OLD WIGAN MARKET HALL

Hi, Just read an article by our own Geoffrey Shryhane including some of the last pictures taken in the old market hall before it was demolished. I must admit it brought a few tears to my eyes. Iknow that we can't stand in the way of progress but how come other towns such as Bolton have been able to hold on to their inside market when we had to lose ours

hiya susie q its all about greed one way in wigan no way out only in circles my brother used to work oin the old market hall and he was upset when it closed its doors he went on to the new market but the atmosphere was never the same

Any links, Susie?

Not too good at links but it is a big feature inside this weeks Wigan Observer with pictures etc, see what you think the gwim weaper a lot of sad faces in the pictures.My brother in law had a butchers stall in the old market and had no choice but to re open the new market but he didn't last very long due to the increases in rents etc

the big market hall in Bolton near Debenhams has been made over to shops now. Don't know what happened to all the stalls that were there but I don't half miss them

let's be honest, the old market was cold and dirty and a bit of a dump. Sorry.
but the planners could have come up with something better than we've got now.

The old market hall would be no different today as there are now numerous supermarkets and cheap pound shops in Wigan.

Shopping habits have changed!

I cried too when they shut the old market hall, i must have been about 7 years old! Liked history then obviously and was against "change"!!

Used to play in the old swing doors and they were quite a novelty when we were children.

My uncle used to have a stall in the old market, Halls Taylors it was one of the corner stalls ,and my late mum every friday morning down to wigan on the bus, never missed going in the market for something.

Geoff Shryhane made a video of the old Market Hall in its last days. I have a copy but don't know if it's still avavilable.

There are some photo's of the old market hall on WW Album, if anyone's not seen them.

Jo anne, Many thanks!

I borrowed a copy of The Market Hall The Last Days and The Demolition of The Westwood Cooling Towers from the library in Wigan a few years ago so they may still have a copy. It was also on sale at Just Entertainments in the Market Hall but that closed, but he did say he was starting an internet business up in the future though. I think it was Standish Video that produced it along with Geoff, are they still going?

ayrefield I bought that video for my Dad because he worked at Westwood for nearly thirty years. I will have to see if I can find it and convert it to DVD.

rio caroni the one I saw at Just Entertainment was on DVD, I was considering whether to buy it as I had just purchased the DVD's Blue Scars...Black Diamonds and couldn't afford it at the time, but when I went back he had closed his stall down with a note saying he would open an internet shop in the future. I've just been looking on the Parish Video website who made the films but it seems they no longer sell the local films due to lack of interest.

Parish Video

I didn't know that part of the archway from the old Wigan Market Hall was retained in the new market hall.

photo

I think the reason it didn't sell so well was that it was published just after the Market Hall came down and was still fresh in everyone's mind; if a video of the Old Arcade had been made at the time of its demolition, no=one would have bought a copy immediately for the same reason, but would probably love to see it now. I know Geoff and will ask him if the video is still available. Will post an answer as soon as I hear from him.

Geoff says you can get the video at Standish Video, High Street, Standish, phone number in directory.

Irene, do you have a email address for the shop or a telephone no as cannot find it on Google please (Ido not live in Wigan) thanks

Hello Elizabeth, phone number is 01257 426937.

My father in law sold cards on a stall outside the old market hall. They called him Jeff Cards. The woman on the next stall sold hoover parts - they called her Mary Hoover. Makes me think of where we all got our surnames from.

My name is Marsh,I used to get the name Bog.

my grand parents had a fish stall many moons ago,to think they demolished history and replaced it with a monstrosity with no character or charisma.Is that progress, and if it is,save me from it.love visiting old market towns and the atmosphere emanated by them,takes you back to when people cared about others wellbeing,unselfish times when nobody had a pot to p---s in

There are many old market halls in this area, despite the urge to destroy. Both Bath & Bristol markets have the "nails" for paying on - hundreds of years old. Radstock, an old mining town near here has a beautifully restored Market Hall which is now a much loved museum.

Blame the Supermarkets or should i say the modern markets!

Its time that some people face the fact that lifestyles have changed.

But that doesn't always mean that things have changed for the better. I used to love going to the market. Still do when I'm back in the UK.

