Wigan Album

That's true, Ron....Peter worked in Sawbridge's Butchers in Commercial Yard as a young butcher's assistant when I first met him in 1968, and back then we had Dewhursts, Ben Turner's and Mark Williams' shops, as well as quite a few butcher's stalls in the Market Hall, (Green's and Smailes' being the ones I recall best.) Even MacAvoy's in the market has gone now. It's so sad.

Irene mentions Smailes shop in her comments
I used to go to Smailes shop in Scholes every Saturday morning for our families weekly order
Of pork chops and sausages etc, and will never
Forget the sawdust on the floor near the counters
Where you paid,Happy days

The Austin or Morris Mini registration can't be seen. The Wigan Corporation bus is a Northern Counties bodied Leyland PD3, HJP5-11. Behind is one with Massey body. The Ribble is one of only 16 Albion Lowlanders with Alexander body built in Scotland, 1861-1866 UCK851-860, ARN861-866C. These could operate on the Wigan to Preston and Blackburn via Chorley routes through the low height Coppull railway bridge, where the more numerous full height Burlingham and Metro Cammell bodied Leyland PD3s could not be used.

Mr X your knowledge of transport is amazing..

I remember all the sawdust in Smailles’s butcher’s I loved making patterns on the floor and bumping into the beef sides hanging up in the shop. The butchers aprons covered in blood! You would never see that these days. There was a large thick wooden table behind the counter where they cut the meat up. There must have been a lot of scrubbing and cleaning after the shop shut. There was no shortage of butcher’s shops in old Scholes. You didn’t have to go up town in those days apart from Saturday for a change.

Great picture. Took me back