Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 3rd February, 2025)

Many more were ceased back in 1974 Ince ,Hindley, Ashton, Aspull, Golborne and so on. What followed later were all the local Police Stations and Wigan Metro Council formed under Greater Manchester. Before the change in 1974,
Urban District Council looked after each own and did a great job, you only need to look at old photos of the Areas they covered. Parks were full of flowers and nicely cut lawns, some had their own park keepers. Today Wigan Council has a vast area to cover, and some would say too much. For me, all the small individual Urban Councils did a great job looking after thir own areas and was much tidy and caring.

It's funny to call a building after a coal mining disaster. Just imagine if they did the same in other places and had Pan Am 103 terrace in Lockerbie or Slag Heap Avenue in Aberfan.

A bit of History for you to digest:
The origin of the name 'Abram' is uncertain but it is an ancient name, unlikely to come form the Biblical patriarch. One theory is that is means Abram means "Homestead of Eadburh", from the Old English Eadburgaham. The name was recorded as Edbriham in 1199. Eadburh appears to be a lady otherwise unknown to history.
The local lords of the manor were the Abraham family, but whether they took their name from the manor or the manor from the family is debated.
The village name has been variously recorded as Edburgham in 1212 and Adburgham in 1246. In the 16th century it had evolved into Abraham, and by the 17th century the current name of 'Abram' had become prevalent.
The manor was probably part of the larger manor of Newton until it was granted to "Warine son of Godfrey" by Henry II who reigned 1154–1189. The family, by the name 'Abraham', remained Lords of the Manor until the 17th century. The family was ruined by the Civil War, in which they supported the Royalists. When the last in male line of the Abraham family died in the 17th century, possession of the manor passed through many hands, and the title of Lord of the Manor was still around at the start of the 20th century although held no manorial rights.

I used to pay our rates there in the days before Council Tax. when each district had its own Council Offices. I can't recall seeing the air-raid siren mentioned by Colin, (or perhaps I saw it and din't know what it was), but I remember it going off one day when I was pegging washing out in our yard and I jumped out of my skin! Whether it was being tested or whether some of the council lads had done it for a lark, I don't know. The Sofa Company occupied the premises for a while before it became Maypole Hall Apartments.

Irene, I don't know if the siren was left over from WW2 or if it had been erected in the 1950's when we were constantly in fear of Nuclear Attack and the Kremlin had Abram firmly in its sights, seen as a strategic target!
I imagine they would have tested it from time to time.

I like the 1246 spelling of Adburgham pronounced Abram.
It would be similar to Cholmondeley in Cheshire pronounced Chumley or Wymondham in Norfolk pronounced Wyndham.
Don't know what you think Irene, is it a bit too pretentious or should we lobby the Council?

Big Harold, the Maypole Apartments were named after the pit itself, not after the mining disaster that happened there. The pit was called The Maypole Pit BEFORE the disaster happened and continued to be called that after the disaster until its closure.

Change is not always for the better. Why they cut all the local Council Offices and Police stations is beyond me. When we did have our local Police stations, we had more bobbies on the beat. Something we desperately need.

Big Harold, the building is not named after a coal mining disaster. If it was it would be named "Maypole Colliery Explosion 1908". It's called "Maypole Hall Apartments" in recognition of the nearby colliery where an accident happened in 1908 claiming the lives of 75 employees.

Big Harold, Small Brain.

Colin, I believe Featherstonehaugh is pronounced "Fanshawe" and I used to work with a lady whose name was Strachan and a customer told her it should be pronounced "Strawn"......well, we were told that the customer is always right but my colleague wasn't too happy with that! No, I think we'll leave our little village as "Abram"....we're not posh here! Besides the pit, (where my Dad worked at 12 years old in 1920), we also have a "Maypole Ground" with an actual Maypole, where the Abram Morris Dance used to be performed annually before the dancers set off to perform the dance in various parts of the village; our "Welcome to Abram" street sign shows the top of the Maypole and there is a road called "Maypole Gardens". I even remember Fred Dibnah trundling past our house on that great steam-roller once when he had been to see the chimney at The Maypole Pit before it was demolished.....it sounded like a load of tanks coming down Warrington Road and had everyone at their front doors!

Yes Yes, but it is named Maypole and surely that's a reminder of the disaster that happened there.
If one of my relatives died in the explosion I wouldn't want to be living there.

Is the town hall still in use Irene? The one where I live isn’t used but has been renovated. There are supposedly plans for it for various functions but nothing as yet. At least we still have a library. The building looks very smart in the photo. Very posh having 3 entrances.

There was a famous store at one time called the Maypole.
There was one in Scholes it was a very popular place to shop.

