Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 11th January, 2023)

Where's the flintstone is this the town of bedrock?

I don't think too many of the Scholes village residents will be too happy seeing today PAD, what absolute mess that stone monstrosity is, and then having the picture trimmed down so it just shows Hole.
I'm ashamed to say one of my grandchildren helped to design it.

Oh Dear! What hole. I wish those structures would disappear into one. God knows what my parents generation would think of them..

I've never been quite sure what to make of this! I wonder who thought it up and who got the stones? Anyone know?

This is supposed to read Scholes, but it's unrecognisable.It was put there in 2012, for when the Olympic Torch was being brought through Scholes.For the 2012 Olympics. Its an eyesore. But thanks Dennis for the photo.

The Sheviers used to call Appley Bridge the hole because we was in a dip at the bottom of the hill and we also had a few quarries.

Imagine the fun you could have had on this when you were kids.

The idea was good, but it should have been erected on the opposite side of the road where it would be better viewed and they should have got some kids who could write the letters better so that they could be easily read.

Why as it never been vandalized.

Maybe we should ask you to teach the kids how to spell Mick?

The song 'What's it all about Alfie '' comes to mind.
Wigan must be at the top of the league for weird & wonderful installations.
Ah well, each to their own....

Scholes in bloom. different again you'll be surprised

http://scholesinbloom.co.uk/

Micks not on about the spelling DTease he was talking about it being hard to read.

It cost £80,000 to make those stones (on a government grant) and I didn't know it spelled 'S C H O L E S' until a few weeks after I had first seen them, when I read about it somewhere.
And just a little way down from those stones, there is a sign outside of Scholes Precinct, which says "Welcome To Wigan Town Centre" now I may be thick, but surely Scholes Precinct is in Scholes, and not Wigan Town Centre.

Because they were busy vandalising the new toilets in the bus station, Syd.They don't vandalise old things, by the way!! Are you saying the vandals live in Scholes.Its getting some stick recently.

Century’s ago Scholes was a Viking/ Norse encampment perhaps the stones are a nod to that. I can’t understand why there’s a great mound there when it was flat previously with a row of shops there.
Poor Scholes nobody can take my memories away, it was the best community I have ever come across. Plus the best shopping centre which could never be replaced with the Precinct that does look worse for wear.

Dont worry about it Albert, he is only making himself look daft, but I suppose his comments will make some silly women chuckle so its not all bad.
Ozy the fence knockerdowners where at it again this afternoon.

Edna & Bob, when I first saw the boulders I couldn't make out what it was, and even after reading about it in the local news I still couldn't, it was only when I was stopped on Scholes in the traffic and I could spend time looking at each letter that I could see the letters each boulder represented and the work involved, it's rather good how they've used abstract art in that way, hope the youths that made them enjoyed the experience. In a way it reminded me of the film The Rebel and how Tony Hancock sculpts a sculpture in his flat, and his character explains to everyone that it's women as he sees them.

Veronica, Scholes means an out of town collection of huts, housing a community of poor people who set up camp on the outskirts as they couldn't afford to, or weren't allowed to, live within the town. A suburb of a town, like a ghetto. Living in the scholes was like living in the ghetto.

As the snow flies
On a cold and grey Wigan morn'
A poor little baby child is born
In the Scholes

Elvis Presley

I’m not talking about the recent past John . I have read about this in a book by John Hannavy.
History and Guide of Wigan.
“. It was not until the 10th Century that Wigan entered a period of significant change. It was then that an influx of Norse settlers appeared. This was not an invasion by marauding Norse forces. These ‘invaders’ were already well established in Ireland and along the West coast of Scotland, and their move into the North West of England was a gradual colonisation. TheNorse settlement was, initially, on the opposite side of the River Douglas toWigan and the name ‘Scholes’is a reminder of that settlement. They also established a settlement at Skelmersdale,.” (Not far from where Micks house is. ).

Ooooh Noakesey ! tha’s oppent a con o’ worms yonder owd lad .

Thanks for the info Mick and I don’t want to appear ungrateful , but I would prefer to know the day before the knockerdowners rock up as opposed to the day after .

Get down Shep - John Noakes, the word ghetto originates from Venice and the ghèto or foundry, it was a corruption of Venetian word Gettare to pour or cast, the Jewish people had a copper foundry there, and the word Ghetto has stuck with them throughout history. Though on the other hand, Scholes is the English corruption of the Viking word Skaus:

S is for strength, there when needed.
K is for kindle, the warmth in others.
A is for animated, let your energetic spirit shine
U is for upstanding, the honourable way to be
S is for scholar, the brilliant in you.

