Wigan Album

Oh the nostalgia Dennis,we used to collect our ration of National Dried Milk from an office between Woolies and The Ritz shown on your photo,about 1950 I suppose.

I was glad to se the back of the tatty mess that was Station Road. Much better today. At last, Wigan is moving into the 21st Century!

Sorry Gary but your wrong, Wigan has lost it's importance, station rd was a million miles better then, without a dout.

Don't think the cars belong to the 1950's

Move with the times, Garry! Wigan has never looked better. Friends in other towns visit Wigan because its so modern. They wouldn't come near the place before.

Garry, modernisation might have done wonders for visitors but it hasn't done a lot for locals, I feel a stranger in my own town.

Al.C....Well I'm 70 but I'm not stuck in the so-called 'good old days' I really do think Wigan has NEVER looked better. I no longer look to the past as its gone. We can only live in the here and now.

The visitors may as well just stay in their own town; they all look the same these days.

I agree Irene. On return visits to the area, I am now very selective where I choose to go see. The stuff of the last forty years, I just find myself saying, "Well that's something I could have seen anywhere."

Dave Marsh! I thought you knew your Wigan a little better than that, you must have done a bit of courting in there in the 60s. As you can see it is no longer the Ritz, Gala bingo having taken the building over. The Ritz only closed in 1998 so this photo must have been taken between 1998 and 2003/4 when it was demolished

I agree with Irene and AP. No buildings can last for ever, obviously, but there is little character nowadays in all modern buildings. Seems a shame to me.

Bill and Roy, Dave Marsh is not asserting that the photograph dates from about 1950, but that it was around that time that he collected his dried milk ration from an office in Station Road. This should be obvious to anyone.

Obviously old buildings need to be replaced, but surely the idea is to replace them with something better. A town centre building should be uplifting and a source of pride to the inhabitants of the town. No one could ever describe the building that replaced the Baths as uplifting or a source of pride. It is almost as miserable and depressing as the old Police Station across the road. Wigan seems to have a talent for producing drab, downbeat buildings.

I can only speak as I find, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to my old town with my wife, shopping in the new centre. Of course there are atrocious new building designs but not all are bad.

Correct Michael, apologies all round.

Happy memories of the Ritz cinema, the Court school of dancing over the top there and of cours Mrs. Hussein's cafeteria just across the way, then in later years the was a little night club opened close by, I remember photographing the wedding of the owners, but that part of my memory is a bit of a blare

Growing up in Scholes and Whelley in the fifties and sixties found Wigan town a much better place than it is today! Who can forget the Ritz' ABC minors on a Saturday morning watching Hop-a-Long Cassisdy, Roy Rogers and Flash Gordon (let's not forget the Claymen and the evil Emperor Ming and his plans to conquor earth)and the ilk, Laurel and Hardy, The three Stoogies et al. Re-enacting all the action on our way home! Later, in our teens, meeting outside Woolies at about 7-30 to meet the girlfriend or mates for a night on the town and then catching the last bus home. These days they only go out when we were on our way home!!! Look at all the cinemas in and around Wigan to take your girlfriends: Ritz, Empire, Court, County, Princess, Scholes Picture House, I could go on. Where are they now? The town centre has no character at, it's just like any other cloned town centre. Used to frequent the The Court School of Dancing during the sixties where Stan and Barbara (I think her name was) ran things and taught dancing for those that wanted it. No alcohol allowed (soft drinks only) just a great time. There may have been some trouble in the town centre late on but not like it is now. Remember all the live entertainment available at the Empress amd Court Hall plus the fifties and sixties rock and roll and pop performers at The Emp and the Ritz. Nothing like it now.
Look at Scholes now and the stone sculpture "Scholes" More like Scholes Henge. I can just imagine what we would have thought about such an eyesore then. I know we all look at the past with a certain degree of rose tinted glasses but I certainly wouldn't want to have my oinformative years at the present time.

I too, used to go to the Court school of Dancing all about that time, even went on a coach trip with them to Chrystal Palace for some big competition.

THIS PHOTO BRINGS BACK ONE OF MY FAVORITE TIME, AT THE BOTTOM END ON THE LEFT IT WAS WERE I HAD MY FIRST DATE WITH A GIRL WHO BECAME MY LOVELY WIFE MARGARET THE MOVIE WAS "JAMES BOND"IT WAS WITH GEORGE LAZENBY ( ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) I JUST FELL HEAD OVER HEELS FOR HER AND ITS BEEN A FANTASTIC 42 YEARS.