Some shops that no longer exist

My goodness all these old memories came flooding back, I used to work in McCandlishes, in Darlington St: in the early 6os fond memories of all the places mentioned, newway cafe with the juke boxes on the wall, dancing at the emp: woolies, were did those years go. Eileen Ryan

I remember frequenting the Record Exchange off King Stre between 1980/82 and buying second hand punk lp's and brand new 72 singles by bands like the Notsensibles and the Insane (these go for twenty quid apiece now!). It was a great place to hang out. Strange thing; I met a bloke from New York in Manchester the other day who was wearing a 'System' t-shirt (Wigan punk band from the early 80's). Funny old world. Anyone fancy doing something to commemorate twenty five years since Trucks stopped being a punk club (early 2007). Maybe at the Tudor? Tony (Trucks DJ) are you out there ?!

i rember the 2 ugly women in kays shop they were sisters 1was called jean bithell and had teeth missing and the few teeth she had was black the other 1 was called margret moran they would av frighened a police horse they came from scholes i think does anybody else rember them

Starr's Printers - Both my Father Ken Foster and Grandfather Harold Foster worked here for years. I used to 'help' my dad when he worked overtime on Saturday mornings. There was also a flour mill next door that used to smell fantastic - can't remember what it was called though.

I remember Albert Hurst's shop on Downall Green Road Bryn and if I'm not mistaken he later became the local "Rentman" collecting rent around Bryn and enjoying his cuppa whenever he called at my mothers house. If its the same Albert Hurst that was mentioned in a previous message then we knew him well as he lived in the flat above us for a few years???

Oh I remember the Michelin man. He was a real favourite of mine when I was little. I called him the mishman as I couldn't quite manage Michelin Man. I was sad to see him go. I also have many happy memories of the children's library and I went to St John's for a year before my parent left for Parbold.

ay by gum!! how i was tickled to read about the chap who shopped at kays on darlington st and bought a pair of army surplus short for school.i used to love that shop and all the rubbish it sold.brings back good memories.of the many things i bought i remember buyin a gas mask for ten bob then running home chuffed to bits wi mi mates proud as punch. mi mam she saw it,took it off mi and hit mi ore back of yed wi it. i wr gutted. bring back thee old days!!!

How well I remember Joan Barries. My aunt started to work there as Saturday staff (she was a war bride from Holland) and eventually worked herself up to Manageress. Another of my aunts bought a fur coat from her and I now have the coat in my Attic some 45years later. My dutch aunt was named Rita Cobley and the lady who bought the coat was Aunty Marjorie Cobley.

I'm in that photo! You can see the back of me, and the guy with the long hair is my ex husband, holding our daughter. It was really strange to see the photo on here, since we didn't know it was being taken.

Memories are flooding back to me. I remember Victoria wine sales, where I used to purchase my Coke when it was hot and stuffy in the arcade where I worked. such nice people in that store. I remember Oxleys shop and they had a rep, who called to collect your money each week for things you bought. My favourite memory was when school was finished for the day, I went into woolworths and bought a huge bag of borken biscuits for a tuppence old money. and if u were good u got chocolate biscuits thrown in. There was a really neat antique shop up standishgate on the right going up which I bought a pair of lovely binoculars when a kid for 2 pounds . Great times great place.

Is the one above "Fred Bamber". Remember me Fred your old mate Geof. Do you remember the lad who used to hang over the wall at the rear of the Savoy and pinch pop bottles out of the crates. He would then take them back into the Savoy chippy and get 3pence back on each bottle, enough to get him a bag of chips.