Irene so sorry I am late in thanking you ,I couldnt find where I had seen it , oh memory plays tricks, once again sorry for the delay

as a matter of interest, the lintel on my stone fireplace is made from the original stone work on the market hall entrance

I have said this a few times on here now, but if the present Wigan Market Hall loses a few more stalls, the Council will close the Market Hall and relocate the remaining stalls elsewhere in The Galleries, maybe offering them the empty shop units, the Market Hall building is not in a very good condition and needs money spending on it, which is saying something when it was only built just over 20 years ago

The metal roof was ruined by some idiots from the council's environmental health shooting pigeons with a 2.2 air rifle instead of blocking up the entrance hole and setting up a trap, but no the fools wanted some fun and ended up peppering umpteen holes in the roof, which the market hall staff only found out when it began to rain.

Priceless!

Got it in one dustaf I'm glad I had left the asylum by then, let the lunatics in charge to get on with it.

I hadn't heard that one before.

You really couldn't make it up.

Don't mention the ants.

APLS

Are you talking about the indoor or outside market. If you are talking about the indoor market, you are talking nonsense as most of the stalls are occupied, and from what I have seen are doing well. It is the outdoor market that is not doing so well, and I suspect that the main reason for this is traders these days no longer want to stand outside in the weather.

ruddy duck

Nonsense is it

I have noticed recently that the Market Hall has been laid out to try and make it look more occupied by making open spaces, where there used to be stalls and it does look a lot better, because there is nothing which looks worse than row after row of empty stalls, but I think you will find that there are still less stalls than there used to be.

And some more nonsense for you ruddy duck, because the latest information is that the Council would close the Market Hall now if a developer made a reasonable offer for the site, same has what is taking place in Lancaster.

Since this subject came up, the Council is now under greater pressure to save money because of the Government spending cuts and the Council would save a lot of money if they could get shut of the Market Hall.

Has regards the outdoor Market I don't know how that would be affected by the closure of the indoor Market, but I would imagine that it would close too, but I know this about the outdoor Market.
If times had been different and The Galleries and indoor Market had been fully occupied and space was at a premium in The Galleries and where the outdoor Market is now could have been used for further development, the outdoor Market would {definitely} have been moved outside on to the access road, where the taxi rank and disabled parking bays are now located, because that land belongs to the Market Hall.

i used to work on moss menswear in the old market we had some fun then but the market was hot in summer with the glass roof derek king was the manager of the stall.

Used to love the inside market. Always remember Christmas when the butchers stalls all had turkeys hanging up with a brown label showing the customers name. Remember when Dave Whelan had a stall outside selling toiletries, he's moved up in the world since those days.

old maxim if it aint broke dont mend it.its this council that wanted to bring us in line with the faceless ones not interested in heritage. the entire country as galleries and "grand" arcades trying to get away from the wigan pier image its why it made us different the official line was to expensive to modernise old market hall we,ll bulldoze it and put up a many times more costly place that no traders can afford .new is great,old is rubbish

.

Don't know if you have seen this superb photo that has recently been posted in the Wigan Album of the market hall, it's worthy of a look.

Market Hall

Superb pic. Shame on the (inept) council for destroying such a building.

Yes gwim and I bet old Nat Eckersley turned in his grave when it was demolished, just shows what these developers can do when they place a few wads of notes in the right back pockets of folk within the council, they say it doesn't go on, but who are they trying to kid.

i think there,s a great many people of this borough thats in agreement with you ayrefield

ayrefield. I love that photo

The old Market I remember Harts Material stall PeaCOCKS, sANTUS tOFFEE .REDMANS > GREENS bUTCHERS. COWARDS WHEN LATE ON A SAT THEY AUCTIONED OFF THE MEAT LEFT, BARONS WHERE I USED TO LloOK at the pies with the jelly on top more so on a Friday when we couldnt eat meat.The Big Curtain stall , and all the staff had a word for you as you passed the stalls then you went outside and there were the fruit stalls Highams .Conroys and lots more now there is no camararderi well not like it used to be

Yes and it had its own aroma too Elizabeth, like the other shops in Wigan had their own aromas, most shops tend to smell the same to me nowadays, unless it is an age thing with the shnozzle not now picking up certain scents.

The assistants on Morton's stall used to fascinate me, if you asked for a pound of butter they would cut the exact amount off a big block of butter, no adding or taking off bits, and if you wanted it done they would shape it into an oblong with wooden paddles, finished with a nice ridged pattern all around.

This is a pic I took on the Sunday morning after closure, when they started stripping the hall out

What about the Dolls Hospital where they repaired toys and the stall where you could buy a glass of sarsparilli and the "Blind" stall who sold hand knitted things to raise funds for blind people.

