pom, if she had made an effort and tried mixing with them she would have been made most welcome
In time she could have been walked down Bondi Beach seafront eating a bag of chips and shark, and her acquaintances would have been calling hello sheila from across the road
Last time I walked down Market st Hindley in March of this year, all I could hear was traffic noise and foreign accents
Ive just looked back at a photo of Hindley that I sent in and a comment from a very wise Tonkers said there's a difference between bullies and crytics.

I have fond memories of Market Street in Hindley. Many years ago when I used to work at Turners in H.Green they used to send us for our eyes tested at the Opticians on Market Street and also I remember a supermarket there as well but can't remember the name - was it Kwik Save does anyone know? I remember the market as well. Nice photo Dennis.

Beauty Parlours and Junk food outlets.
Market St had some great quality shops years ago and the best outdoor Market.

The red brick building used to be the Palace cinema,the next building down was the billiard hall,the church is St. John's.

There used to be a small branch of Woolworths and Gas and Electricity showrooms on Market St in the sixties. There was also Excel bakery near the junction wit Atherton Rd.

Mick, I give up with you, I really do! My friend is one of the friendliest, most pleasant people I know who lived in Australia as a child and went back there because her Dad and brother both live there and she still goes back to this day visit them. She HAS walked on Bondi beach and is aware that many Australians are friendly. She obviously moved in to the wrong area there which unfortunately seems to have been populated by a streetful of snobbish, Whingeing Aussies. Whingers are not confined to "Poms".....they crop up everywhere, some even come on here!
I would just like to add that Hindley always makes a superb effort for Remembrance Day and Christmas....the shops may no longer be the ironmongers, bike shops, grocers etc that once filled Market Street, but the Hindley community always comes together to decorate their premises and to make a good show on special occasions.

Irene don't give up love, you might be right in saying your friend moved into the wrong area, maybe if she had moved into a older run down Victorian terraced house she would have felt more settled.
Irene you say that Hindley does a superb effort for Remembrance Day and Christmas, well let me tell you this, Ive been to remembrance day services New Zealand, Australia and Singapore and they all do a far better job of it than what we do.
Get onto YouTube and look at how these country s do it, then type in Christmas lights and you will be amazed at what you will see.

Yes, I'm sure she would. Mick. In fact she could have moved into my own old run-down Victorian terraced house which was built in 1900 had it been in Australia....no, on second thoughts, I love it too much to part with it. Thankyou for your recommendations for other countries' celebrations but I have no interest at all. I am a home-bird and have never in my life had the slightest interest in other countries. That is no slight on the majority of people, yourself included, who DO love to visit other countries and see other cultures , but each to his/her own. I will stick with Hindley's Christmas lights. I can walk it home to Abram from there.

So very true Irene, we've had Aussies as neighbours and sure enough they were very nice and friendly, but they could have won a prize from the top shelf for whinging, I'm sure they would look around for anything just to have a whinge. And, not surprisingly, everything was always so much better in Australia.

Derek B,Gary and Garry I agree it used to a great shopping area and the market was second to none.You never needed to really go out of the area,there was every kind of shop there.Unfortunately as I have said before,certain townships are very neglected in comparison to others,hence loads of the same thing; nail bars,hair stylists,fast food eateries.Thanks for the mention Maureen ,I never knew Michael was your brother when he lived near me.

It is better in Australia Cyril, except for there telly program's and the flies.

Mick try to understand for goodness sake, if you are not happy in your Country then try to improve it or bugger off somewhere else, but don't try to make out the other person didn't try hard enough. If it doesn't suit them that's all there is to it. The sweetest words I ever heard in my life came from a assistant in a pie shop two days after coming home to this country. " Terra Love" she said as I left the shop and those two words said to "I'm Home", and in seven years in 'Oz' no shopkeeper ever said thank you or good bye after my purchase, it's just a culture thing you accept, or not.

I suppose the reason the type of shops like nail bars and fast food outlets spring up is because of the low rents. It is sad when buildings become run down in the main shopping streets. I remember Hindley in the mid to late sixties for the Market and a popular pub called the Banner. It was brilliant at the weekend with the groups that were on there. A time I wouldn't have missed for anything.

Elizabeth,we didn't know each other then though did we?,he was a rum un' wasn't he..I never stop missing him.

Pee Bee I'm not saying I like Australia, all I'm trying to say how wrong some of the comments from stick in the mud folk who have never traveled are on this thread.
Australian pie shop woman would have to say Terra Love to me as long as she was serving me a prime (10 times better than a Wigan pie ) Australian steak pie.

