Wigan Album

This is how Wigan should be today .

The lad serving at the front's name was Cauldwell.

It was a brilliant market.. Just what is needed more than ever now. I have started going in the market more now. ( got some lovely pork steaks this week and fresh fruit and veg!)

He looks like a young Pat Cauldwell.
He is now a driving instructor. Thats if it is the same person.

I used to see that lad Cauldwell in the Wigan Casino regular
Alot of mates I had worked on the market then

Whenever you walked into Market Hall it had a unique smell of its own , hard to describe , but it made you feel safe and at home , something you were part of . One of those things unless you were present on the ground , it’s hard to explain to others ..

Maybe wrong, but I think he later had a chip shop in Mesnes St.

Bob,you are so right...but that's progress,so they say.

You are correct, Jack. He did have a chip shop in Mesnes Street.

Does anyone remember two large stuffed buffalo heads in the market hall?I have asked this question before.or did I dream it?

Pw ..you are right about the heads,.I wonder what happened to them.

Photographs like this are now a period piece of a bygone era. I remember the market like this in the 1980s as a kid and even in the 1990s the new market hall still had the attraction and thriving business it did in the 1960s. Move forward to 2020 and the market and much of the town centre is in a really shocking state - someone as labelled the market 'Death Valley'. I only think a miracle will turn things around now - we have modern out of town retail parks, internet shopping and of course huge companies like Tesco's cornering people's needs. Very sad that places & environments like this one are slowly disappearing from our towns & cities.

Thanks Maureen,glad someone else remembered them.

I think the other lad in shot is a young Joe Spencer from Whalley. He went to St Pats and then John Fisher. Nice lad.

My mum used to work on Sybils bag stall. She worked long hours on there for very little money back in the 70's ...great market then though