Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 1st November, 2023)

It never was busy on a Thursday.

What's the ratio of empty stalls/empty spaces against stalls that are in operation? No wonder there is no footfall using the market

Not usually a big fast food fan but just to the left of this picture is June's Farmhouse Kitchen which does one of the best and cheapest takeaway chicken I've ever had. Mad busy weekdays with college students though.

It’s hard to believe it’s going to be demolished.
The decision makers must have a lot of screws loose…you have to admire those stall assistants…its like ‘the last of the Mohicans’.

What a sad sight. Wigan Market Hall has always been popular through the years, especially the food stalls, but sadly no-one is coming into Wigan any more as there isn't much to tempt people to even bother catching the bus. When you DO go, (usually only out of necessity these days for eye-tests, blood tests etc), it takes so long to get round the various meandering routes to get to the Market Hall entrances, and then back to the bus station, , that even able-bodied people just can't be bothered, let alone those not good on their feet.

I went up to Middlebrook yesterday to watch a film. I don’t know how it keeps open. There must have been half a dozen inside - the same last week when I watched ‘The Great Escaper’ . I believe Wigan is going to build another cinema - so good luck with that endeavour. The empty space in that photo would have been ideal for a small cinema…just a thought if that is the intention of dismantling it!

First time I've seen Clunans without a queue!

Clunans gets a lot of students but they are on holiday.Sad to see the market hall like this.

It is so very very sad to see what has become of our Wigan town centre its so awful compared it to many many years ago how it used to be so very busy, and everything closing down and shops gone!

I get dried peas believe it or not from the sweet stall, and lovely fresh veg from the stall at the bottom of the hall, once they go that’ll be it because the veg in supermarkets isn’t really fresh and just to the right of this photo is the herb shop where I bought some pearl barley for someone, I believe you can’t find it in supermarkets.. when they pull this market hall down I hope they all know what a holy mess they’ve made of our beloved town, and may God forgive them.

Maureen, you CAN get pearl barley in Supermarkets. Tesco has it. I buy it regularly, also yellow split peas, (which I make my pea-soup with). and "soup-mix", which is a mixture of pearl barley, lentils and split peas....I buy them regularly. I bought soup-mix only last week to put in a stew. I think they are in the bay where the the salt, Oxo, Knorr stock-pots etc. are and are in clear cellophane bags. I THINK they have whole dried peas too, but not sure if they are Tesco's own or under a brand-name.

Irene, I don’t get to Tescos any more since I lost Cliff.. to be honest the barley is for ‘Owd Dave’ and he goes to Asda and said that he couldn’t find any there..our Lee is always asking do I want to go anywhere eg supermarkets but I hate to keep relying on him so I use taxis for a few places.. But… you have to be careful, for example the other week I needed to go to town and the bank,I was still coming round after my stay in hospital plus it was pouring down so I rang for a taxi to drop me off at the top of Library St.. the cost was £7-80 .. in fact our Lee has just left, he’s been to ask me if I wanted to go anywhere,but I don’t need anything.hes a love.

Clunan's really are die hards, they were in the old market until the end, now it looks that they'll be in here to the end also, good luck to them, the fact they're still there says they are still doing right with their produce, which was always first class, and they are the only ones in the photo who's name I know and remember.

Do the mice stage ice skating or maybe pole dancing competitions at night on those highly polished podiums?

Was the craftworks once Glamour Point before it moved into what was all:sports in the Galleries?

I've been having another look at the photo and noticed that there are some Christmas decorations hanging from the rafters, are they being put up getting ready or are they some that's been left up from previous years?

It should be noted that they are actually building a new Market Hall on the site of Marketgate, which in itself was built as the Wigan Centre Arcade on the site of the old 'Little Arcade' (Market Arcade) and that opened in 1973.

It looks like that have kept the foundations and floors of Marketgate, and will be using those as the foundations and floors of the new Market Hall, and the present Market Hall will not close until the new one has been built.