Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 5th December, 2023)

Thanks again Brian.
Has this once fine building been spared the chop in the redevelopment?

We're the Townies of the bird world
Messing up the Square ,
Hooting like monkeys on roof tops all day ,
Gangs of us in Teddy Boy grey ,
Loitering the pavement outside Galloway's ,

We stare at you with fish eyed frowns ,
Like the Raft's and Cagney's of Wigan town ,
We own this place and that's a fact ,
You dirty filthy flying rat ...

We hate the countryside , fields or trees .
Brian took a basket and released
A cloud of us on Anglezarke moor ,
How quick we raced home to the chip trays
And pie crusts on Mesnes Street .

Poet

Shades of Alfred Hitchcock!

I see that they have put tarmac down at the side near the Market Hall. Do you think this will be for parking or market stalls?

Every picture tells a story..

I noticed the tarmac too Colin, there is also a new barrier there, very car-park esq. I got talking to one of the stall holders over the weekend and asked her was she going into the new bit when it was ready ? " when " came the reply. She said the demolition continues but in the meantime there is 140 million short to complete the project. There is no money in the pot. She said it would be at least 3 years before anyone moved up there, if at all. So to conclude, we may not get our market back but at least we'll have the car park, albeit a bigger version. Back to the photo, I thought the Tavern had been compulsory purchased from the chap who had ploughed money into it and wanted to reopen it as a food/drink outlet ? How come it survived the bulldozers ?

There is nowhere for pigeons to go now as they all lived in galleries, as for the car park it will never be used for the market or any other retailers, the council have stated it's been built for town events, this council have proven they do not want a market, so I can't ever see car park being used who would enter a ghost town for whatever the event.

Thanks fellow Standisher.
I hope it does survive, it could be made really good in the right hands with wall mounted brass lights outside and hanging baskets and new fresh interior. I remember when it was a nice place to go for lunch with access to a upper level. Then progressively it seemed to go down hill.
I would love to know how to access the current thinking and plans of the redevelopment from Wigan Council???? Might have to grab a local councillor if I can find one, you only seem to see them around when they are canvasing for votes!
PS my son just bought me a sausage roll from McRobb's, by far the meatiest and best I have ever tasted.

Flying rats.

I too would like to see it left and used for something positive, though a great pity it had all the wonderful and unique interior of The Market Hotel ripped out, whatever were the owners thinking when they did that.

Call them flying rats, filthy rats or whatever, but they do have to preen themselves and to be keeping clean otherwise they can't function correctly. I have nothing but admiration for Pigeons, Rodents and the commoner Insects, as no matter what is thrown at them, i.e. destroying roosts, poisons, insecticides etc., they always bounce back, they are the true survivors on Earth and shall still be around when we're long gone.

Colin, I'm just nosing....where is McRobb's please? xx

Cyril pigeons damage buildings and property with their droppings.
They are indeed vermin, Alan.
They are a pest in Towns across Britain.

Pigeons are a nuisance in Towns and Cities, Councils do what they can to protect buildings, but they are protected species.
The Council urges people not to feed them in public. Their dropping are toxic and can make people unwell. Churches are most vulnerable for damage, pigeons tend to nest in glass window ledges and arches.

I get utterly fed up of as soon as the word Pigeons show it's face,the first thing that springs to mind Is 'Flying Rats'..they neither look like rats or do they have a long tail....they're a beautiful bird..we all know of the mess they make but who is dirtier than human beings....

Sorry about this Cyril....we have a regular pigeon who comes to our garden, he likes a bath & we give him a saucer of corn. His name is Cyril, he is nice & polite & doesn't bring his friends along.

Irene, call me nosey but I just googled McRobbs and they are on Market Street in Standish and somewhere in Blackrod.

Maureen, pigeons are an Health Hazard. Pigeon droppings are very dangerous ornithosis listeria
E.coli and othernasty pathogens.
Pigeon droppings can lead to respiratory complaints such as psittacosis and cryptococcis.

It's not the looks but the way they scavenge, seagull are has bad as pigeons. They will eat almost anything. Flying vultures.

Irene, McRobbs is just past the Black Bull on the opposite side as you head towards the traffic lights, next door but one to the Coop.

Jennifer,I know all there is to know about pigeons...I'm sure that droppings of any kind of droppings from all kinds of creatures would make anyone ill..when was the last time you heard of anyone knowingly breathed in any of their droppings...I have their droppings on my garden table just as I get other bird droppings..so rubber gloves on and hot water ...job done,simple.

So so sad
but time it moves you on
no matter how deep your memories
and the core you live upon
The changes will envelop you
and fold you to its trace
where all you now remember
is inside ….
but no longer …. now a place …
A teacher once she told me
keep your hope in mind
for Nature is our teacher
for without it we are blind .,
I asked her should I stay here
or simply fly away
then a spider came and ate me
as I watched her fly away …

Thankyou, Derek and Standisher, for the info on McRobb's.....I love sausage rolls and theirs sound delicious. I really can't blame pigeons OR seagulls for scavenging food where they can get it....they can hardly waddle into Tesco and buy a sandwich! Nor can they help the fact that they may be a health hazard; they don't choose to be so. I would certainly prefer to be in the bus-station with pigeons, (and there were a number of them in there today), than the foul-mouthed yobs I was forced to listen to whilst waiting for my bus, and the lad who ate a kebab and drank a can of Coke on the bus and left all the smelly wrappings and the empty can on the bus when he got off in Lower Ince, where there was a litter-bin at the bus-stop where he got off! I agree with Maureen....some humans are just plain lazy and filthy.

Thank you Irene.. someone with a bit of sense and seeing life and nature for what it is …beautiful.

Nice to hear of that Helen of Troy.
Spot on Maureen they are a beautiful iridescently coloured and intelligent bird and initially bred as a source of fresh meat in Victorian times and they didn't call them flying rats, neither did the armed forces when they used them to carry messages. Another name for pigeons is Rock Doves as they in the past lived on steep rock faces and so have the ability to roost and nest where other birds wouldn't. Councils know that they never will eradicate pigeons, and can only at best try to control them.

So very true too Maureen about mankind being the most filthiest, germ ridden and destructive animal on the planet.

Thank you Cyril, I read all about the pigeon that won a medal for its bravery during the war.. the other day I saw a photo where a pigeon had been hit with a car and died, it’s mate just laid down at the side of it and passed away, it had more compassion than a lot of so called human beings. Ah well they would say it’s only a flying rat.

Thank you Cyril, I read all about the pigeon that won a medal for its bravery during the war.. the other day I saw a photo where a pigeon had been hit with a car and died, it’s mate just laid down at the side of it and passed away, it had more compassion than a lot of so called human beings. Ah well they would say it’s only a flying rat.

All pigeons are filthy but not all humans are.