Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 13th November, 2024)

Northern Rail services are rubbish, it’s about time they were closed down and sold off their stock at a 50% Discount. Perhaps to Bee Network or Mersey Rail.

Don't envy you there, Colin. I used to love going to Southport on the train, but my brother-in-law and his wife went there on the bus recently and it took two hours! The bus -ride through Upholland is very pleasant but the Skelmersdale bit seems to take forever and it all looks the same! We were thinking of going to Ormskirk by bus and I think it's the Southport bus that goes there. I haven't been to Southport for years but I remember thinking even then that Lord Street didn't seem the "posh" street that it once did. It had deteriorated a bit, much like so many other towns. Wallgate station looks very forlorn.

Irene, that was the route we took back, all a bit depressing.
Living in Standish we take the bus to Chorley and then the one to Southport. It’s a lovely run on a sunny day mostly through countryside and much quicker, or so it seems like!

This station was always called ‘ Southport Station’ to us kids from the so called “”rough area of Scholes which hasn’t changed in decades””. Maybe because we didn’t go any further away for holidays. The same applied to ‘’Blackpool Station” across the road. I do remember the exotic posters of far away train journeys to the Cornish Riviera which reminded me of the Enid Blyton books for some reason! I also knew a girl who DID go to Cornwall but that was because her dad worked on the railway. They probably got a discount or perhaps free travel I wouldn’t know.
I must admit I have missed coming to Wigan on the train at least once or twice a week.

Yes, Irene, it's not just Wigan that you shoppers have abandoned.

That's the east bound line from Southport to Manchester and beyond, surely?

The Ormskirk bus ride is about half the time it takes to Southport Irene. I think Thursday is the best day. It’s nice to go in Summer. It’s not as bad as going further to Southport. I feel travel sick just thinking of the ride to Southport! It’s not good for your back either or your head being shunted backwards and forwards!!!

The vegetation on the right of the photo covers the bed of the second track - same on the east bound side. Freight and expresses, usually on Grand National day, used to bypass the station.
I live in the NE. The Tyneside Metro system is having "outages" and cancellations on a weekly basis, but the stock is 48 years old. New trains are in the depot in Gosforth and are unlikely to run before the year end. Public transport services in the UK cannot sustain themselves without high fares or huge subsidies. It is one of the problems killing town centres.
I hope Bee works for GM.

Ticsmon, that’s reet, my mistake I need a compass! East Bound

WN6. You make the common mistake of assuming Northern Rail (and other operators) actually own the rolling stock. In fact most UK rolling stock is owned by companies you have probably never hear of. Angel. Evershott, Porterbrook etc. Under the mad privatisation model introduced in the 1990s, the Train Companies - like Northern - have to rent their rolling stock from these leasing companies who charge a phenomenal amount, The net result is that the leasing companies make huge profits while the operating companies operate on narrow profit margins and try to run services with the lowest amount of stock they can - as they are literally being charged a fortune for every single extra carriage etc. There is no "slack" in the system to put on extra or replacement trains - they just aren't there.

Like you, Veronica, our "holiday" was half a day at Southport but we got the train at Ince Station., and I remember the holiday destination photos on the sides of those long, narrow carriages on the steam trains, and the leather straps to let the windows up or down; I remember when the train passed by the smelly bone works in Appley Bridge, the sound of those windows being closed all along the train sounded like machine-gun fire! I never went to Blackpool until my teenage years, with friends, but that was still only for the day. Hardly anyone I knew went away for a week, although I DID go for a week's holiday once, with my brother and his wife, and we stayed in a caravan that had gas-mantles! Ticsmon, you're right....that's the Southport-to-Manchester line. Colin, we sometimes go to Chorley on the bus too; it's a nice ride and a nice market.

I wouldn't say Scholes was rough, run down maybe with old damp houses around the 1960s. Their were talks with this new Labour government to bring back British Railways.

Carolaen - exactly. Hence morning commuter trains packed like sardines in two carriages.

Some People just don't get it do they.
Network rail are electrifying our railways at the moment, that consists of demolishing bridges, stations and other railway infrastructure. It's on the TV news and newspapers. Of course there's going to be delays and conciliations, it's inevitable.
It will all be worth it in the end.
By the way, railway passenger numbers have risen year after year.
There use to be two sections of track travelling East in the 1970s and two on the other side of the station travelling West.

Neither would I Scholes Malc. I am using a quotation from a poster a few days ago. I loved the Scholes of my childhood and I am glad I lived there and will always defend my roots there.

The smelly bone works was in Shevington, not Appley Bridge

Gary over crowded will stop after electrication is complete, more power and more carriages. That's why station platforms are being extended to accommodate the lengths of the new trains.

Wn6 can't be Mersey rail in Greater Manchester. Different Cities.

Do you use the train Robert?They cannot keep using the excuse of modernisation and electrification of certain routes forever.The services are very poor and very expensive and unreliable with most networks especially in the north.

We are not talking about the cost at the moment although it is very important. Electric trains ARE more reliable, faster, stronger and pull more rolling stock. That's a fact, Pw.
And yes I do commute by train.

I noticed that uncalled for comment too Veronica.

Joan, I too would have said that the smelly bone works was in Appley Bridge, the smelly lino works too, and Shevyers also said the smells came on the winds blowing from the west. What Irene wrote about the shutting of the carriage windows when approaching Appley Bridge is correct, I remember the repeating bang sound too.
I'd say there is nothing to be ashamed of the actual location of the two factories nor what they produced, I agree with Maurice Allen in that they did provide much needed employment in the area for many years.

