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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Wigan Album

Penningtons of Ashton and Golborne

4 Comments

A miner's front parlour
A miner's front parlour
Photo: Angus Graham
Views: 2,113
Item #: 11912
Sorry for the poor quality, but I think it's still of interest to glimpse inside a real home rather than a well-meaning period reconstruction. Here's the front room of 60 Bridge Street, Golborne, about 1927, with my grandparents, Samuel and Mary Pennington, and my mum, Mary. On the mantelpiece are a metal vase (not an urn, we were buriers, not burners), a 'John Peel' toby jug and a postcard, above it is a picture of my great-grandad Peter, who had been killed underground a small number of years previously. Can't make out what the metal thing is on the table (which is actually a light oak in colour, the room was not really that dark!), but we still have the glass fruit bowl. On the floor on the left is my mum's dolls house. Many, many working class folk attended vigorously to their own education, hence my grandad's books -- other rooms had many more, so I've heard -- mainly literature and history.

Comment by: Joanne on 25th September 2009 at 18:33

This is a lovely photo Angus! My Great Great Grandfather also lived in Bridge Street Golborne, number 54, but that was around 1881. His name was James Bibby.

Comment by: Mick on 25th September 2009 at 19:04

A wonderful picture, Angus. A moment in time from over 80 years ago captured.

Comment by: Angus Graham on 25th September 2009 at 19:59

My grandparents moved there from Grundy Street when they got married in 1919. Nice stretch of garden at the front, ideal for a kid to grow up with, and quite a privilege compared to what some got. The road was quiet too, by modern standards. It's all still there, of course, I passed by a few weeks ago. Can't say I like the new façade. An older building, I wonder if it's still as damp as it always was for the first 200 years? By the time of this photo my grandad had left the colliery and was working at the Vulcan. -- Angus in Sharjah

Comment by: Helen on 2nd October 2009 at 09:23

A wonderful picture Angus.
I have been looking at it & wondering too what the 'metal' bowl on the table may have been....on a closer look I think it maybe some flowering bulbs, the 3 white blobs below your grandfather's face look like hyacinths blooms. They seemed like the sort of people who would have a bit of beauty about the place as well as books. Lovely pic.

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