Linma The Blind stall that brought back a memory I bought as a child Pair of small clogs about a size one ,i bought them as a keepsake as \I wa leaving Wigan, and people down here are amazed when they see them all with there little brass studs in

ayrefield i remember mortons went with momma,not only butter but bacon throw so many rashers on and its a pound weight.skill and expertise ,wont find that in ruddy asda now

I dont care what they say The Old days were good

I went into the market hall yesterday as I had an appointment at the retinopathy clinic in the Galleries, I haven't been in for around twelve months and was shocked at the number of empty stalls from my last visit. I was talking to the man on the pet supplies stall (he had the stall in the old market too) he was saying everyone is fed up with the council who are on about raising the rents yet again, and if they keep on there will soon be a lot more empty stalls. I just bought some dog treats from him and a ball of cotton twine from off the DIY stall, there was nothing on the other stalls I needed, you could also count the number of outside stalls on one hand, hard times indeed.

gricer
stated that shopping habits had changed with regard to markets ,so why does bolton,blackburn and bury to name just those have thriving markets,just think it was some smart a/// from town planning and upper echeleon councillors who thought they knew best.galleries going down?

No markets are thriving, just some not as bad as others. Wigan is a town in decline and I do not like to say this but it is a fact. The way the council treats shoppers with total disdain, parking fees for example is a disgrace. I have been around quite a few North-West towns recently and not one has a regime such as ours

When I was in Wigan on Wednesday there was not one stall opened on the outside market. Don't get me wrong it was a bitter cold day and I would have hated to stand outside all day in the cold. However going back to the old outside market the stall holders were there come rain or shine and at Christmas time people relied on them for their Turkeys and fresh veg etc. Because there are supermarkets now though I supose we can get what we need from them and keep warm whilst we are shopping.It's whats called progress I know but none of us know where it's all leading.

supermarket equals bland and uninteresting, market stalls are,we just get off on convienence

jeeze i used to love going to the outdoor market on a saturday with my friends nothing better than the smell of fresh doughnuts wafting up ur nose... i dont think it will be long b4 the markets are gone all toghther.. reminders of better days when the market would b packed n u couldnt get a seat in the cafes if you tried.. lets face it at the end of the day for a town that had so many old buildings, and streets there wont be any left soon just because they dont put enough money in the goverments pockets.. the way its going the whole of england is going to be full of big skyscrapers n fancy apartment blocks..*sad times*

Kylie,you only have to look at Wigan Lane.The little School demolished and what for?to make way for new property..lovely houses demolished, and what for? new property..it's all about money,but of course they the powers that be will tell you that they were unsafe and in desperate need of repair..always the same excuse...Wigan is turning out to be another apartment town I'm afraid and it's all about someone lining their pockets..it always is.

its true momac, all the little towns teaming with heritage get demolished. while citys that have even older buildings get to keep thiers.. id love to bring my kids back over to wigan so show them the things i remember growing up.. all the old buildings what they used to be for a history lesson in itself.. now all kids can do is see pictures in a book that dont do the places any justice.. it is such a shame.. because wigan really did have a lot to offer :(

It's a shame that all the good stuff has been lost from our town..but..!!

To stop further rot go and join the Save Wigan campaign, started by Brian..only YOU can stop it.

www.savewigan.co.uk

Don't sit around and do nothing...join now...get involved...do summat..!!

Fred.

I am a member, Fred. I received my shiny badge and £20 gift vouchers only last week.

Nice one, Mac...

We can't sit back and hope that 'They' will do it...we have to get involved....

Can't believe it...5000 views and only a handful of replies... come on folks...join the 'Save Wigan' campaign, and join Brian and his crew...You do count, You do matter...only a tenner to make so much difference.. your name counts...

Hear hear.

SaveWigan

Today's pic

From a lovely Victorian building:


To an industrial unit.

you wont stop smiffy ,you keep voting him and his lackeys in power.

The plots thins...
Move them

Makes way for the sale to Morrisons nicely.

Check link, Mac ^^^

Market Move

checked and replaced.

I haven't been home for a few years but are there still empty shops like Boots Burtons gents outfitters etc would it pay for a few get togethers, is it Joseph on General that grows stuff and others to start their own Market say in Burtons shop which I remember was a large shop and so was Boots as that had a upstairs .its only a thought AND they wouldn't be in the cold like the Highams were that had fruit and veg and flowers outside the old market