Wigan Album

Hi John, like the photo, brought back memories when I lived at the Crispin Arms. My father "garaged" or should I say sheltered his car around here in a building owned by the Bithell family. Was Vincent your brother? If so did we play in the same Wigan Colts XV in the 1960's?

Hi Keith,

yes, we did play on the same team :-) I remember you well. And Vincent is my brother.

i walked down there last week it wasnt so tidy bags of rubbish and bins left out cars blockin the footpath

There was a big building there in late 60's which housed a Youth Club I used to go, it was called The White House Club and was run by a police man and his wife surname of Parkinson.

I don't recall there being a youth club around there. There was a largish building about fifty yards behind the houses shown. It was a "lodging house" in the 1950s and was situated on Birkett Bank Terrace. Perhaps that could have been used as some kind of club.

Glad you mentioned the "lodging house" John. I remember a customer of the Crispin Arms, who went by the name of "Long John", who actually lodged there. A man of mystery to us youngsters, he always smoked a pipe, had a walrus white moustache and of course wore the proverbial flat cap. He never said much at all and no one seemed to know anything about him or what his actual name might have been. There was also a story about gold sovereigns being hidden on the inside of the chimney breast by a WW1 soldier who sadly never returned, others did retrieve them, but that's another story.

I lived next door to the Lodging House in Birkett Bank Terrace before it was pulled down. Does anyone know what the Lodging House was previously as it was a nice house for the area.