Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 6th August, 2021)

Sad sight is that Dennis but it shows how well built the hotel was. Anyone know the year of build ?.
Good picture Dennis.

I’d be well off if I had been given sixpence every time I had walked past that building.

I remember when a husband and wife were sadly knocked down and killed whilst crossing the road after a night out at The Rock. I didn't know them and it was many years ago but I remember reading about it in The Wigan Observer. So very sad. I may be wrong but I have a feeling it closed not long after.

What can you say abt this other than its a bit more Wigan ( Ince for the purists) history thats going to bite the dust one day soon.

It's a sin and a shame to be left as it is, there's so much that could have been done with a building like that. A waste of materials and the work that went into building it.

I believe its a listed building.

Last time I spoke to Jimmy O'Neill was outside of the Rock, he was sticking up flyers on the boarded up windows when he was running for Ince council elections,
Vote James O' Neill aka The Wigan Joker.

Really sad to see it in this state. I went in when Chris Doc had it, was a fun pub at the time, very busy. There used to be a good pub crawl from the Foundry to the Old Hall, I think there's only 1 pub along this stretch still trading now. Good photo Dennis.

With the disappearance of so many of these old Pubs we are seeing a major change in a way of life that as lasted for hundreds of years in this country.
I take photos of them in the hope that future generations will be able to look at them and get some idea of how we lived in 2021, just as WE now look at the collections of people like Ron Hunt.
Ron's photos are so popular because we are all interested in how our ancestors worked and lived.

Worked at the Rock many times ,in the 70s and 80s doing repairs for Lion Brewery's ,formally Mathew Brown, our Joinery company was in Higher Ince . Jack Almond Joiners and Manufacturing , in fact I did work on most of the pubs in Ince and Hindley ,they were nearly all Lion Brewery's.
I bet it needs plenty work doing now , such a shame its ended up like this.
Good clear photo Dennis.

Irene are you not getting mixed up with the sheperds arms just lower down. Maggie mussel got knocked down by a bus outside the front door?

Irene never gets mixed up and in this case shes even got the The Wigan Observer to back up her story.

I remember Maggie (Muscle ) she was a fighting character. She was well known in Wigan. A lot more characters then. It always amused me to hear the names of a couple called Tommy Pepper and Annie Salt. (I might be wrong with the Christian names) but I believe they got married.
Back to the 'topic' of the above photo. I recall many Lodging Houses around Scholes and district as many of the posters will. Could not some of these buildings be renovated for the homeless and destitute. It seems such a tragedy for buildings to decay like the one above. I don't know whether the old Lodging Houses were in existence before the 1st WW or not. I used to imagine the residents were old soldiers as a child, who had fallen on hard times.

I wonder where the hotel name came from?

The couple who were killed were Fred&Hilda Haughton from Ince Green Lane a lovely couple. When I played rugby for Lower Ince labour club we used to get changed at the back yard building,then walk over to the William Fosters to play ,then back to no showers!

Just out of interest I looked up this building
'' Built in 1880, Grade U listed.
Planning application.
Proposal, change of use to offices with a 3 story extension to the rear & external access ramp.
Plans approved with conditions.

All this was agreed on the 15th August 2006 !

So you wonder why is it still in this state ??

PS....How many PADs know there is a Wigan Town Centre Trail, issued by the Borough Planning Office ?
It makes interesting reading & is quite amazing, you would think Wigan has wonderful architecture, of which most has been saved from destruction !

It was at one time a coaching inn and was reportedly built in 1871.

Irene, I too remember the sad event of the couple being killed on Warrington Road by a speeding vehicle, it happened on the road facing what was then Britannia Bridge school, the council put a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road some time after.

WN1 Standisher, I went there when Chris Docherty was landlord when he reported that a rat was nesting in the front grating of the pub, I didn't like the interior, it was what I called silly pubs of that particular time all of which had old bikes, prams and such like hanging from the ceilings and strange fluorescent painted murals on the walls.

There's been a discussion about the names of both Rock Hotel and Rock Ferry Inn on here before, as mentioned in the thread it could be from a Rock Farm, a Rock House and Rock Hill Fields, or all of these that was once in this area.

https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/communicate/mb_message.php?opt=f1&msd=444055&offset=&subject=ROCK%2520FARM,%2520INCE,%25201867

Here's some close up photos of the carvings on top of the door columns by Peter Fleetwood Wigan & Leigh Buildings.

https://scontent.fman4-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/195357292_10159190997977398_2245805347962901271_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-4&_nc_sid=b9115d&_nc_ohc=CyIH7cAaSg8AX-zha5I&_nc_ht=scontent.fman4-2.fna&oh=980ef83e1ccb53918eeb5a7cb05c61f9&oe=6130FC74

Dave Johnson, thanks for your reply re Maggie Mussel, and also thanks to Cliff H for adding the names of the couple so tragically killed. I too remember Maggie Mussel, ....quite a character. My Dad always referred to her as "Margaret Moosell"! Thankyou Mick, for your comment. Actually I DO get mixed up sometimes......I am human!.... and I get things wrong sometimes but I am always happy to stand corrected and to thank the person who puts me right.

Cliff H, wasn't there an American Football team at The Rock too, I can remember them running out from the pub and across the road to the field off Harvey St in their strips with big shoulder pads and crash helmets.

Maggie didn't live too far from us in Wallgate when I was a child..I know her Daughter very well and she is hard working,generous and will do anything for anybody..she's the youngest of the family and acted as Mum to them all.

Maggie didn't live too far from us in Wallgate when I was a child..I know her Daughter very well and she is hard working,generous and will do anything for anybody..she's the youngest of the family and acted as Mum to them all.

Cyril, thankyou for your comment re the husband and wife involved....what a tragic event that was! And thanks to Maureen for bringing us up to date on Maggie's daughter....she sounds a lovely lady and her Mam would be proud of her.

I thought Maureen will remember Maggie and of course,her daughter.

I took the funeral of the couple - but I recall their surname as Hough. It was a bit of a baptism by fire as I'd not long arrived as the Vicar, and St Mary's was jam packed.

Cyril, there was an American Football team based there in 85/86. They trained on Fosters playing Fields and were called the Wigan Wolverines. They're still playing, albeit now called the Lancashire Wolverines. The landlord, Chris Docherty decided one Wednesday evening to join them in a training session which resulted in a broken knee. June, his Wife, wasn't impressed.