Wigan Album

is this Bickershaw c of e as the girl in the strides ,net t the back row ,in the centre looks very like my friend Doreen Ainscough who would have beeen in the top class that year and went on to Argylle st.Sec Mod Hindley.

The second from the right on the back row is Gwen Smith and the third one from the right on the front row is Ray Tatley.

Yes, this is Bickershaw CofE school.
Seated: from the left 4th in is me Beryl Hallsworth and 7th is I think Sheila Appleton. The teachers if my memory serves me well are Miss Goodwin and Mr Bridges the Head teacher. There are of course a lot of famiar faces but I'm not sure of names

yep.. this my brothers foto... tom died last may as for names know most of them

Come on then John, remind us who we all were. I still keep in touch with Gwen, she is nursing at Leigh

easy ones first...front row...dennis wright aka "tarzan"jimmy stephens aka "shem" colin melia. ?Lee,
?parkes.ray tatley,?bridge.. me thinks he was headmasters son...Mr Bridge had a daughter called Jean Bridge too.
3rd row back.. michael orrel..aka "sticky".Alan stotton, older brother derek, david allen.. older brother tony got killed on a high tension power line bird nesting..david got banged up bad in a car crash.. tall lad ?Jones.doreen ainscough..??..john murphy aka murf the surf..our tom.. willie welch, jackie whittle.back row... phyllis palmer,christine job..i think. ?dickinson..dont know which one...lived near the queens pub ?baines. ?lee ( not sure)
(doreen)? Locker.. lived near the forresters...?? ?? eric bridge headmaster.. total sadist the T***.
2nd row... ?? elizabeth wolsey.. one of 11 kids or so lived near my auntie maggie..?? ?? ?? alan richardsons sister.?? ??.. thats my memory bank drained for 1960 lmao.. if i got any wrong i aplogise... please lets fill in the blanks I cant remember

I missed Phil May out seated front row next to Ray Tatley.. had a rush of blood...tert yed... Ian Jones, Shelia Richardson... think it was Keith Parkes... little girl in two tone sweater her name was ? robinson... think it was brenda locker but really now flying on memories that are SWAGS..scientific wild ass guesses..going to a meet up shortly...with people who we hung out together as teenagers...mainly members from a band our tom played in..perhaps its time for a re union here too...cos none ofus are gettin any younger.

girl between you beryl and betty wolsey...might be wrong but the name holland springs to mind

glad somebody said who the female teacher was..didnt remember her at all.... but remembered ...Mrs Unsworth, Miss sabine came from southport side.. then Mr Howarth.. a star of a teacher... who realised you could get the best out of kids without knocking the "snot" out of them.. Miss Clarke .. marie clark. she was school yard helper...always had a sh"t load of kids hanging on her frock every play time.. simon williamson stoked the school boiler,,they lived next to us in bickershaw lane.... do you remember morning assembly... with the big song sheet on the wall... I lived across the road from the school...and was always last in..I remember eddie taylors mam bringing her kids from the farm... way in the fields near wigan junction colliery...i lived 50 feet away...and was always late... hated mornings ever since lmao.. I also remeber getting a polio shot... head lice inspections by nitty nora the bug explorer..snow ball fights..boy could eddie atherton wazz a snow ball.fast....he could have pitched at baseball playing "jiggy".. finger thumb or dumb..manchester tart... aka custard in bed.. remember cabbage too..yuck... took me 40 years to eat that stuff again...remember sports days too..through the gate at the bottom of the school yard up the steps ... onto the "ruck" football field...was once told prisoners of war levelled that off...3 legged races sack races...rounders too..playing conkers,chewed on a penny arrows , had a cat called N"gger, and a dog called smokey.. sherbet "kayli" and a black liquorice stick to suck and shovel the kayli in yer gob.. my pet hate..."country dancing".. it was at this point in my life... I knew fred astaire had nothing to fear.little black sweets called IMPS on a cold morning... when the milk froze and lifted the silver tops off on a frozen column of cream ... and those golden moments of closing our eyes for a class snooze after lunch in the first year..mrs Unsworth.. god bless her cotton socks.... frday aftenoon story read by Miss Sabine...awesome...give me alove of literature..swimming lessons... swim a length of leigh baths and get a free pass to swim free all summer..jam roly poly pudding and custard...sago pudding..ohhhhh always reminds me of wall paperpaste...what a childhood we had...ran free and wild.

girl seated betweem sheila richardson and you beryl i think is shirley robinson back row 4th in anne baines or maybe christine next to her barbara lee... sneaking feeling that the girl seatedsecond from end may be linda warburton

