Wigan Album

Ron, they did an excellent job of bringing the lodge back to life and creating the Owls At Standish Restaurant on Rectory Lane.
We went when it first opened in the mid 1970’s and are still regular customers.

I wonder whether the two yew trees are still there...

I remember going here with the Art Group a few years ago. We did some painting before ‘lunch’ was served. Me and my friend Kathleen kept wandering around as we couldn’t make our minds up what to do. All the others were busy doing the building and we just ended up painting an old gnarled tree. I still have the painting I think. It could be that tree on the right-hand side of the picture. A lovely warm sunny day but we have never been back it would be nice to go again.

Hopefully the Yews would have been left to grow Andy, though The Owls is a place I've never been to, I've been looking on the net and Yews can live for up to 3,000 years.
It's a good article you wrote too on the Ince Cemetery Chapels, I agree it is a great shame that they couldn't be renovated the same as other buildings in Wigan have and are being, though naturally not as pubs.

I must confess I have never noticed the Yew trees but there are still some very old apple and pear trees around the pond.
We used to go in the bar area for lunch on Saturdays but I think they refurbished it during Covid and stopped serving food.
The restaurant has also been refurbished and the prices have gone up. Still better value though than Albert's and excellent attentive staff.
Cyril, I would highly recommend a visit but book first, especially at weekends. We will be going again in the next two weeks when our in-laws are up from The Fens.

Have an enjoying time Colin, are they bringing you any celery? The superb taste of celery grown in The Fens is a world away from the bland stuff in supermarkets from Spain, Waitrose sometimes does have it, but only when they can get hold of it, and it is dearer but well worth it.

I don’t like any fruit or vegetables from Spain. I always look on the labels to see where they come from. Dry and tasteless.

Veronica, I'm sure that the Spanish send all their rubbish Fruit & Veg to the UK, because it soon begins to go off, and you're right - it is tasteless!

My son jokes saying, "they have someone whose job is; that they put a rotten strawberry into each punnet." I said to him that, 'many a true word is spoken in jest.'

I think the sun draws all the taste and nutrition out Cyril - don't even mention the strawberries!

You can see some of the rubble from the old rectory building in the bottom right of the picture.