Wigan Album

I lived at Birkett Bank Terrace from 1949 and my parents used to go in the Crispin. I was also told that the bomb blew up a large lamp post in the road near the Birkett Pub. I also wish I had listen more carefully when I was younger.

My mam was aged five when they dropped them on Harper Street and she said they found her under a table...lucky mam...and lucky me.

keith hartley ave is shown it is inglewood ave

Thank you watchalot, my mistake. Hartley Avenue is as you say, just off the map to the left, and the bomb that fell near it as well. The bomb that fell approximately half way down Clarington Grove, apparently caused damage to Clarington Brook, and this resulted in it being culverted. However, some 40 or so years later the walls of this culvert eroded and the resulting water undermined the foundations of the houses in Clarington Grove. This began the gradual decline of the Grove, as house by house began to be affected and consequently demolished.
The brook also marked the boundary between Ince and Wigan. The road on the Ince side of the Grove, was never "made up" or "adopted", there was also a pub, many years ago, at the bottom of the Grove, next to the canal, on the other side to the houses, but I've never found out its name. It "disappeared" many, many years ago.

My grandparents were landlords of the Birkett Bank Hotel and my mother just 12 days old when "the bomb", dropped outside demolishing the lamp post and fracturing the gas main the family had to be evacuated and from what i was told a fire burned for days.

Hi geraldine, your mother and mine were born within a year of one another (my mother was Phyllis Brown) she was born in 1919 and lived quite close by in Clarington Grove. Her mother lived in Harper Street at the time of the bombing and the windows of the house were blown out. My mother in 1950, with my father became tenants of the Crispin Arms.

"On Friday 12 April, 1918,just before midnight, Wigan was bombed and several people killed. During the air raid, Tom Pey, who lived in Darlington Street, was awakened by a woman
screaming. Pausing only to put on vest and trousers, he ran in bare feet over a glassstrewn yard to rescue a Mrs.Moore who was trapped by her head in the bedroom window of one of the wrecked cottages whose yard adjoined those of the house in which Mr. Pey lived. The Inspector climbed on to the roof of the wash-house, extricated Mrs. Moore and handed her down to two of his neighbours who took her to safety. Returning to the bedroom he freed her two children who were in a bed twisted out of shape by the blast. Shortly after
restoring the children to their parents the roof fell in.
Inspector Pey also helped a Mrs. Unsworth and her child and a Miss Hunt who were pinned down by the fallen roof in one of the adjoining houses. His meritorious
conduct was brought to the notice of the Carnegie Trust whose motto is “He serves God best who most nobly served Humanity.” Tom Pey received £20 from the Trust and his neighbours £10 each. The Watch Committee recommended that Mr. Pey be awarded the King’s Police and Fire Brigade Medal, the highest award that could be given to a serving officer. Although the award was not made, Inspector Pey’s standing in the town was considerably enhanced."

From Past Forward 25, 2000.

No nead to apogise,Keith. It,s good to keep hisory alive, so well done on the photo and the story. I have worked at Bulldog for nearly 45 years, and the photos only came to light recently after work carried out to the old offices. It,s just a shame that more memorobilia about Bulldog Tools cant be found.

I quite agree William. I only lived yards away from the factory in the Crispin Arms, which is, as you probably know is close by.This may be complete imagination on my part, but I seem to recall hearing and to some extent feeling the dull thud of something very heavy from time to time, this was in the early 50's. I assumed it was from the factory. No one commented on it so I never enquired what it might be, perhaps people were so used to it they never touched upon it. Strange as it may seem, after we moved to the Wellfield Hotel in 1956, I worked for about 6 months at Gullicks as a clerk in the early 60's, just opposite from where I used to live, before embarking on my training as a teacher. I retired in 2006 after 40 years at the chalk face, rather that than the coal face, as thousands of Wiganers could have testified. I have nothing but admiration for the many miners whose lives I can only guess at, having to face the perils and dangers they faced daily, not to mention the working conditions. Gullicks produced the hydraulic chocks for the mines. Names I can recall at Gullicks were, George Best (not the footballer), Mr Green (Head of my Department), Mr Gaskell, Mr Alan? Ormerod and Mr Geoff? Seddon who I think was Head of the whole section. As you can tell from my recollections I was a very junior clerk and was respectful of my seniors. The only reason I knew George's christian name was because he was a regular in the Wellfield Hotel that my father tenanted.

My aunt Dorothy Livesey ,born circa 1905,used to relate living next door to the bombed house in Harper St and her and her sisters being rescued from their bed left in thier partly demolished house and subsequently walking down Darlington St to refuge,
Ironically her and my Uncle Jack were living in Trafford Park Manchester in W W 2 and their house was demolished
She had the distinction of being "Bombed Out" in both wars
I was brought up in Darlington St in the 30/40's and there was a part of the ground adjacent to Harper St which was referred to as "The Lucky Brow"
Legend has it that the unfortunate victim of the Zepplin,who was killed, was a corporation employee who collected monies from gss meters and of which he kept in the house
My parents told me that for years pennies and halfpennies were found and "The Lucky Brow" was created.
Food for thought?/

A long time before my parents moved there (1950) but I never realised bombs fell so close to our house (181 Darlingon St East, top of Clarington Grove) We might have been homeless even before we moved there!

this photo is a modern version the reason l know st pats rugby field wasnt the way it is shown it was side on to the canal with no grass at all