So there you go - get down Shep - you'll never shake that saying off will you! And you can be thankful for Google and other web search engines or oracles for a mine of information, have a search for con o'worms or use the link below.
https://marymered.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/screenshot-2020-09-26-at-08.13.22.png?w=508

This is me opening a can of worms with our electric can opener.

https://youtu.be/Vdg3pRJYY6k

And B is for bull**it Cyril .

A ghetto, often called the ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure.[1] Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other areas of the city.

The term ghetto has deep cultural meaning in the United States, especially in the context of segregation and civil rights; as such, it has been widely used in the country to refer to poor neighborhoods. It is also used in some European countries such as Romania and Slovenia to refer to poor neighborhoods.[

It was always called Scowes by the older folk Cyril that must be where it comes from. A throwback to those Norsemen. We are descended from them. They couldn’t have picked a better place than old Scholes. It’s my ambition one of these days to go to the Fiords and see the Northern Lights.

Blimey Mick , yon con oppener’s a bit fancy innit ?

And the worms … I hadn’t realised they’d opened a branch of Waitrose in Shevvy .

Errrm ! … pardon my intrusion here Veronica , but I think they’re called fjords . Pronounced the same , spelled differently .

Veronica, are you "pining for the fjords". Have you got a parrot? Is it dead?

Errrrm. Fiord or Fjord
( both apt) a narrow inlet of the sea between cliffs or steep slopes created by glaciers Ozward. In the Norwegian land of our ancestors..that’s it for now I am off…..

I was once caught chewing gum in class at school. As a punishment I was told to write in my jotter “I must endeavour not to masticate in class” 100 times.
Yes, you’re right, I did manage to accidentally insert the obvious spelling mistake once or twice.
She never noticed when she checked my work, or maybe she thought it wiser to pretend not to notice.

In answer to Irene’s questions: Who thought it up and who got the stones?

”Scholes Henge'' 2012

Sculptor Thompson Dagnall was commissioned by Catch22 for a community project, funded by a grant from Sporting People.

In consultation with the local community and in response to a graffiti crisis, Thompson came up with a Tag for Scholes. The aim was to get some investment from the main graffiti offenders and undermine the outlaw element of graffiti by setting it in stone.

https://www.sculpturecarving.com/scholes

Thompson carved the giant monolith letters out of sandstone. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/scholes-henge-314713

I think I prefer ordinary graffiti at least it can be cleaned up! The stones however, have ‘settled’ in. I would like to know what’s underneath that mound as it was so flat. Surely they didn’t leave a row of demolished shops underneath….. or is there something ‘sinister’ under there… might be bones of the Norsemen ……;o)

Veronica, it's just a pile of soil, intended I was told as a noise barrier between the main road of Scholes and Baldwin Street, the occupiers must have complained about the noise level of traffic as I suppose they wouldn't have heard the traffic before with the pubs and shops being between them. There were Fir like trees planted on top, but as I remember they kept didn't last long, also Daffodil bulbs around the mound which the last time I went past there in Spring a good few years ago were still flowering.

So that’s what lies beneath Cyril. Thanks for that, I think it looks
strange. It’s just a large mound that looks unnatural to me. I suppose because I re all it being flat previously. I can’t see how it would cut noise down for those houses. Imagine looking out of the back windows at that pile of stones.

There are better views aren't there Veronica, though some views can be worse, in the link below is one contender - the view at Alden Close Worthington, it's the remaining wall of the old bleach works factory which for some reason got classed as a listed structure?
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5865782,-2.6367203,3a,75y,10.51h,75.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stPQ0L7ZJxoG3MO8GbAQCIQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

In this link the view is what we are used to seeing when going past on Chorley Road.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5866806,-2.6373124,3a,75y,8.17h,85.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSuDl_7Q-A75Sb3tuLec9Kg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

It's a toss of a coin to who has the better view of the Wall, the residents of Alden Close or those in the house on Chorley Road?

Let’s hope these stones don’t become a ‘listed structure’ Cyril.
Looking again - the letters ‘hole’ looks more like ‘hale’ Dennis.

maybe the stones are telling us something.
"hale Dennis, hale Dennis, Dennis the king of the views."

He’s not a king yon mon, he’s a very naughty boy.