The Casino; not a lot of people know this!

Most remember the old Casino days, then the 'all-nighters' and the rock nights... but what about the demolition. For a while there was an unused derelict space before a temporary prefab building was erected.
So, most people would have gazed at and maybe despaired of this blank space... with some with nostalgia.
BUT... the blank space revealed something which I found rather spectacular. Against the rear retaining wall was a huge mature fig tree! How many of you remember this? It was an outrageous violation to let it go unrecognised and erased without concern with the only concern for redevelopment. This could have been a tourist attraction as part of a potential very interesting heritage trail... but not much heritage (in terms of old buildings, etc) now remains. What other town or city centre has or had such a rare and incredible example of an ancient Fig Tree in the heart of its main centre? Many remember the Moot Hall, the Fleece, the Ritz, the Commercial Yard, the Old (little) Arcade, etc... but who remembers the Fig Tree?

Dylan,I don't remember the fig tree,but I keep saying to my sons that Wigan council planning committee must consist of non Wigan people.The destruction of all the
special things that made
Wigan town centre can
only have been decided on by strangers from outside of Wigan.

Wigan planning committee is made up of Wigan councillors. The boss/head of planning for the council is Aiden Thatcher. I don't think he's a Wigan native. I wonder if he's related?