Wigan Album

It's funny how your age determines what a building represents. To some it's the Rushton building to others it will be Wigan UTC, but for me ( born in 1969), it will always be the Gas Showrooms....

At least it’s still standing - I only recall it being the Gas Showrooms. A very stately building you would never think of it as warehouse.

It became Pendlebury's after the fire Circa 1954
for quite a time until the rebuild was completed

Comment by: Veronica on 12th June 2022 at 19:40
At least it’s still standing - I only recall it being the Gas Showrooms. A very stately building you would never think of it as warehouse.

Pity the building that it faced isn't still standing...pulling down the Market Hall was council vandalism...

Pulling down the second market hall as well eventually in the not too distant future Graham ! I just don’t know how they are getting away with all the destruction that’s been levelled at Wigan Town Centre it’s hardly recognisable…. Nothing much to come for these days…

Gas showrooms for me. I used to catch Robinsons coach along with many others for the trip to Leyland when I was an apprentice in the 70's.

Wigan collage had rooms upstairs in the 70s, remember all the trainee typists on there day release.

Plenty of information from WLH on the link below of the building and the Rushton's, never knew that Willie Rushton was a relative of theirs.

https://www.wiganlocalhistory.org/articles/the-rushton-brothers-and-their-building

Went to the Planning Dept. that was on the top floor in the 1990s they had reported lots of flies around the office. I investigated in the attic and found it was buzzing with thousands of Cluster Flies, the last person who'd been up there had left the lights on and with being high up would have been an attracting beacon of a good warm home for the overwintering flies

I waited for the Leyland Motors works bus here in the early sixties and my father moved down to here from Pendleburys after the fire.

Tom Walsh - you were only a couple of months out. Pendleburys burnt down in August 1953.

These were the Civic Buildings. Note the dates AD 1900 and AD 1905 but doubt it took five years to be built. In the 1970s/80s it was the Gas Showroom but at the end of the building was British School of Motoring (BSM). There were also big trees outside.