Photo-a-Day  (Thursday, 28th September, 2023)

I was told the council named this street after Luke Marsden who was a contestant in Big Brother and put wigan on the map.

Oh dear !
Wonder what caused that...a water leak?
I didnt know where Marsden St was but that looks like Mesnes St at the back ?

It’s not unusual that should happen with all the disturbance going on. But I suppose there’s movement going on under the surface all the time. Imagine walking across the road and suddenly falling in a hole. It looks quite deep.

With all the heavy plant being used in the area surprised more of the side roads have not collapsed. Whether by direct weight or collapsed pipe work.

It reminds me of that song, "Hole in the Ground" by Bernard Cribbins. What on earth has caused that to happen? Scary!

We have potholes in the road and now potholes in the pavements.

Sorry correction, this is the road and not the pavement.
I got confused with the blockpaving.

There is some speculation going on that it could be a tunnel from the old fish market to market hotel.

Im not a bit surprised.. I’ve stood on that right hand corner so many times and watched those massive machines tear our town to pieces.. something had to happen underground with all that deafening rumbling.

When the original Market Hall was still in existence I remember there being a 60 feet or so deep sewer that ran from Hope Street into Marsden Street, maybe the remains of that collapsed, though there is always ground movement in Wigan.
Looking at the photo again there looks to be a metal frame around the hole and under the bricks, so maybe it's a manhole cover that's collapsed possibly through a heavy laden (demolition) lorry or something else heavy being on it.
There'll be a few council officials appearing to be busy whilst standing around looking into it, I'm sure.

That's correct, Helen. You are looking straight ahead at Mesnes Street. If you walked down The Royal Arcade on the right of the photo you would come out on Standishgate, opposite what used to be Debenhams/Pendlebury's.

Veronica, I've left a note for you on yesterday's PaD regarding The Greater Manchester Archaeological Journal. Volume 1, 1985

(Besides printing the pages as was suggested, you could also download the files to your computer to read as and when needed.)

No wonder Miners were in such grave danger with all the earth shifting beneath the surface and with the added. disturbance they made with their toil. How they had the guts to do that work is beyond me.

(Seen the message Cyril
Will see what Noah can do for me.).

Thanks Irene, there was a shoe shop around where that dress shop is now & my mother always took me there when I needed shoes....they were always sensible, black & clumpy I might add ! The shop had an Xray machine so the assistant could slow you...and your mother where your toes were !

Can someone tell Wigan's MP, Lisa Nancy about this hole, I'm sure she'll look into it.

I went to have a look this morning, whilst in Wigan. It is not a deep hole, about 12inches at the most. You can just see soil.

Tommy Tee , teehee…;o)

"A Wiganer" - it's shown as Marsden Street on the 1840 map. And Luke isn't quite that old :)

This Street was Marsden Street, long before Luke Marsden was born.Wiganer, It's been Marsden Street forever. Good photo Dennis.

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5482747,-2.6316427,3a,15y,81.77h,80.8t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOQf6_Fjbwju_JyFRF_2C-A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

My mother said, no it wasn't Luke, it was his grandad, a fella down Bottling Wood way.

In the photo via the link that John Noakes put on, you can see a large indentation in the block paving of the road around where the hole in the road now is, and this photo was taken in May 2022 so it could have been beginning to collapse back then.