What a day at Westwood Hall Cottage Ince

It was like trip in the past and a history lesson from Carl Lillis
wonderful he is another "Fred Dibnah" character

He needs support but Im not sure of the way to proceed

He has a vast historical knowlege of Ince
and Westwood with paperwork to back it up

Im sure brian and others on this site intersted in these things would have a ball listening to Carl

To get the ball rolling Ive invited the BBC to come on board and this below is an extract from that invite
""------------------------------------
a "Siege"situation shortly by the 60yr old resident of 300 yr old cottage
with tons of history and ghosty hapenings

Was part of jacobean house with contacts
of edmond Arrowsmith and other
past notables

a demolition order is in hand with Wigan Council to make way for yet another Business park
You will get a "Fred Dibner" type of interview and a very Knowlegable tour /history from its resident

Feel free to telephone me considering that there is a growing support to stop the event help is required

I invite the BBC to contacted me

Regards JJ
""_______________________________________
Lets see what happens next
carl said he is very grateful to you all for your support

JJ

Hi John - has anyone been to Ian McCartney at his surgery? It probably wouldn't harm to approach Neil Turner as well. Write to them, or email them asking them to visit the cottage.

Is there any type of petition?

How did the demolition order progress to this point?
How long has it been going on for?
Has anyone been on to Tessa Jowell?
Or possibly English Heritage - is the building listed already?
Are there any plans to get it listed?

When the Ritz was due for demolition - there were emergency plans in place to have it listed, surrounded on all sides by bulldozers, English Heritage were due to pay a visit one weekend. The Monday before, there was a huge hole knocked in its side - thereby damaging any conservation efforts - Wigan Council play dirty!

Keep us up to date with any developments as well as requests to help.

Awwww JJ its a bloody shame that he is going through this.Let us know what we can do to help, there must be something other than a petition which would just get filed away.
Don't know if this is of any use, but the local news reader mark edwardson went to st edmund arrowsmith school,if you get no joy from BBC maybe he could pull a few strings. He is a nice man was in my class at school.That school always taught us a good bit about our patron saint.

Try Kay Burley on Sky News she is a Wiganer.How about Ian Mckellan? These councillors will do nowt rest assured.

^^^^^^

Because both of these people are easily reachable aren't they?

Andy both have been contacted in the past few days

Harold
I will give the BBC chance to refuse afore approaching other TV chanels

Good Idea Empress

jj

JJ - it sounds like you need yo move fast - find out when the next surgeries are for the MP's and get yourself in to see them..

I have used Neil Turner before now - nothing on this scale, but he helped me.

Definately get on to English Heritage though and see if you can take out emergency listing plans.

in yesterdays observer. it says that an expert from english heritage is due to visit the cottage

Yes sue

She has been and is hopeful and gone away to compile her report

JJ

a meeting with the local IanMCcartney is on the cards carls friend is sorting that one out

thanks

JJ

Try and contact the editor at the wigan observer her name is gillian (I think ) this house has been around longer than the Observer and it should be left alone

good to see its being taken seriously jj. if you need any pickets im sure we can all pitch in

Danni



carl would love that

thanks

jj

did you know the demolition notice is out of date?

jj these are "buildings" already listed in Ince.

INC19 Brittania Bridge II Yes 10/05/1988

Warrington Road INC16 9/92 Ince Cemetery Chapel 117m SW of Lodge II Yes 3 Oth 04/06/1986 S

Warrington Road INC15 9/91 Ince Cemetery Chapel 60m SW of Lodge II Yes 3 Oth 04/06/1986 S

Warrington Road INC14 9/90 Ince Cemetery Lodge II Yes 3 Oth 04/06/1986 S

Warrington Road INC18 Ince Cemetery Lodge Gate II Yes 3 Oth 04/06/1986 S

Westwood Lane INC17 9/93 Westwood Gardens - House II Yes 3 Oth 10/05/1988

Yeah let's have a picket.

jj,you must know how I feel about Wigan,Wiganers,Wigan's history,I will support this cause any way I can.

Thanks harold mate

JJ

Whether the demolition order is valid or not, it pays to have extra security, mysterious fires have been known to start in buildings that developers want demolishing.

Keep the ball rolling JJ, gone are the days when what the council said goes. I will support this cause, too many (beautiful) buildings that could have been saved have gone because developers have waved the £ sign.........

I`d love to help also my family grew up in this area but not just that sick of all out heritage being knocked down for ugly new buildings

He has a vast historical knowlege of Ince
and Westwood with paperwork to back it up

Can this information not be published on the internet for the whole world to see?

I wonder could there be a link here with George Lyon the last Highwayman to be hanged in this country.

I wonder could there be a link here with George Formby, amongst the last Comedians to be funny in this country.

just bringing this back to the top cos its important

i agree with you all this council stinks they used to say if you put an animal up for election and told people its labour they would vote for it maybe things are changing.Then they will stop and listen if they thought people would not vote for them.

I was reading through the list of "listed buildings" last night and even railings on some parts of town are listed !!! This poor man is threanted with losing his home, but not if jj and the rest of us have anything to do with it

I have e mailed the local councillor, who lives in Ince, to complain about this. His e mail address is D.Molyneux@wigan.gov.uk.
It may not do any good but worth a try. If enough people put pressure on them you never know.

http://www.wigantoday.net/wigan-news?articleid=3103222

Looks like it is being taken seriously anyway, from this update

Update

I have spoken to enviromental planning wigan council they say the house came off English Heritage list in 1966
I informed them that English Heritage has already had an on site visit and will send report asap they were aware of this and if the report comes back positive then the battle is won

Spoken with Wigan Observer assistant Editor and sent pics it looks promising he said they are looking at doing similar to us
and are sending a reporter to see wht they can do

Emailed English Heritage and asked for reason that they De-listed Westwood Hall cottage in 1966
am waiting reply

I spoke to carl and informed him of all your efforts and have printed off your replies to boost him up when I call on Sunday afternoon with coppies of the pics

He is so chuffed cos I said to him at our first meeting that Im sure he would get support from Wigan World

Thanks

JJ

Send him our love JJ and tell him we're all behind him.

