Wigan Album

Sorry, but I don’t think this is Woodfield school. This is the old house that stood to the right of the Cherry Gardens. Woodfield old school stood further up the road towards the top of the photo just as the road starts to rise. It was also set further back from Wigan Lane than the house in this photo

This is Douglas Bank House and unfortunately not Woodfield School

This location is higher than the Cherry Gardens on the same side, and on the same land as the NEW Woodfield school. I have another photograph of what is now FORBES Hotel/ Restaurant which is opposite it. You can see both buildings on it.

Sorry Ron but I’m still not convinced. There’s another photo on the ‘Places, Wigan Lane’ section on the site that clearly shows the distinctive wall in front of this old house. You can see the top of the Cherries on your photo and the house is definitely to the right of it. Again, I can only say that the old Woodfield school building was not next to the road like your photo shows. I was there in the 1940’s/50’s and I have a clear memory of it.

Sorry, that isn't Woodfield School, unless that photograph is about 150 years old and they built another Woodfield School on a different piece of land, which was then demolished to be replaced by the modern Woodfield School that can be seen today.
Graham is correct in what he stated.
I could take you to the exact spot where the old Woodfield School stood and it did not stand at the side of that white building, which is The Cherry Gardens.
Where the pavement curves and ends, I strongly believe that is Milton Grove. FORBES Hotel is on the corner of St Aubyn's Road, which is about two hundred metres further on; approximately opposite the house in the far distance. Woodfield School was beyond that house in the far distance and the school was hidden by those trees as it was set back about fifty metres from Wigan Lane.
The new Woodfield School stands on the same piec of land, but it is in a totally different position as it faces the road - the old school did not - and it is only set back a few metres from the road.

Firstly, thank you Ron for uploading another wonderful photograph which gives us an insight to Wigan of old.
Sorry, but I cannot understand how you can have a photograph of the two buildings you mention (at 12:21) being opposite one another, because the distance (along Wigan Lane) between the two buildings is about 100 metres. Douglas Bank House is on one side (towards the hospital) of the large roundabout, which has been in front of the Cherry Gardens for decades, and FORBES is on the other side of the roundabout (towards the Boar's Head).
Ron, you may be mistaken due to there being a large detached house opposite FORBES, but this is a different house.
Graham, you will not be convinced because you are right in what you stated and obviously your memory of that area is fine.
As Graham stated, the large house is Douglas Bank House, which became, I believe, a rest home; I think that it is now Fairhurst Financial Planning. But, I am not sure how much of the building in the photograph still exists as the outside of the building which stands there now is totally different and has been different for as long as I have been alive, but does stand on the same spot. Possibly, parts of the outer walls, windows and the roof were changed. Therefore, some of the original interior part of the old building may still exist. I have never been into Douglas Bank House, so I cannot say what the inside is like. But, I believe, that wall which is attached to the Cherry Gardens is still there. I would say that the front wall is a different wall as it isn't the same design. Also, the wall is now much lower, possibly just over a metre high and it has been this way for many decades - possibly going back as far back as the years Graham stated.
The stone wall which is on the right and before Douglas Bank House is the front wall to Brentwood House and this wall still stands, although the house is in a very poor state as it has been neglected for many years.

According to this newspaper cutting Ron put on, the Christian Scientists purchased Douglas Bank House with the view of demolishing it to build a their new church on the site, thankfully it didn't get to be demolished, but at some time between this photo 1 in the news cutting from the 1930s and the photo 2 by Ozy in the link below from the 1970s the roof line terracotta bricks and front windows have been altered.
1
https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=31459&gallery=Wigan+Lane&page=3
2
https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=27491&gallery=Cherry+Gardens&page=1

The ball on top of the central pediment of the Cherry Gardens as been removed at some time too, as that isn't there now.

this is the site now occupied by accountants offices next to cherries

Apologies you are all correct It is Douglas House It looks like the Gardens next to the Cherry Gardens wasn't there the time the photograph was taken? I didn't notice the facade of the Cherries pub Obviously the traffic bollards were a the junction with Mesnes road

Ian. You wouldn’t by any chance have a connection with Woodfield would you? Did you go there yourself?

