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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Photo-a-Day Archive
Photo-a-Day Archive

Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 27th January, 2021)

Not a Soul


Not a Soul
Makinsons Arcade taken on Saturday afternoon. Good to see Wiganers abiding by the lockdown rules by staying at home. I was out for my daily walk before anyone has a go, this is around 3,000 steps from where I live.

Photo: Brian  (iPhone)
Views: 2,431

Comment by: Alan (on Vancouver Island) on 27th January 2021 at 01:08

Seeing the terrible news from the UK, I am so glad to see that Wiganers are doing the right thing.
A beautiful picture. Brian Hope you had your mask on !

Comment by: Julie on 27th January 2021 at 07:20

When I was younger I used to go Saturdays shopping in the 70s for my mum, Makinsons Arcade was thriving once again, there was Boots, Dewhurst, slaters and a lot more that I could name, what has happened has years have gone bye?

Comment by: lizzielocket on 27th January 2021 at 08:23

Highams Florist next to Slaters? We don't seem to see florists like we used to, supermarkets aren't the same.

Comment by: Veronica on 27th January 2021 at 09:05

Just shows there's no point coming to Wigan. I haven't been for weeks. I usually come on the train twice a week and have missed coming. I'm happy to see these photos they are filling the gap for me, but it's sad at the same time. Having said that it's the same where I live, missing people and places. There will be a massive transformation when this situation ends everywhere. Perhaps the park cafe will still be open - we'll have to meet up there for coffee.

Comment by: Irene Roberts on 27th January 2021 at 09:17

I went to Wigan recently as I had an eye appointment....it will be a long time before I go again. It was depressing. Higham's is long gone, lizzielocket.

Comment by: Mick on 27th January 2021 at 10:02

Makinsons Arcade in Wigan might be quiet, but last night I took a friend to A&E, because his local doctor told him to get down there straight away.
They only let me step just inside the door and said go home and wait for some news.
No phone calls or messages so he must still be in there.

Comment by: Edna on 27th January 2021 at 10:59

All towns are going to look like ghost towns when all this is over, there is one thing for sure, no one will be able to have a bit of retail therapy (sad) because there are no shops left, and what about older people who just wanted a brows.Everything has been taken away.!!!

Comment by: Tommy T on 27th January 2021 at 11:27

The Pop Up shop on the left was opened for the benefit of local retailers, they could rent the shop to sell their own products. Six weeks was the maximum time and then you had to leave to give someone else ago.
One week's rent was £175.

This virus has killed off the town centre's in UK and I don't think they'll ever recover. Hope I'm wrong.

Comment by: rainh on 27th January 2021 at 13:15

People love to browse , just as much as they like a sale , remember jumble sales ? There will always be a place for the small shop, if only they could agree rents to give the shopkeeper a fighting chance . Should have kept Market Hall and extended it with further market stalls on Market Square . People like to potter around and this would provide interest and variety to shop . Now , as mentioned , people just don’t bother coming, so something has gone wrong somewhere .

Comment by: Beryl on 27th January 2021 at 13:32

A sad and sombre time

Comment by: Anne on 27th January 2021 at 14:29

Since the days of everything a family needed was in the town centre, butcher, baker, grocer, house furnishings etc. has almost disappeared and people are visiting simply to browse and potter as a form of entertainment with no particular purchase in mind other than a cup of coffee. I feel this has contributed to decline over the years.

Comment by: Veronica on 27th January 2021 at 16:13

I must say I never came away from Wigan without buying. Up till last year going in Marks was important as I buy a lot from there. I liked Debenham's and often bought things for the home and clothes which I didn't really need. Those stores have gone so there's not much else now. I like seeing and handling what I'm buying and there's still young ones who like doing that as well. I can't imagine myself in a world where you have to 'click' to buy anything every time you need something. I find it incredibly boring. In time I think people will realise what they are missing without the big stores. Might not be in my lifetime but who knows......

Comment by: Mick on 27th January 2021 at 18:40

The only shops worth going into in any town these days are the charity shops, because you can more or less find something that you wasnt expecting.
They are great for brand new or nearly new clothes as well

Comment by: Edna on 27th January 2021 at 18:46

I agree Veronica, who wants to look at a photo of what your going to buy? Online shopping has been forced upon us.Just like Boohoo who has just bought Debenhams out for 5 million, but are closing all the shops, making everyone redundant, and only operating online..

Comment by: Anne on 27th January 2021 at 20:32

Looking at photographs of what you wanted to buy. Everybody did it in the era of shopping catalogues shortly after the war if I remember correctly. Plus it wasn't as easy to do returns. Argos still works that way. Must admit I do browse when on holiday, especially abroad.

Comment by: . Ozy . on 27th January 2021 at 20:59

Allow me to inform you all of what I personally miss, and please let me make this perfectly clear, it most certainly isn't the shops in Wigan, and that much is for sure.

They can close the bally lot of 'em as far as I'm concerned,..the pubs an' all, as they've all had a bloody good run in my view.
Jesus !, four quid for a pint ?, what on earth do these people do when they're figuring out their prices I wonder ?,... just pick out a number from the telephone directory and go for it?...Sweet baby Jesus asleep in his little wicker crib.