When I worked at Debenhams many years ago, I worked with a man who had just returned from Australia and oh boy!....didn't we know about it! He extolled its virtues in every sentence, saying how everything was so much better there and belittling England... and his favourite saying was "Oh, I did well out of Australia, I did! " leaving us all sat in the canteen wondering why he had come back if it was so much better? He has never returned there as I still see him occasionally. My country, my town and my little village are all I want and to be content with what you have is to be rich. Well said, peebee.

Aww come on Mick, Ozzie pies they don't hold a candle to a Wiggin , Owfen or a Bowton pie .You eat a proper pie but over there they have to drink theirs because they are so sloppy. :)

Irene some people are just show offs, or maybe he returned to look after his old mother. and then found the love of a local lass

I was looking forward to visiting a friend in Perth last September but it wasn't meant to be. I do know that even though she has a beautiful home and lives by the beach and lived there over 50 years , she would love to be able to bump into old friends from over here. No matter where you roam and settle, there's still no place like home and the place you were born and all the familiar friends and relations.
It's always lovely to travel to warmer climes but it's nicer still to come home after an interval. Once your own family come along it's then you are tied.

I know Maureen,and I'm sure you will always miss him terribly.Yes,he always had a brilliant sense of humour.

Irene,you seem very happy with your life,Mick seems to be still searching for the Holy Grail.

Wallabie Cobber? Four Australian steak pies Sheila, and hop to it!

Australian Steak Pie Recipe.
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
500g Kangaroo fillet steak - small dice
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup beef stock
bouquet garni of bay leaf, parsley and thyme, tied with string.
1 egg and ½ cup milk whisked together
8 sheets puff pastry

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Spray a large pie dish or individual pie tins with vegetable oil.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, cook for 5 mins, add the fillet and cook over a high heat until well browned.
Sprinkle the flour over the kangaroo and add the pepper and salt to taste. Slowly add tomato paste and stock, stirring to remove any lumps. Add the bouquet garni and bring to a simmer for around 20 mins until the meat is tender.
Cut the pastry to suit your desired dish, line the base, use a knife to prick all over.
Place a piece of greaseproof paper in each pie tin, followed by some pie weights or uncooked rice. Blind bake for 10 mins until the pastry is almost, cooked.
Remove from oven, discard the weights and paper. Spoon an appropriate serve of mixture into pie dish.
Cove with a pastry lid and brush each pie with the egg and milk mixture.
Bake for 20 mins or until pastry is golden. Serve immediately.

Mick, the man I worked with was married when he went to Australia, He took his wife and young sons to Australia and came back with them. If he had really preferred life there he would have stayed or gone back. He and his family are still here in Wigan. Anyway, Goodnight Mick and everyone, See you all tomorrow. xxxx

I bet that dish was pinched from the Aboriginees Cyril. Doesn't sound appetising to me anyway. They have enough sheep down under without resorting to kangaroo. I think you'd be hop, skipping and jumping after a kangaroo pie straight to the bathroom. Or whatever they call the lavvy down there!

Mick, speaking of remembrance, We were in Belgium at Ypres on the Sunday of the 100 years Armistice, 2018. We were at the Menin gate at 11:00, with thousands of people from all over the world. A truly moving experience. The nicest people we met, Canadians who were there to pay their respects at Vimy Ridge. Europe really did do the event justice and we felt honored to be there. You only need to look at the vast amount of names on the walls at the 'gate, ( every one without a grave ) to be aware that although it's done differently, Nations don't forget

Veronica it's a Dunny, do you remember those Paul Hogan TV shows in the 1980s, he was always on about spiders with a nasty bite that liked to hide in the dunny. One of those spiders should have had a good bite at of Mick's nether region when he was in Oz - unless it found it to be too tough to sink its teeth into with Mick spending hours on a bike saddle.

It doesn't seem to be appetising at all, I put it on to show Mick what may well be in those Australian steak pies he was raving about, and who knows the pie shop he went into could well belong to the descendants of Mrs Lovett and Mr Todd.

"There's a Red Back on the toilet seat and it's waiting there for you". Another Ozzie saying......."I hope all your chucks turn into Emu's and kick you dunnie (outside toilet) door down".b4stc

That's it 'Dunny' it came to me afterwards Cyril ....I do remember Paul Hogan, I wonder what's happened to him after all this time..there was another Ozy one that made me laugh his name was 'Bob Down' I only had to hear his name and I was in stitches!

Still Here , Since 1967, Back To Wigan, Ten Times. A Lot Warmer..