Big Harold, there was a 'disaster' which affected some families at all the old collieries nationwide.

Ps I think “Maypole “ would be a good name for a scrapyard.

Maypole Scrap Ltd.
Shevington LA LA 1
All scrap removed free.
Ring Big H @ 67931435581.

I have to agree with you Harold, it's just a case of somebody who is not from the area naming the building.

Veronica, do you mean the photographed building when you ask is The Town Hall still in use or do you mean a different building? The building in the photo was always called The Council Offices in Abram and is now converted into apartments known as "Maypole Hall "; it is no longer used for any other purpose than living accommodation. I am assuming the apartments are occupied in but I have never been in the building since it was The Council Offices.
You are lucky still having a library near you.....they closed Abram Library many years ago and it is much-missed. I would even welcome a weekly or fortnightly Mobile Library. but it isn't to be, and I can't be bothered going to Wigan Library as there is nothing else to go to Wigan for these days.
I believe The Maypole Dairy shops were very popular....I very vaguely remember my Mam shopping at one in Wigan for bacon and cheese; it would have been in Ince or Wigan.

Although Abram and the other Lancashire Urban Districts ceased to exist, when taken over by the then new Metropolitan Borough of Wigan on the 1st of April 1974, the old Council Offices in the Lancashire Urban Districts remained, and continued has before for many years, the staff within those offices were given redundancy notices, and they were invited to reapply for their old jobs, and then be working for the new Wigan Metro Council, so the transition on the 1st April 1974 was seamless, and the only thing which changed as regards to how the public viewed the changeover, was that as seen on the Council paperwork, the name changed from the old Lancashire Urban District, to the new Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, even the Council Offices phone numbers were retained, the change to all Council services in the Metro being centralised, was done over not years, but decades.

Abram Council Offices remained as part of Wigan Metro until about 20 years ago, and to this day the old Hindley Council Offices are still used by Wigan Metro.

So it was the Council Offices then Irene. I can see it’s Apartments now though. At least the building is being used and very nice too. Where we used to pay rates and such was called the Town Hall but it was similar. It has had a facelift but not used.
The famous Maypole stores were probably in use before any disasters happened. Such fuss!

I agree, Veronica.....what a lot of fuss over nothing! My Dad worked at The Maypole long after the disaster, but if I had an apartment in "Maypole Hall" it would remind me of him, whether or not he had been involved in the disaster. When my children were at Abram School, their "houses", (the teams to which they belonged), were named after local pits....."Maypole", "Bickershaw"," Bamfurlong" and" Mains".....and they were thrilled to be in the "Maypole" team because it reminded them of their Grandad Bob, even though he passed away when Jamie was ten and Ashley was six. I would imagine it WAS someone from Abram who came up with the name "Maypole Hall"....we are proud of the name and hold a remembrance day every year on the anniversary of the disaster, when we all light a candle in our windows for the lost miners. They will certainly never be forgotten here in Abram.

Irene, get yourself on a bus to Wigan and then take the one to Shevington and use our library.
You could choose which way you want to get back to Wigan, either via Standish or via Orrell or the way you came.
You could also stay on the bus you came on and that would take you to Wrightington Hospital where you could have a nice meal or just a drink of tea.

A great pity that it couldn't have been put into use as a local community hub as it's a wonderful building, though if I remember correctly it was left abandoned until derelict and badly vandalised, (and maybe that's when the ball finial from the top of the middle gable went missing) though the builder has done a grand job of renovating and converting the building into three residential homes.

For the folks who live in Abram and want to know a bit more of the history of your manor then have a look here: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp111-115
Read the quite interesting comments in the 'Footnotes'.

Oh hek, that photo caused a lot of problems. Never mind chucks there’s always another day to calm the nerves. Can we have some swans.

WN6..... funnily enough, Peter and I drove up Warrington Road Abram last year ago and the traffic was at a standstill; we imagined it was the usual roadworks, which are everywhere you go these days, but it wasn't.....the local swans and their little cygnets had decided to go for a walk from Polly's Pond and were being shepherded along Warrington Road by kind locals, past Maypole Hall, back onto the rec. and back to the pond!

Irene and Veronica, Town Hall is just another name for Council Offices. As is Municipal Building, Civic Centre or Civic Hall etc..

Cyril, I love your basic idea of a "community hub" ...a place used for Jumble Sales, W I meetings, Plant Sales, Bring-and-Buy sales, Bingo etc? However, I'm sorry to be old-fashioned, but what on earth is a "community hub"? WHY do we have to embrace all these modern titles? What's up, (as we say in Abram), with " Village Hall"?