I'm not tearful exactly, but nonetheless, it's sad, yet truthful to say, that I don't have a vast amount of income at my disposal, so it's the car boot sales that I miss mostly, and it comes as no surprise to me that the powers that be have deemed it convenient to close down all of the car boot sale venues. Quite possibly for the simple reason that over a number of years, the car boots have been syphoning revenue from rent paying retail outlets all over the country.

But life's a jungle, is it not?, and if someone has something that I need , that the aforesaid vendor no longer requires, and is asking a fraction of what that particular item may cost at a well known named outlet, then like it or not, I'm having it....., and in all honesty,..who wouldn't?

Ok, I'm not talking bread or pies here, I'll still get those from wherever,.but I'll say this much.
I won't be getting my pies from Greenalgh's any more.
I'll be buggered if I'm going to pay the best part of two quid for a pie that's half full of gristle;
If I want a gristle pie, then I'm reasonably confident that I have the competence to produce a batch of my own , on my AGA., although, to be fair, I'm still a little unsure as to where I might procure the amount of gristle that Greenhalgh's manage to find.
There may be a number of members on here that either work in, or have friends or family members that either work in , of have connections with slaughterhouses, that could possibly point me in the right direction. ...on a lighter note, I wonder what old faithful GW's up to these days?

Comment by: Veronica on 27th January 2021 at 21:48

I remember the famous catalogues i.e. Gratton for instance run by a neighbour. The attraction was the 'easy payments' I think, which was handy for a working girl. The clothes were quite good as well. The glossy pictures helped, I suppose that was a form of browsing. I still liked Saturday afternoon browsing and shopping though. Ozy you might not miss the shops and shopping, like a lot of men, but you still like to browse around car boot stalls. Was it Napoleon who said we were ' a nation of shopkeepers' ? I wonder what he would think of 'click and collect' or postal deliveries....

Comment by: Irene Roberts on 27th January 2021 at 22:16

I ran a catalogue when my children were young because I didn't have the money to pay for their Christmas presents outright and it helped to be able to pay over 20 weeks. I love Charity shops and am getting withdrawal symptoms! I grew up with Jumble Sales as they were such fun to us children, (3d admission in the school hall at 6.30 on a Friday night, and home just in time for "Take Your Pick" on the telly), but they were serious shopping expeditions for our Mams. Ozy, Galloway's pies and pasties are good, and a bottle of plonk from the supermarket! Even if the pubs were open, we might call for one drink when out and about, but I dread to think of the cost of a night out!

Comment by: DTease on 27th January 2021 at 23:08

We could be on to a good thing here Ozy, if we combine our meagre incomes we can buy up the worlds stocks of gristle. Once we corner the market we can hold Greenalgh's to ransom and make a killing.
Today Wigan! Tomorrow the world!
Who is this Bill Gates chap anyway? He's just a computer geek who got lucky!
This time next year we'll be millionaires Rodney...er Ozy.

Comment by: Veronica on 28th January 2021 at 08:43

Trust Ozy and Dtease to bring us back down to earth with all the maudling about empty shops. Just turn them all into humble pie shops! Wigan will be famous again !

Comment by: Edna on 28th January 2021 at 10:24

I know what your saying Anne about catalogues, yes they were great at the time,like Veronica, and Irene says,I have had things from them, when money was tight.I also used to go to car boots which we loved,and I love brows round a charity shop.I suppose we got spoild in later years, when debit and store cards became available, and we could then choose from the shop..

Comment by: Rain on 28th January 2021 at 15:39

Indeed Edna , And we all know what happened when they started handing out store cards and credit cards willy nilly , don’t we . No longer did you need to go home once your pocket no longer jangled or your purse sang out empty . Thanks to your cards you could carry on spending to your hearts content . And , the good thing about cards ,is you only have to pay off about twenty quid a month , and better still ,they would give you more credit even without asking . What lovely people don’t you think .
The nation was taught spend now and pay back later , even if they didn’t have the money to do so . Many people were paying off one credit card with another credit card . Loan sharks didn’t need to knock on your door because the banks and department stores had the job in hand . Meanwhile , the bankers and those in the City bought second and third homes with their richly deserved bonuses , which in turn sent up property prices . These are very rewarding and fulfilling discussions after three or four pints , sadly , we can’t even do that . What fun!

Comment by: DTease on 28th January 2021 at 20:05

My wallet’s been running on empty for years Rain, and whatever it is that’s jangling in my pocket it’s definitely not money.

Comment by: Veronica on 28th January 2021 at 22:41

I can honestly say I paid off my store card every month. They never made a penny extra from me. My Debenham's store card has been chopped up in little pieces. It was handy to have just when the sales were on! But oh! The relief now I have nothing to pay off at the end of the month... happy days.

Comment by: Edna on 29th January 2021 at 13:51

Same here Veronica, It took will power Rain to not over spend on your card,that was all I used mine for, when the sales were on in Debenhams.As long as you paid the total at the end of the month, they didn't make a penny out of you!!

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