Wigan Album

DTease. 'Historical Directory of Trade Unions' informs that it seceded from The Wigan Miners Provident Benefit Society in 1877.
'Reports on Strike and Lock-outs in the United Kingdom' could provide more.
Apologies for this 'bit of a mouthful', but I'm sure the mining wizards out there will be more than capable of making your continued search more palatable. Good Luck.

Thanks for that Philip.

Prior to the inception of the N H S everyone had to be a member of a friendly society to pay for medical treatment. I expect this is one such society.

3d is what my bus fare to Wigan used to be when I was a kid.
All hail the mighty Bus Pass.

I don't 'av a bus pass
i'm not from 'round 'ere,
i say's to the friendly bus driver.
I jump on and smile
at the lady in hat,
and he asks for a fare
of a fiver.
I say's i'v only a
twenty pound note,
and says me tickets for Wigan.
"I can't change that ya silly old fool"
I says "Ya must be kiddin'"

O tiny, tactile disc of brass, how long thou hast been hid
in DTease' purse. When born, four score of thee made up a quid.
This was of course in days of yore, before the world went mad,
and politicians made a pact to turn all good things bad.
Before my mortal body on this spinning rock insane
existed, thou wert here, and when I'm gone, thou wilt remain.
Despite thy age, thy features yet remain but barely tinted.
How pleasing to the eye thou must have been when freshly minted,
along with all thy shiny friends, lay glittering in a row
Where art thy pals now little one?, I doubt we'll ever know.
It seems to me quite likely all thy chums are now long gone,
yet thanks to DTease' pockets deep, thy beauty lingers on.
If thou wert mine, buffed up on my lapel thou'd proudly sit.
A testament to times before this world was full of [ deleted by admin ].

Ozy. The missus reckons my shed is full of deleted by admin.
cracking poem though.

DTease: Try 'Grace's Guide - Aspull'. I couldn't find any mention of the 'society', but the site does contain a reasonable amount concerning that area's mining - You never know.

Thanks for that Philip, I didn't find much about the Society but it led me to a lot of interesting information about Haigh Foundary. I never knew that the swing bridge at Albert Dock, Liverpool was made at Haigh.

DTease. So Albert Dock's swing bridge had been made at Haigh ... you've educated me, with that one shipmate. Four of us had walked across the bridge earlier this year, taking in the Maritime Museum, and The Kathleen and May. The chap in charge of The Kathleen and May was a bit nonplussed when I asked him if she would have been capable of getting safely around The Horn. He informed us that North Wales, and Ireland are as far as she goes nowadays. An impressive ship nonetheless. Regards.