Can i just say i`ve just sat and enjoyed reading all the posts, i don`t remember most of the places as i left Wigan at aged 17 to sample life in Bolton, but enjoyed recollecting some places i do remember such as Kays, my mam used to buy us green wellies with laces in the top from there, probably because we were always playing on the tip in Hindley when we were kids, but it became like the kings road of London to us in the late 70s with the arrival of Punk Rock, we could get kitted out in some real out of the norm clothes for next to nothing which was great if you was a Punk, also one of the posts mentioned oobidoo (may be spelt wrong) well it was only a few weeks ago i heard the word used by a mate from Manchester and was curious as to where the word had come from as he`s not from Wigan & didn`t know the store, finaly does anyone remember my mam & dad`s second hand shop in Platt Bridge ? it was at the traffic lights facing the King Bill pub.

ashamedly, I remember the Savoy Chip shop,had a cafe at the rear,being kids,as you do,spent our dinner money on other things, not much money,but hungry,we would call in there, sit in the cafe part,order the works,,.......as we knew one of the lads had come across one their little order receipt books,so we just wrote our own bill in, ( 2 portions of chips ) Honest, it wasn,t me !! I was led,I just into a bad crowd,,,but they made me sign. teehee! sorry Mister Savoy, but Iv,e tasted better fish.

Norma was a tallish slim girl with dark hair - I think from the Whelley area. Graet Acre or Vine Street.

I really cant remember anyonr called norma working at my dads Record shop. However, I will ask my mother, Im sure she would know. regards David Hurst

I remember Roy Hurst and his record stall mentioned by Mr Shuttleworth. I think Roy also gave flying lessons. He had a charming girl called Norma who worked on the stall in the 60s. does anyone know her name now and what she is doing?

In reference to Melanie denby of Bristol, Avon. I remember her and Joe. She is related to me from the Stazicker side of the family. I went to the funeral, that eas a long time ago Ican't remember the year but i think i was 6 7 or possibly 8 at the time. Is Denby your married name, if not what is your maiden name. You can send me an e_mail if you like, my address is jroberts31@midsouth.rr.com. If i remember corrctly they used to live up stairs above the shop.

I seem to remember a small stall in the old Market Hall, situated in the corner just down from Roy Hurst's record bar. It sold literally anything, boot laces, polish, even liquorice tablets. The one thing that sticks in my mind that they sold was Platt's Foot Paste. I don't know what was in it but verookah's, corns or any other form of foot infection didn't stand a chance with this preparation. It would probably be on the banned list these days. I remember my dad saying "Platt's foot paste lad? Pull a row of houses down that stuff". Who's stall was it?

Does anybody remember the Mesnes Park Cafe. It was great in summer. We used to go there for our school lunch in the late 50s and early 60s.

Yes I remember Thomas's sweet shop also Alkers newsagent.Prices bread shop where they gave you tissue paper to make kites with. 1d loaves from Monk's near St John's.Cows escaping from the lorries going to the abbatoir at Mark Williams. The Egg & Flitch coffee bar, Standidhgate

And the above was the fellas!

In King St was Helen Rowes shop with the model legs in the window with those lovely nylons on. They had different patterns on each one, birds, butterflies or flowers and you could spend ages outside the shop deciding which pair to buy.The heels on some of them had lovely zig zag designs.

the cafe opposite the abc cinema was the neway, my auntie used to be the manageress and i worked for her, but i use to use it myself in the middle fifties.i hope this helps margaret

Does any one remember my auties sweet shop at the bottom of Brick Kiln Lane Standishgate it was called Thomases, i went to the old St Johns primary school and used to call for bags of Kay Lie and rainbow crystals on the way home luckily my teeth havnt rooted away yet with it

Folks have talked in praise of Blackpool and of Rhyl and Colwyn Bay, of Morecambe and of Southport while there's a lot that say that the Isle of Man is nicest causes there's such a lot of sea but Ince my dear old birthplace is far the best to me. We haven't any promenades or gardens like Belle Vue but we've a nice bit dirt tip and a collier or two and though we have no mountains there's one thing we can claim theres a nice majetic slag tip at top of Belle Green Lane. And hours spent in a shady nook beneath the palms and sands of Can Row Brook and scenery which beats Switzerland to bits where the Leeds and Liverpool canal flows by the Rose Bridge pits. The glories of my birthplace I've mentioned but a few, there are many many others that I could have mentioned too.