Aye - all rooting for him - I'm all up for a picket if need be.

We need to protect our buildings and our heritage! Best of luck!!

Count me in for a picket too. I have also informed the council that they are in for a fight

are there any builders on here who would go and have a look at the structure???

Count me in for picket duty to, there are some things you have just got to make a stand against and this is one of them.

I told everyone at work today about this and I work for the Council

Photo link

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/JohnPicmaster

Click on Westwood hall Cottage then slide show

JJ

JJ that is brilliant, no way is that cottage newer like the council says the joints and panelling say it all

If we all badger the council, they will have to take us seriously.
Pickets a plenty on here. Sick of these people thinking they can do what they want.
All up for a picket duty at Westwood Hall.??
How bloody dare they

what about a petition?

What about a visit on Sunday That,will boost his ego

Ive room for a couple in my car

JJ

I don't mind a walk up there, but i'm working Sunday till 4.30 pm

What time ru going JJ?

Afternoon rnicky about 1-30

JJ

What an amazing place, its criminal to knock that place down.They have no respect for our heritage at all.
We have already lost too many places in Wigan, including the wonderful Dower House Farm.Its time the council took a good kicking right back.
I'm up for any protests, picketing, whatever it takes.
Those pics are fantastic JJ , above all else that place is carls home .
It amazes me that they can build eyesores like the grand arcade yet let beautiful places like that go.Its about time someone stood up to them.

jj, up that way sunday morning.heading back about lunch time. sorry to seem ignorant but how do you get to the cottage from westwood lane,, would like to call in
ps brill pics jj

there is a facility on wigantoday.net to register and add comments to stories on there. I have just registered and added a comment to carl's story, if enough of us do this it might get picked up by the national papers.

Sue go down westwod lane

passed the houses on the right carry on its full of pot holes so take care you will see the cottage on your left with a massive white concrete boat in the garden
drive in park on the grass its ok and introduce yourself to carl
then stand back for a brill Oration about his house and probs he gets from the council

hope to see you there

JJ

just e-mail mr molyneux at council to see if he and his boss's will listen jj

You'd may as well e-mail Jimmy Cricket. He's got as much clout as a local councillor has in this department! You only have to look back to how the effect 'local councillors' had on trying to put a stop to the demolition of Mere Oaks.

thanx jj, hope to call in tomorrow

Well let’s put democracy in action here and see if I can put an opposite point of view across without being savaged for it, somehow I don’t thinks so, but here is what I think…..

At one time going back over 20-30 years ago you could drive down Westwood Lane and through to Poolstock emerging where Westwood Power Station was situated, the road was little more than a dirt track but never less it was a public road and when you traveled down the road you had a good view of Westwood Hall cottage from all angles because you drove around it and I was always struck by how awful it looked, the property was an eyesore with all sorts of junk littered around it and I am speaking in the past tense because it is a few years since I last saw the place but looking at the published photos of the place it does not look any different now.

If Mr. Lillis had looked after the place better I would have more sympathy for him, but he has obviously not done so and he has had 40 years in which to do so and another thing about Mr. Lillis is that whenever anyone drove past his property he was very aggressive towards them, he did not like the road being used and he used to make out that it was a private road which the public were not supposed to use.

Another thing is the location of the place, it has absolutely nothing going for it in an aesthetic sense because it is located where the power station stood all the land surrounding it is covered in fly ash from the old power station with a thin layer of top soil over it to enable grass to grow so that it does not look as bad, but if you are walking over there and you look at the ground the grey fly ash can be seen mixed in with the grass so it has not been landscaped properly and it is surrounded by the railway line, canal, gas holders etc so you cannot say it is in a picturesque location and years ago there was a row of terraced houses at the side of Westwood Hall cottage on Westwood Lane and these houses were considered to be in the worse location possible, because they were surrounded by industrial structures on all sides such as Westwood Power Station, the railway line and gas works etc

Here is an aerial view of the location



The plan for the area is to build a technology park and to reopen Westwood Lane so that you will be able to drive through Westwood Park to Lower Ince thereby avoiding Wigan town centre, plans include having a bus service which will travel along the route and what annoys me is that the same people who want to picket outside this “scruffy dump of a house” to save it from demolition are probably and I know I am guessing here, but are probably the same people who object to new road building and things like that.

Every day I sit in traffic jams because of people like you who stop roads being built and in my opinion people like you have to much power in these matters in getting public enquiries into road projects etc but what gets me is that you people still drive your cars on the roads, you still use public transport, you still use flushing toilets, in other words you want the benefits of modern technology in terms of transport and your general standard of living, but you object to anything new being built, I would have more respect for you if you did what Swampy and his mates did a few years ago and shunned all aspects of modern living and went and lived in a forest, do you remember when Manchester Airport needed the second runway to be built and all the protests about it.

So why don’t you wake up and let the council demolish that horrible house without hindrance and get behind the council in promoting building projects which will make the town more prosperous and improve Wigan people’s standard of living