History of Wigan   (Help with ancient and recent history.)

My dad used to scare me to death when he was making the fire. He screwed up sheets of newspaper and put them in, then a few sticks of wood on top, then a few pieces of coal. He would then light the paper and once it got going he spread a full double sheet of newspaper in front to block off the the front until it was well and truly lit then put more coal on and do the same again....it terrified me cos i was sure one day he would set the house on fire, chimney fires used to be common in our street.
I used to love putting an empty sugar bag on the fire, the colours were lovely when it burned.