Is the lad above John Ashcroft from St Georges's school - it must be. All us poor kids got kitted out at Kays. One lad I think his name was Bernard Dowdall asked the woman in Kays for a pair of boats. Teddy boy shoes with thick soles. She said "last you a life time these son". He played tick rugby in them once and the soles came off.

I remember Bert Smiths shoe repair shop in Hallgate he also had one in station road, I used to work behind the counter in the shop in Hallgate as a teenager.

I OFFEN THINK WHAT HAPPENED TO A GIRL I FANCED AT SCHOOL HER NAME WAS,JANET MATTHEWS FROM ORRELL I LOVED HER TO BITS FROM THE 1ST YEAR TO 5TH YEAR AT UPHOLLAND COUNTY SEC SCHOOL.

does any one remember stantons pototoe cakes and crumpets in white st pemberton they had door to door del they had rounds on push bikes to L oneill

when i was a little girl my nan always took me to wigan shopping and my doll broke we took it to the dolls hospital inside of the market hall it was full of dolls being fixed can anyone else remember it lynne roe

M'cnultys shoe shop on wallgate, we used to get royals for school from here and put cegs on the bottom so you could clip clop round the school corridors, what about the metal dance floor in trucks and the dj was in a truck[fantastic] also leos on king street

I remember Kays shop. Me and my mates used to buy old gas masks from there for sixpence...the ones with the long canvas tube and a brown tin box dangling from the underside. Try buying them for your kids today and expecting them to have hours of fun. Can remember my mother (god bless her) buying me a pair of khaki shorts from kays for school, they had turn-ups on them (not joking) and button up flys. I think they were desert army surplus! Tartan pumps as well...The things we wore for school... :-)

I used to go to Boltons Little Lads ale house in Scholes when I was a lad. I lived in Worsley Mesnes but after we watched Wigan rugby we would go for a hop bitter. It was good stuff. The smells in Boltons were worth going in for.

I remember Moi Toi's chinese laundry in scholes and Boltons, the Little Lads Alehouse, a herbalist where you could buy hop bitter, ginger beer and sarsaparilla.

Yes. I remember Brown's off license on the corner of Scot Lane. Every Sunday me and my girlfriend {now my wife} would visit her grandma who lived in Hamilton Square just off Scot Lane. We used to take her two bottles of Guinness every week from Brown's, something she looked forward to.

my friend and i were talking about shops in wigan the other day does anyone remember joan barries inwallgate where i,m sure many a wigan girl got her wedding dress.stylo shoe shop peggy paige clothes shop,broadmores clothes shop. can anyone tell me if this is correct or not but did freeman hardy and willis have a small roundabout in their childrens department? i don,t know if i imagined it when i was young or not.

does anybody remember browns offlicence,Ormskirk rd, Newtown, corner of scott lane, Aldi is there now! that was my grand parents then my father took over un then it was given 2 my uncle harry and aunty elsie or did you know my parents stan brown or margeret brown(wood)

Yes it was Pooles opposite Woolworths. My dad worked there after the war. Does anyone remember he Army stores in Wallgate and Standishgate?

does anyone remember rathbones shop now opposite mcdonalds the shop was on the top floor and you walk down some steep stairs to the cafe we always went there on a sataday for meat and poatato pie and gravy yummy

What was the name of the tea-rooms above Bon Marche shop at the top of Wallgate near where the policeman directed traffic.A pianist often played there.

Does anyone remember a music / record shop in Library Street? It was on the left hand side as you walked down in the direction of the Baths, I think that the "record" department was upstairs. I remember R O Laces Cake Shop in Standishgate, we used to call in there on our way to the Convent. There was also "Thornley's" Pork Butchers (I think)in Mesnes Street.

I went with my mates Highamy & Dixie for our first pairs of boots, we got our first jobs with the gas board in Warrington. The woman who always had a fag in her mouth served us. Highamy was only a little guy and couldn't find boots small enough. She sold him a pair for 5 bob and told him he would grow into them. 6 months later he still was wearing the boots with toes curled up 3 inches. Mrs (kay) was like Hilda Ogden in Last of the Summer Wine.