Ron, if you want to know where the old Woodfield School stood, go along Brock Mill Lane and the school was on the right side and just before the terraced cottages. I believe, there is now a road in, off Brock Mill Lane, to the car parking areas for the school; the old school stood there and the front door (main door to the old part of the school) looked out onto the land and towards the Cherry Gardens.
In the photograph shown here, the school is going to be hidden by those large trees in the far distance.

Hello Graham,
Yes! I do and I did, in answer to your questions. But, much later than you Graham. Sorry, I wasn't there when you were, but possibly in the same classrooms in another decade.
Also, I grew up not too far away and I passed that way thousands of times.
I remember having music lessons in the old part of the school and I remember the very strange cloakroom.
Graham, didn't you have to step down into the square cloakroom because the floor was on a lower level to the corridor and wasn't there a skylight as the room had no windows on any wall?
If I remember, the headmaster's/headmistress's office was at the front of the old part and on the left as you entered through the front door.
I can't say anything about the time you were there, but only in my time of being there. It was clear that two buildings had been added and these were typical 1960's constructions: single storey and with flat roofs. These could have been built in the 1950's or early 1960's. These were built at opposite sides of the old building - almost like wings added to the old building. The school, with the additional two constructions, had three entrances, due to each new construction having its own entrance doorway and the old building retaining its entrance door.
The hall/dining room was in the part which was closest to Wigan Lane and took up much of that building. It also had a long corridor which ran the full length with windows on the right side as you walked from the entrance doorway down to the old part of the school. I remember having maths lessons and science lessons in the part which was on the opposite side of the old building (furthest away from Wigan Lane).
And...

Thanks Ian, I have seen photographs of part of the school but not the entire building. The search continues<g>

Ian. I used to live up Wigan Lane just over Greenhill. I went to Woodfield in the early 1950s before going on to the grammar school. I remember going onto the site through the big gates down at the Cherries end. You could then walk all the way round the grounds until you reached the side entrance and yes, the cloakroom was down on the right. My headteacher was Miss Parkinson (no relation) and her office was on the ground floor of the old house. I remember Mr Woodcock, Mr Torpey, Mrs Sharples nee Dunn and Miss Maybury. The infant classrooms were in a long flat roofed building leading towards Wigan Lane and overlooking the playground and the field. The junior classes were in the old house and I still remember sitting at the old wooden desks. There’s lots more I can recall but I think that’s enough for now!

Graham. When I attended the school, there were no junior classes, only infant classes - junior classes were in the old Girls' High School (Mab's Cross Primary School).
The 'big gates' were still there when I was there and they were at the opposite end to the building; close to the driveway to the large detached house - where the bus stop was. But, the way to the school building had changed: there was a path which ran from the gates up to the school and this ran parallel to Wigan Lane. The way round the grounds still existed but was no longer used by pupils as it was not allowed and also it was not perfect for use.
Additionally, the subject rooms etc had obviously changed as there were no junior classes and Miss Parkinson was no longer the headteacher.
Ron. Good luck in your search.

Ian, I wonder if the school has any old photographs from years gone by? I have class photos that I have already submitted to this site and also a couple that I took myself when I was there showing my school friends and the old building in the background. They’re in the ‘Places, Woodfield School’ section

Graham, I have a photograph of my year and it is similar to other Woodfield School photographs as we are on the school yard with the wall behind us. Some pupils are sitting on chairs and those at the back are standing on chairs. The photograph is similar to the one you posted in 2016: Item #: 28332. Of course, the children are different.
I am sure that there are quite a lot of photographs of the school, the gardens, pupils and teachers. But, many are going to be in drawers, boxes, attics and other places where people have put them and possibly forgotten about them.