Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 24th April, 2023)

Really ?
I will leave it to Wiganer's to comment!

The glass roof in marketgate was lovely as was the one in Leigh arcade,it was a pleasure to walk the galleries even if it was a short cut through the heart of Wigan, thanks for pic Dennis.

Sorry by Wigan Town doesn't appeal to be anymore, not just now but over recent years.
The best years for me was the 1960s, It had everything. You had to visit the place, for me Saturdays and Wigan Town were married to each other, it was great.

Sorry , Wigan's lost it's identity.

No character sadly.
Our Wigan Town is loosing it's Heritage. Bosses who are not from Wigan.

I live a seven or eight minute bus ride from Wigan town centre, but the only time I go there now is to catch a train or bus to another town.
It's a wasteland, and this latest pipe dream isn't going to improve matters.

To quote from a song written not a million miles away, (Widnes Railway Station), "And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories, and every stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be homeward bound". Wigan had a proud and individual character once....it will just be a carbon copy of everywhere else IF these so-called wonderful changes are ever completed. These days I only go to Wigan for eye appointments and am straight back on the bus. It's heartbreaking to witness the demolition whilst reading posters telling us how wonderful it's all going to be.....pull the other one, it's got bells on! If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I have seen Wigan Town Centre change almost beyond recognition in the last 50 years or so, the old Arcade and Commercial Yard were swept away to make way for the Wigan Centre Arcade, in less than 20 years that was rebuilt as Marketgate and the old Market Hall and square were redeveloped as The Galleries. I just can't see the logic in all this, now the Galleries and Marketgate are coming down to be replaced with glass boxes; how long will they last I wonder?

I have yet to find anyone in favour of these changes, but the Wigan Councillors will still not be held to account in the forthcoming elections.

I agree wholeheartedly with the comments above.The signage stating 'protecting our heritage,' is an absolute joke you couldn't make it up.

Every Saturday my wife and I would go up town, she would have a mooch around the shops I would go to the bookies then we would meet up and go for some dinner and a few drinks. For the last two years or so she has not been interested, simply because the places she went to shop have all gone. Many saturdays we would spend 80/100 quid, that is money lost to Wigans economy and I bet there are hundreds of folk in the same position!

I think it's going to look very nice when its finished.

I must agree with a lot of comment here, the 50’s and 60’s Wigan was an absolute hive of activity especially Saturday.
The hustle and bustle of shoppers was so exciting for a young boy, such a vibrant town.
I glad that my memories of Wigan still serve me well.

There’s not much I can add to the comments that have already been said and I am in agreement with. Apart from lining the
b-‘s up against a brick wall. Because it would have to be a brick wall and not glass (which seems to be the popular material to build with) at least for what I have in mind for the miscreants/ villains….call them what you will. I am just glad I remember it as it was.

Protecting heritage, they wouldn't know heritage if they tripped over it.
Here's a few words I'd like to say about 'they' whoever 'they' were, are, or thought themselves to be, I'd say 'they' in fact were actually idiots!

They whom thought themselves as powers that be could never understand it, (The cultural heritage of Wigan) so they never could value it, nor did they want those folks who did understand and value it to enjoy it, so, they went and destroyed it, now whatever they try and do, they can't recreate it.

Dave, I'm not having a dig at you, you just reminded me of 'the bookies', which is a name I don't like, because they bring about more pain than gain.

There may not be any shops left in town, but as sure as there's a hell 'the bookies' will always be there, it's said that cockroaches would survive a nuclear war, well I'm sure that 'the bookies' would do too, how many folks have lost their last bob to the name of a horse? and even Wigan council with laying all those cycle tracks around town still can't get folks to seeing 'a bookie' on a bike.

I remember bookies before it was made ‘legal’. There was one in the street where I lived and one in Higham St. in Scholes. Odd times I was sent with a bet for my dad. The bet slip was wrapped around half a crown or a 2/-piece. I had to go up an entry and knock on the back door to hand it in. Strangely enough I can’t remember going for any winnings. It always seemed a covert situation….. “don’t let anybody see you!” If it was against the law I didn’t know! Was there detectives standing on corners watching for suspect bookies taking bets? It was something that went on all over the town I imagine.
Nowadays it’s drug dealing that’s taken the place of harmless bets on the horses….

Cyril I only have a small amount on the nags but I have been a racing fan since 1970 also you would be surprised how many betting shops have closed down in Wigan. Veronica I also recall taking bets for my grandad to the street bookie?

Our first home was a rented room in a house owned by the Landlady of The Legs of Man in Wigan town centre. She was quite elderly then (1969) but she told us many tales of people like George Formby who used to stay at the pub/hotel and the busy life she led as landlady. Definitely a bygone age.

It's depressing seeing the reality of today's photo in Wigan, and who wants apartment's in a town centre. ( the posh word for flats) and not only that.Who would want to live in them?

Dear Edna, if you got out of the bed on the other side or were brought up in Parbold You might start to realise that the name flats is a cheap name for apartments.

It is utterly unbelievable to me, that after watching both The Galleries being built in the 1980s and early 1990s, and watching Marketgate being built in the early 1970s, it was known as the Wigan Centre Arcade when it opened, that I would see both being demolished during my lifetime.