Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 20th June, 2025)

Once completed will it be open to the public or reserved for events-weddings etc?

Not sure if it's a good idea to sand blast the old stone Dennis . Detracts from the antique dignity like the colourisation of an old movie , as Cecil B DeMille once said .

When I'm outside of Haigh Hall, which is a couple of times a week, I like to ask other Wiganers why the top windows are all smaller than the lower ones.
Not many of them know, most of them say Oh, I hadn't noticed the different size before.

The Hall looks good, would they sandblast it now after all the work thats been done ? I would say best leave it as it is & not make it look brand new. Its a great looking building as it is.

I would have thought that if they’d intended cleaning the stonework then they’d have done it before they took the scaffolding down . That’s what I would done anyway .

I do hope that my comment isn’t construed as being negative .

I almost hope they'll leave it as it is. I can remember when Ince Parish Church and St. Wilfrids at Standish were black, and I used to think that was the colour of the stone, only realising when they were cleaned up that it was years of soot and grime from smokey chimneys. Haigh Hall would have kept clean, being out in the countryside and just reached its present colour simply by age. I'm not sure it would suit having a "wash and brush-up". Nice photo Dennis.

I have wondered what the Hall is being used for. It would be nice used for weddings and other events as many of these old halls are. A lot of weddings have taken place in the past here It’s a beautiful backdrop. I think the stone is best left as it is. In a way I think the cleaning is too abrasive and it takes the sheen off allowing it to become more porous. I may be wrong but ….. all will be revealed in time .

Haigh Hall would have been as mucky as the rest of the Wigan buildings with all those chimneys pumping out smoke from the coal fires.
Because when I'm out and about I speak to people and the manager of this job told me that it will all be water blasted by a man standing in a cherry picker basket

Just looks the same to me nothing different just a big waste of money when money could have been spent on more important things!

I can see your point Poet, the dirt and grime are part of the buildings history.
St Wilfrid’s Church in Standish would look very strange if it was deep cleaned wouldn’t it?

the upper level widow size is to maintain proportion, in fact there are rooms at that level that have the window across floor level. I believe they were servants' quarters and one would have the window just below the ceiling and the room above it was at floor level

Dennis, I remember when I worked in Standish 1970-1973, St, Wilfrid's was black in colour and I thought that was its real colour! Years later when it had been cleaned I was amazed! However, it's weathered a bit now and I prefer it to the "squeaky-clean" just-washed look. I love Haigh Hall's look just as it is, and I too can see Poet's point, and love his beautiful chosen words; "antique dignity".

Nice to see that it is progressing well, Dennis, I look forward to seeing the completed work.
Last time I was inside we stayed on the first floor, the room had those first two large windows to the left of the main front entrance portico. That was the when it was a hotel but the least said about that the better!
As Freddie says the smaller or floor windows are part of the aesthetic architectural design, many would have been accommodation for household staff and servants and those of visiting nobility such as The Prince of Wales and his retinue.
There is a complete and fascinating history of Haigh Hall on ‘Wigan & Leigh Buildings’ that you should Google.

It's fascinating to imagine the appearance of old buildings in their original state and how different our perception must be to those of our ancestors .
Hadrian's Wall in its pristine dazzling whiteness doesn't sit well with our romantic view of how 'things should be ' .
Dennis , I wonder if an Elizabethan time traveller seeing St.Wilfrid's today might say , Forsooth , how foul the stone hath become .

They didn't leave the antique dignity on the Haigh Windmill, that was. All repointed, new woodwork and then it was given a good wash down with a power washer.
The reason I know is I was allowed to climb up it and take some photos that appeared on PAD some years ago.

Watching Antique Roadshow when people bring along the family silver for valuation it’s always advised never to clean the silver…the patina is everything. Yet works of Art are cleaned to reveal the most beautiful colours hidden for centuries…it’s a funny old world.

freddie is right regarding those smaller windows. Servants had dormitories at the higher levels, partly to stop them sneaking out on an evening. Often the senior house maid had her own room between the male and female dormitory, floorboards were loosened so she could hear any footsteps in the night, no hanky panky those days. Mind you, Lord and Lady Fanackapan had secret doors hmmmm !.

I did read a report on her Ladyship becoming pregnant, rumor had it ..... it was the young gardener who did it.

Well you’ve only just gone and buggered it up for me good style Wigginlad .

There doesn’t seem much point in me reading the report now does there ?

Thanks a bundle .

Hadrian's Wall was never in pristine condition; it was just built from rocks and earth. And if they find any new bits now, they do clean them up with a dry paintbrush to what they would have looked like when Hadrian was in charge.

Is this a game we will be able to play when it opens again Wigginlad?
I may not have the strength for those sort of games Wigginlad, but I still have the inclination!
Mind you, it’s not the same since I got mi stick,
It’s amazing the detrimental effect a walking stick can have on your amorous intentions.
When you get old don’t let the doctor persuade you to have a stick, you will spend half of your remaining life wondering where you left the damn thing!

Along with lost specs so you can’t see your stick when it’s lost and you can’t see where you’re going and you can’t see who you’re going with! Even worse in the dark especially in the plantations on a dark moonless night when Lady Mabel could be knocking about -looking for her Welsh lover. She might mistake you Dtease for him! Not to mention if you’re deaf as well…life is very hard when you’re hard of hearing.

What’s more she’ll lead you by the hand to the Camel’s Hump where you’ll roly- poly down the hill together all night. When you wake up in the morning she’ll have disappeared and you’ll wonder if it was all a dream…..zzzzz such is life.

If only Veronica, if only.