Wigan Album

An advert there brought back some memories. My dad used to be a charge hand at coppull ring mill in the early 70's.

Standish with Langtree Urban District Council....wow...not seen that for a long time....thank you for the memories Colin....cheers!!!

Colin. Have you any recollection as to whether the St Helen's military band was playing, in relation to the "Wigan Borough Summer Show" being held?

Colin, i remember having to lay it down on the table or floor in order to read it as my arms wouldn't comfortably extend to it's full width.

Wow £48 4s 6d for a mower. It would have been a rich gardener who could afford that beauty.
Works out about £921 today using RPI as a guide, or an eye watering £2,170 using average earnings as a guide.

Sorry I got that wrong it's £41 4s 6d isn't it. Still £787 or £1,860 today though based on RPI or average earnings, ouch!

Sorry Albert, No.

Thank you Colin. The reason I asked. That year I was on duty at the Wigan Borough Police Stand, in Mesnes Park, but I cannot remember the date of the event.

When are military bands to be seen again in Mesnes Park?
William Higham left £2 million fot this purpose - See:-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062559/Strike-band--War-hero-leaves-2m-military-bands-play-favourite-park.html

Ernest. I have just read the article. What a very generous legacy he bequeathed to Wigan, for the benefit of the Wigan people. Although he lived away, a great part of his heart must have remained in Wigan.

Roy, the old broadsheet Observer was limited to 16 pages, so to get more news and advertisements it kept going wider, it eventually measured 44" when opened out from the centre spread. It was taged "Friday arm-streach" ideal to cover the table for dinner aswell in those days.

Collin. It was also great for putting across the shovel, to get the fire started, when it was first lit. No health, and safety advice in those days.

Yes it was perfect to make a coal fire Albert, and to clean soot out of the chimney aswell...no mess on the floor.

I think Phil Taylor's got his sums wrong.

44ins? thanks for that Colin, and like has been said it had it's other uses, on the table, against the shovel to get the fire going, paper 'sticks' to light the fire. How many times did you see the paper against the shovel getting browner and browner and then disappear up the chinmey. The shovel had been used that many times for that purpose that it ended up with a hole in the middle of it. Great days and kids these days haven't lived, but thanks for good old central heating.

Why are my sums wrong Garry?

Phil, £921 or £2,170 for a lawn mower??? that can't be right.

Another benefit for the Wigan Observer being the size it was. The numerous cinemas that where in Wigan, and district, in the 1940s, and 50s, had the whole back page to advertise what was showing, the following week.

Check it out for yourself at
http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/

How right you are Albert...here are a few Cinemas: Ritz, County, Court, Princes, Empire, Palace (Wigan) Palace (Hindley) Palace (Platt-Bridge) Gidlow, Queens (Pemberton) Carlton (Pemberton) Majestic (Orrell)...and many more.

Phil, I dont need to check it out for myself. Think about it, you could buy a house for that price in 1959!

Colin; Don`t forget the Pavilion cinema in Library St.
How many of these cinemas had a theatre organ I wonder.
Remember the organist at the Court cinema, who, unfortunately, only had one leg.

Isnt it funny what kind of strange memories something like this will bring back? I mainly refer to the posts about costs of appliances and such relative to today's examples of cost vs income. How many things these days cost a fraction of what people in the 50s era would have paid comparitively speaking? I remember growing up throughout the fifties feeling so embarrassed and hoping noone would find out we didnt own a vacuum cleaner, just a broom. We had polished floorboards which I hated, as everyone else in those days had carpet or at least a big carpet square in the lounge room(or so it seemed to me). How we also could never afford better furniture or a telephone because the costs were prohibitive for my parents! We didnt have a hot water system for the same reason during those years. Had to boil up the copper outside! All these things were an embarrassment to me, I remember quite well. Not to mention we still had to use the dreaded newspaper in the outhouse long after (it seemed) toilet tissue was available at the shops! Couldn't afford prettier clothes like some of the other girls. It would have been different I know, if everyone was equal, but it was not that way in Australia in those days where I lived. By choice, my mum was a stay-at-home housewife so we only ever had one income.

Everything became so much cheaper relatively speaking, as time and technology has progressed throughout the years thankfully, plus two-income families are the norm these days!

More Cinemas: Lyric (upholland), Castle (Hindley), Pavilion (Wigan), Picture House (Scholes), Hippodrome (Wigan), Regal (Lower Ince).