Hi again John
This has been a walk down memory lane - brilliant.
I remember all you have described didn't the Allan family emigrate to Australia on the £10 passage. my mum was a friend of their mum and remember visiting them before they went out. We lived in Belmont Ave just around the corner from them.
On the second row from front 2nd from end on right I think is Sheila Appleton, again I have contact with her from time to time.
John do you remember having one assembly a week at the church and we had to learn all the responses by heart - think I still remeber most of it, did you have anything to do with the Methodist chapel just ove rthe bridge? I understand it is closed now but there are some wonderful memories of my time there.
If I recall in the top class Mr Bridges would come quietly up the stairs and if anyone (usually the boys) where messing around got a slap around the head, can you imagine that today?
I also recall the milk with an inch or so of cream on top of the bottle, manchester tart I loved, the imps and the different colouured Kaylie(?spelling). Did you remember the radio programmes and the excitement when they were due on.
And what about MIss Philips - I recall one day being in school early and she was getting the class ready for the day I asked her 'please MIss can I help' she replied 'I have no doubt you can help but whether you may is another matter' I have never forgotten the difference. Happy memories

firstly...now i know who you are...but always thought your name was holdsworth.... i thought my memory was good... but yes the allen family did go to australia...secondly... yes I remember miss phillips tall thin woamn with dark hair and glasses...mean of spirit too... yes she would do that to a kid...thirdly .. eric bridge like a lot of school teachers of that time was a bully...fourthly... i think you may be right about the girl on the second row.. not linda warburton..cos terry is my age.. then theres roy then linda then david...
now the best bits..yes i remember piling into the church.. for the once a week dose of religion.. if you look on the walking day section R tom put a picture on of him and jimmy mawdesly... the was some furore over who lead up one year at the walking day..should have been me...but one of the Blue button kids got it...so mi mam spit her dummy out and sent us all to the chapel...wonderful place...and since i could play piano...guess who got the job of playing on a sunday mornings... it suited my mam.. cos the old fella was night shift overman at the Albert pit/drift mine, my mamworked the cotton factory 3 till 9pm.. so the only time they had anytime together eas on a sunday morning...so she stuck us on the "corpy bus" wigan corporation maroon and white.. i turned around across from the church.. we wou;ld leg it to eddelstons shop and get on th bus at 10-55am for the 11amstart athe chapel.. but gave us no bus fare home.. we walked it...service finished at 12noon.. we would get home at say1pm....that left them alone together for 2 hours with no kids to moither.... the joke R tom always ways carcked... I was 23 beore i figured out why mi mams favourite hymn was.. "whata friend we have in Jesus"..we would land home...dad in the crickey club sinking a few or racing his pigeons..mi mam singing witha smile on her face... and us kids mystified....like i said 23 years old before we put it all together lol

chapel.... lets try a few names from that chapter...jim gulliver.. the old fella that did the bible class..marion webb...devoted her life to that little chapel.. wooden floors scrubbed white... the big cast iron pot bellied stove lit with about 2 hundred weight of coal burning in it... big fire guard around it in winter time... the splendid hot sundays.. harvest festival .. boy a sunday NOT to be missed...always got books to read for prizes.. for attendance.. them old time methodists/socialists knew us kids needed an education to get us out of the backbreaking work of mill and mine...always rember the vestry being colder than a morgue.. all four seasons it never rose much above freezing... remember playimg hymns like...mothers of saalem.. old rugged cross.. jesus wants me for a sunbeam...as I said earlier Miss sabine and the chapel prizes..always good honest books to read. and stories with a moral thread...them where the days.. jezzz beryl...what a memory rush... listen hun... looks like only me than thee look at these pictures...drop me an email.. dont know how to work this thing but i have filled in my e mail addy...if not leave a line and i will type it on this page... wou;d be a blast to swap memories.. take care

thowt just struck me... what about the floor in the hall it was manky and old...and we did a gym thing in it... we all finished up with splinters in our feet...soon after they ripped it all out and replaced it with a parquet floor... do you remember when you didnt own gym shoes they lent you black pumps?

hmmmmm got one of those nights ..dont sleep to well...just re read your comments beryl...and have you just ripped a memory from ..who only knows where...radio programmes... Miss Hodgkisons class...where that came from I aint gotta clue...but i remmeber the excitement of it all.... 1954/55 we got our first tv in 1953 in time for the queens coronation...12 inch black and white..remember...the phyllis williamson and her brother bill...the williams's an whole tribe of them and the browns all of them crammed in our living room.... curtains drawn... hotter than hell.. sun cracking the flags...did you get a coroantion glass? I still have mine...blue with a gold rim...did you go to the cricket club and run in the races on the cricketpitch...sammy woodstock the village bobby organised it all....remember falling out of a tree at the bottom of bolton house road..breaking my elbow...not clever lmao...oh..did you know eric clemson, lucille brennan and willie welch passed over and left us...feeling tired now heading for bed..nite hun

Hi Beryl..your turn to write,, my e mail addy is mace39@hotmail.com...any memories put down and i will respond ..promise

Hi John, busy few days will write tomorrow (Friday)

cheers Beryl.... look forward to it hun

Hello John. I am Phil May's older sister, and Phil is going to try to contact you soon. You have a great memory and you brought back a lot of memories for me. Thank you. I didn't know I still remembered a lot of those names. We got a good education, and living in a village was a bonus I think. Mum and Dad knew if we had been up to no good before we got home. All the best

whooooa jackie long time no speak to....hope phil is doin ok....plz e mail.. i will respond ,, funnt this.. i spoke to both brian rollins and ben rollins tonite...as i said in the notes earlier...we are having a band/butlins reunion on wednesday next week.. take care

yes john jackson recognized me. i went to school with him and tom

Was in a hury before, i was replying to vera (whelan's) comment. Back row was phyllis palmer christine job janet dickinson kathleen baines barbara lee barbara locker. i am in contact with barbara locker, i used to see sheila richardson? on the bus when her boyfriends name was pat? nice to see all the comments from john jackson, whom i have been trying to contact for the last couple of years.