Here's an excerpt from The History of the Shevington Parish Council pages 25-26, link to the publication below.
The fragrant scents of the honeysuckle in the hedgerow, and the bluebells in the woodland were the scents of summertime, but
other, far less fragrant scents would assail our noses all year round.
The west wind carried from the Grove Chemical Works, known locally as the `Bone Hole', the acrid smell created in the process of changing animal bones into glue fertilisers and other by-products. The Grove Chemical Works was a major source of employment, for both men and women, since the very early days of this century. The very nature of the operation meant that in its' earlier years it was a rat infested site. In later years, under successive managers, Mr. Brooms, Mr. Parsons, and Mr. Thompson, pest control, and improved working conditions eliminated
much of the nuisance. Although the work was hard and the working conditions unpleasant , the `bone hole' lasses were a bonny bunch. I know of four of that bunch, living in and around Shevington village, three of whom are in the eighties, and one lady who is in her nineties. I am indebted to a hale and hearty gentleman, who is in his eighties, also a former employee, for his assistance in this enterprise. The Grove Chemical Works closed in the nineteen seventies. The site was
occupied for a number of years by the Park Pallet Co. but is now derelict.
The west wind also carried another unpleasant odour, which emanated from the linoleum works of Thos. Witter and Co. in Appley Bridge. The manufacture of the varnish used in the production of linoleum carried a smell which was of a more penetrating and acidic nature. This too has now been eliminated.
From here: A History of Shevington Parish Council
by Maurice Allen
http://www.shevingtonpc.gov.uk/Documents/History%20of%20the%20Parish%20Council.pdf

The major problem with weekend trains is the shortage of staff. They have been refusing to work overtime, which they are entitled to do but a new deal with pay as been sorted, so hopefully this will improve in the not to distant future?

They may go faster were it is allowed but it is of no use if they do not turn up or run late,what about the excuse of staff shortages.You must one of the lucky ones on your commute if you have not had problems.

Can never forget that horrible, sickly gut wrenching stink from the bone works at the top of Wingates in Owfen.

I remember that awful smell when I first came to Westhoughton. It made me ill actually. I didn’t even know what it was or where it was coming from…

Cyril, the boundary is Calico Brook and Dougie. So the bone works was in Shevington.
They have one of the greater Manchester Clean Air Zone signs as you turn left at the Boathouse pub.

Only used Wallgate station a few times in 36 years living in Wigan, but my husband was a patient at the Walton Centre, Liverpool in August and I caught the train from Wallgate to Fazakerley every morning. I must have been very lucky as the trains were running on time. The staff on Wallgate were most helpful. The new station at Headbolt Lane station was superb. An enjoyable daily commute.

That's more like it Pat MaC......positive.

Me and the missis are regulars on the Wallgate to Victoria train when we go buying supplies in Chinatown, and, so far, we haven't had any problems.
We take the bus into Wigan then the. Train, Tram. Then we walk back to Victoria and the train and bus home
I had to look up Headbolt when I noticed that my train was going there.

You'll find that positive comments on P-A-D are few and far between Robert.

Don't take it personally Veronica. It is nothing to be ashamed of and not your fault that you were born and brought up in Scholes. Wigan has always had slum areas. I was born and brought up in Poolstock in the 1960's. Hardly a salubrious area. Keep your chin up.

I’m not ashamed at all Paul S. In fact I wouldn't have had it any other way. There were far worse places than Scholes or any other area around there. I’m proud of the people I knew and who I was associated with. However, I can’t stand snobs who pretend they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth and are so rude to look down on others. It’s what you do with your own life that counts in the end.

Well said Veronica, you've hit the nail on the head. Poverty was the norm when we were children - two World Wars would have seen to that. However, pride in keeping a good and loving home was very high on the list of priorities; very precious indeed.

Exactly Pat people forget or don’t realise the effect two World Wars had on the country. Growing up in the fifties wasn’t all that bad we had the best of chances to succeed from the efforts of those who went before us. I feel nothing but gratitude to the last 2 generations. I am sure others feel the same.

So very true Paul S and Veronica in saying it isn't where you were born and bred.
It is the person that you decide to become and your personal values that define you.

Didn't know that there had been a bone works at Westhoughton, and I can understand what you mean with having that particular smell every day Veronica, as years ago if I had to go where a body had been decaying for some time I would spray a mask with deodorant that I learned to carry, because otherwise no matter how many times I blew my nose that particular smell would always remain for some time.
So I wouldn't like to to have to smell it in the air everyday.

Yes there was a bone works Cyril the smell was intermittent though. It’s been gone a long time I don’t remember when it did go. I also recall when natural gas was used instead of ‘town’ gas that made me ill. I don’t envy the job you had it takes a special breed to do that work. We weren’t afraid of hard work Cyril it made us tough growing up in the fifties.

My cousin,Derek Taylor,worked at the bone works in Westhoughton and I asked him how did he put up with the smell and the conditions ,he said he just got used to it.

Thankfully those jobs only came in every so often Veronica, though apparently there are now more folks being found dead at home, sadly a sign of the times I suppose with some folks not socialising the same or keeping themselves to themselves.
I've heard that before too Pw, but I doubt I would get used to the smell, it's the same with country folks saying they can't smell the manure, but on country roads you always see car windows getting closed quick on a hot day when the smell's ripe.