Would anyone know any information on Thomas Guest who ran a Shop or factory in Wigan or Orrell. Thomas made Wooden clogs. Thomas Son Abraham Guest Tool over when his father took ill. The information i need is the year& name of business and place of business. Thankyou for your time All the best from cherylann Guest.

doe's anyone remember Kay's secondhand shop darlington st wigan. I remember buying ex-army boot's 10bob,10/-,(50p).Shop staff included owd mr kay and two women who put the shits in yer they were fritning.You could buy anything & sell owt aswell.

I too remember Watkins of mesnes St. but for their cornish pasties, the best I,ve ever tasted. I used to have to go around wigan on a Saturday morning shopping with my Mum. We used to get pasties from Watkins one week and pies from Vose's in Standishgate the next. Voses pies were oval shaped, the steak pies decorated by a twirl of pastry on the top. These were definately the best pies I've ever tasted in my life, Poole's were rubbish by comparison! One further memory, Hallgate; Harry Mayall's shop, Unsworth and Atherton's garage and a toffee shop whose name escapes me.

As a young girl of 17 I worked at Plessey Telecommunications as a cable former. Every Friday after we got paid, the girls would all dash up to C & As to buy a new frock before we had to hand over our pay money to our parents. The ritual every Friday and Saturday, sometimes Sunday too was to go dancing at the Casino, (former Emp). In the mid 60s it was always to live groups, like the Inca's and to many of the popular groups like Herman's Hermits etc in those days. They were such exciting times to be a teenager. The other thing I always looked forward to at the Emp/Casino was when the Beatles would release a new song on Friday afternoon and by Friday night the Inca's would have learned the words and music "off by heart" and be playing it for use to dance to. I had a crush on a boy named Ray Simm from Bryn and was crazy about him for a long time. As teenagers from Billinge, (four of us from Billinge went to Abraham Guest school in 1960-64) Wigan was the most frequent place we went to to shop on Saturday mornings, dentists, dancing and drinking. Although most pubs we went into under age was not necessarily to drink, but to see the live groups playing. I miss those days...I realize that living where we lived in the Northwest of England with all the talent coming out of Liverpool, Manchester and around was the best experience to be growing up with all of this going on in our lives. I now live in Canada and have been here since 1969, but still cherish many memories of my teenage years working and enjoying the night life of Wigan's dance clubs of the 60s - can't remember all their names though. There used to be one upstairs opposite the Ribble 352 - St-Helens bustop? Anyway love the memories...I could go on.... If somebody remembers those days or remembers me from Abraham Guest send in a response to read please. Jennifer (Grundy)

I remember TOMMY & HILDA MOSS school of dancing on SATURDAY morning in the early 50s it was situated up some stairs over what later became WHELANS store near the LUT bus offices.I foget how much it cost but ROCK & ROLL had just become popular and they would only play such a song now and again.

what about the olde dog pub. and the empire and court cinemas and the hippodrome theatre,all three with gods circles as we called them in the fortys and fiftys,the ole dog and empire cinemas were almost next door to one another,i think stylo shoe shop was on the corner to the empire am i right,thanks

Just read about the Watkins' apricot tarts. My auntie used to work there [Cissie Barton ,ne Woosey]and I had to walk into Wigan every Saturday to pick up our order from the shop, Favourites were little meat pies , onto which extra juces had been poured to set in a jelly, eccles cakes [still never tasted any better],chocolate sponge cake with cream and apricot jam ,and meringues....I remember seeing these in the making ,a bowl as big as a dustbin full of egg whites swirling round in what must have been on of the first automatic mixers.Their ovens were coal fired, and I used to help my auntie to keep them fired up on a Sunday after church....we went to Hope Church in Hope street just across the road.

Adelle is mistaken about Giglos. Giglos was in King Street in Victoria Buildings. It was fromerly Sinclairs, became the first "fun club" in Wigan and later once again became Sinclairs. It was bought by the Lockets who then called it Movies.