I see that the comments are quite old, so not sure if anyone will ever see this but here goes. the girl next to me was my best friend at the time, barbara sharrock, she lived in abram and her dad was a teacher (not at our school) they moved shortly after photo taken. kathleen holland is on there, and one of the smart's i think susan smart? the other sister was linda but its not her. i forgot kathleen baldwin on the end top row. stotty used to go out with miss gibsons sister! i used to see alan stotton a lot a few years ago but its been ages now. i will comment again later, (just to see if anyone else has been on)

I had some photographs of a trip to london that the top class did with mr howarth. had a really good time, but it was with a different class than here. some of the pictured were in the top class for 3 years. margaret taylor, sandra wilding and me were the only girls. david jones went cant recall others yet. i will did the pictures out and put them on here one day soon

John Jackson has a wonderful memory LOL. I was in touch with Tom o Friends Reunited until a friend told me of his demise, so very sorry to hear that!! Doreen I rem the name but little else, sorry! I believe Ernie was in touch as he was with me! I was given this pic above years ago by Alan Gill "poctsy" lovely memories xx

oh, hello phyllis. i remember a lot from the junior school. u lived down bolton house road and had a younger brother. yr mum was tallish with glasses. u mated around with jean ratcliffe, and linda warburton. linda had a hate thing going with me, she thought i was a snob. betty murphy also lived near u. i used to mate around with margaret sharrock out of rivington drive. i lived near the labour club early on but moved into church ave when i was 14/15, then onto main road nr phone box when i was 19. tom jackson was my boyfriend at the age of 10/11 but he outgrew me when we went to argyle st. never mind! alan stotton always wanted to go out with me. i was very skinny

sorry forgot! yes, still in touch with ernie. he used to live in old bicky too. in hampson street (near me) and we were great mates back then. he moved when he was about 10 or so to belmont ave and we sort of didnt hang around then in same crowd but we always spoke, until he went away so to speak. hes a good boy tho now i believe. have u heard from john jackson??

Hi Doreen, Nice to hear from u. We cud chat on E mail. phyllis118@blueyonder.co.uk regards phyllis x

Hello I remember lots of these names and faces John Jackson think you were in my brothers class ...David Jones ? This picture was of my class but I,m not on it cos we moved to Leigh early 1960 The girl sat end of2 nd row right side I think is Susan Kyte.great memories !!!! X thank you

Forgot to say my grandma had the chippy over the bridge they were best chips for miles!!

jennifer jones, yes i remember you and your brother david. i was in his class for a while. he was in same class as john jackson, i was in tom's class. i saw you a few years back but don't think you recognized me

Sorry to inform you that John Jackson died this week !! I was told by Tommy Carol he died at a funeral. RIP John, God Bless

I am sorry to here about Tom and John Jackson's untimely death, last saw Tom at a restaurant in Westhoughton and John at Hindley Hall Golf Club were we exchanged a few memories. The photograph was taken on the school playing fields (the ruck)and the name of the school is ST James and ST Elizabeth. Back row Left to right is Miss Christine Goodwin, Phylis Palmer, Christine Jobe, Janet Dickinson, Kathleen Baines, Barbara Lee, Barbara Locker?, Gwen Smith, Kathleen Baldwin and Headmaster Mr Bridges, Next Row L - R Michael Orrell, Alan Stotton, David Allen, Ian Jones, Doreen Ainscough, ?, John Murphy, Tom Jackson, William Welsh, Jack Whittle, Next row L-R ?, Elizabeth Wolsley, ?,?,Shirley Robinson, Sheila Richardson, ?, Susan Kite, front row L-R Denis Wright, James Stepenson, Colin Melia, Stephen Lee?, ?, Raymond Tatley, Philip May, David Bridges headmasters son. I hope somebody else can fill in the blanks

Hi to anyone who remembers me, so sorry to hear that both Tom and John have passed away. I loved my time at this school, my brother Stephen enjoyed school full stop always had his nose in a book,still does for that matter.our younger brother Paul went to the school as well he is nine years younger than me. I was in Aldi this morning at Hindley Green and I am sure I saw Allan Stotton I wish I had spoke now he looked at me too so he probably wasn't sure it was me. We have all aged some better than others I just need to get some weight off. If any of you see this please email me would love a catch up xxxx

Reading these comments is wonderful and very surreal. I have tears in my eyes.

For context, I am John Jackson's only daughter Danielle. He also has a son called Stephen. My dad passed away in 2012 as noted in this thread of comments.

I would love to chat to anybody who has memories of the days of my Dad John and uncle Tom growing up. I never got to hear all of these wonderful stories as I was only relatively young when he passed.

If anybody reads this, please reach out to me via: daleigh96@googlemail.com

Thank you.