Wigan Album

I remember some of these young inmates being admitted to the surgical ward when I was a student at the hospital. When on night duty one of our duties was to lay out the breakfast trolley, these young lad were always bored so often would do this for us and also take around the early morning tea trolley. Occasionally they would abscond but always did their trolley first. They never gave us a problem. In fact I often felt quite sorry for some of them as they were a very long way from home.u6

What was the name of the Young Offenders Prison near Warrington? The name escapes me even tho I visited a couple of times!

Young Offenders Prison near Warrington? Probably Risley.

When I was married over 50 years ago some of the lads were at work in the churchyard as I walked up the path from the taxi. I had a chorus of wolf whistles which made my dad smile!

Johnny,was it Red Bank approved school?

Appleton Thorn was the YOI south of Warrington. As stated, there was also Red Bank north of Warrington.

Johnny / phred Definitely Risley. Became a remand centre and when I served in the Police made several visits to drop prisoners of who had been remanded in custody from Wigan Magistrates Court. Those who had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment were taken to Walton Jail in Liverpool until 1974 and after that to Strangeways

Throughout the 1960s and 70s I delivered for Osram (GEC) lighting division and made deliveries to all the northern prisons and remand centres including Risley, Hindley, Appleton Thorn as well as Strangeways and Walton, most deliveries were made by going straight into the prisons and I met some very interesting inmates but the one I remember best was a close neighbour of ours who was supposed to be working abroad, oh dear !!.

Appleton Thorn was the Young Offenders place south of Warrington. Now called Thorn Cross, its now an open adult prison. Risley was a Remand Centre, but is now a category C adult jail. Hindley was a borstal, then a Youth Custody Centre, then a young offenders Ihstitution, and is now an adult prison.

Thanks folks for joggin my memory! I didnt smoke but remember taken in packs of fags for my mate who was incarcerated at Risley. He was charged with assault but later acquitted. Lack of evidence.

When I was at Hindley Grammar School we went on cross-country runs, (supposedly!), but once away from the teacher's eye we would just walk, chatting and singing the latest songs. We would go past the prison and I remember the young lads working in the grounds.

I always knew it as Hindley Borstal. Just wondering why the photo is titled Bickershaw.

Clem I think it was between Platt Bridge and Bickershaw if I remember rightly

It is actually in Bickershaw, at the bottom of Gibson Street, but the fields it is in border on Hindley.

I always knew that place as being 'Bickershaw Borstal' and inmates used to abscond regularly and the police would just wait at the railway bridge in Platt Wazz, because the escapees would walk down the railway line and by the time they had got to Platt Bridge, they would be cold, wet, hungry, lost etc so when they saw the police car they would just go and give themselves up and one night I overheard two prisoners, who were in the back of a police car complaining that they wanted to be taken back to the prison and the police were saying "No we are waiting until these other two turn up" apparently four of them had run away that night.