You are just one of thousands of familys who lived the way you did Shery B. Newspapers cut into squares for the toilet, fitted carpets was unheard of, oil-o-cloth and a small carpet was the living room of the 50s and 60s. No vacum cleaner just a stiff brush and shovel, coal fire to heat the water, and if you were lucky, you could heat the water wth a geezer and stick it in a tub in front of the fire. Moggies in our hair, dad drunk every Sunday afternoon. But we were always happy with frendly neighbours. I could go on and on. Sheryl B, there's nothing to be ashamed of, you lived like the rest of us, believe me...and looking back, it wasn't all that bad.

Colin; Extract from :-
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/39264

"It specialized in live shows, plays and revues, with little if any film use. The Hippodrome Theatre eventually passed into the James Brennan Cinemas circuit, but it remained a live theatre."
Do you know if films were ever shown? I certainly don`t.

Ernest. You may recollect. The organist lost his leg, as a result of being knocked down by a bus, in King Street, when going home from the Court Cinema, during the black out, during the second world war

Albert; I don`t recollect how he lost his leg, thanks for informing me.

Garry, I think I have confused you due to my poor explanation. You couldn't buy a house for £48 in 1959.
The price of the lawnmower in 1959 was £48 which would be £787 or £1,860 now in 2013 based on RPI or average earnings.
I think you mean you could buy a house for £787 or £1,860 in 1959 which would be approx £35,000 or £84,000 now in 2013 which is about right.
Cheers

Phil, I can go and buy a new Qualcast Panther lawn mower today for £74-83p. In 1959 clearly in the advert in the Wigan Observer they are priced at £8-12-6....how can £8-12-6 in 1959 be worth in todays money £787 or £1,860...who on earth wouth pay that amount of money for a basic mower.

Garry; Have a look at :-
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html

Garry; Also have a look at :-
http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/RDavies/arian/current/howmuch.html

Garry, if you look at the picture there are two adverts by Lace & Co for two separate mowers.
One cost £8-12-6 in 1959 which would be £165 to £388 now in 2013 which I think is quite reasonable.
The other mower is clearly listed as costing £41-4-6 in 1959 which would be £787 to £1,860 now in 2013 which I think is rather expensive as stated in my original post.
I can't see how I can explain this any more clearly.

All figures taken from http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/

Garry; Another website :-
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp99/rp99-020.pdf

Collin/Ernest. Were the following mentioned, cinemas. The Labour, at the top end of Scholes, possibly into Whelley, and the Miners' Hall, Platt Bridge. I also recollect going to one cinema, in Higher Ince, near to Ince Bar. I was only very young. I know it was a ramshackle place. If my memory serves me right, I am nearly sure the seating, were forms, the type you sat on, waiting for your fish, and chips. I remember the film was with Shirley Temple, and she got run over by a motor car. The Wigan Little Theatre was also a cinema, It had two names, The Albion, and the Canada. That's about all I remember.

Albert; I only went in The Wigan Little Theatre once and saw Wilfred Pickles `Have a Go`. It was on Thurs. 16th Sept.1948 and Violet Carson (Ena Sharples in Coronation St.) was on the piano. Still have a piece of paper with the words of `Have A Go`. This show was broadcast in the Light Programme at 8pm on Wednesdays and repeated in the Home Service at 7pm on Fridays. Barney Colehan was the producer and Wilfred said "Give `em the money, Barney" to the successful contestants.

Ernest, the film I remember seeing at The Albion/Canada, when it was a cinema, was during the war years. My dad took me to see Balalaika, starring Nelson Eddy, as a Russian Cossack. In the early nineties, when my mother was alive, I would travel to Wigan, and I took her to several productions at the Wigan Little Theatre, which we both always enjoyed.

Albert, the only picture house on Ince Bar that I have heard of and I'm not 100% too sure of this, but the "Doric" cinema seems to ring a low bell, On Humphrey st, the building was later used in the late 60s by Heskeith Brothers DIY shop/store they had on Manchester Rd, just round the corner.

Colin. It is a very distant memory. I can only just visualize it as has having a tin walled exterior, and in the property to the right, as you reached the bottom of Belle Green Lane. I recollect my two aunties were with me. They lived at top of the lane. It was just prior to the war starting. That is why the memory of it is so vague. I do remember Shirley Temple was in the film, and she got knocked down by a car. Funny, the strange things that stick in your mind.

Ernest, the orhanist at the Court Cinema was John Abbott. I was told he lost his leg in a tramway accident. The organ was built by Compton and was removed in the 1960's. It had two manuals (keyboards) plus pedals, and seven ranks of pipes. It was sold to a church in Swinton.