Photo-a-Day  (Saturday, 19th March, 2022)

With the down turn of shoppers to Wigan I don't think this car park will be missed. Wigan becoming a Ghost town.

I would say thats the start of when Wigan went modern.

Come to Wigan and see a town die before your very eyes..I could cry.

The crass Wigan electorate are to blame . Talk about turkeys voting for Christmas .

If that'sthe point 'when Wigan went modern' it's not lasted long. I agree Maureen it has died and there'll be no resurrection

In the last few months Leigh as got much busier, Wigan as been ruined.

I only go to Wigan now when necessary...eg. eye-clinic at Boston House, I would rather go to Ashton or Leigh, and I live between the two so handy for buses. I agree that online shopping is to blame for a lot of the ruination of shops but some towns are keeping going. I half-expect to see tumbleweed rolling down Standishgate these days! The biggest pity of all is the new bus-station. I think it's excellent compared to the old one but it is unfortunately a White Elephant as people now use it to get to other towns!

Well then Irene thats good news for the new Wiganers, the new residents of the Wigan town centre apartments will be able to get out and about, maybe in a few more years by electric environment friendly buses.

In 1974 Dumfries demanded a by pass - got one, and supermarkets sited themselves off roundabouts there. Dumfries centre was dead by 1977.
Fakenham in Norfolk got an orbital road with a huge Morrisons off it on the east side. Fakenham centre was hollowed out within two years.
People vote with their cars and now, keyboards.
Norfolk is, however, generally wealthy and most of their market towns are buzzing - but often crammed with traffic. By pass, ring road? No thanks.
Bob Bryson, the American author, thought Wigan got it right in the 1990s - thirty years on we've come to this.
If it's any consolation, Newcastle, here in the NE, is 40% down in footfall from pre pandemic levels - it still has good shops, but parking is a pain, public transport iffy and none of the retail outlets feel particularly safe.

Let’s hope that those environmentally friendly, green buses come to pass Mick, because your new model, environmentally, green Wiganers ain’t going to have anywhere to put their environmentally green motor cars, that’s for sure! Given the rabbit hutches they build these days they will be lucky if they have enough room to swing an environmentally green cat!
Environmentally speaking that is.

I go to Standishgate at least twice every week and it’s always busy. If you don’t go, how do you know what it’s like?

They'll need buses too Mick as there'll not be any shops locally for them to get in supplies.

Also those electric vehicles are not so environmentally friendly as manufacturers say they are, they fail to tell of the devastation to the environments from where the metals and minerals to manufacture the batteries needed to power these vehicles come from.

Lithium mining in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile is causing soil contamination and other environmental degredation, and with them being in the driest areas of the planet the mines are in competition with farmers and Llama herders for the scarce water, e.g. around 4500 gallons of water are needed to produce one ton of lithium.

Cobalt mines in the Congo are also having a massive impact on the environment releasing poisonous heavy metals including uranium, also many thousands of children are being exploited whilst working in very dangerous conditions.

Graphite mining in Brazil, China and Turkey is releasing sulphur ultimately causing acid rain, this then devastates streams and rivers meaning aquatic life will be affected for centuries to come.

Remember when Esso meant Happy Motoring.

Source of information: https://unctad.org/news/developing-countries-pay-environmental-cost-electric-car-batteries

Gary, I read Bob Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island" so many times it fell to bits and I had to get a new copy!

I had occasion to visit Preston recently and the City Centre was buzzing.

It is eight years this month since I visited/did any town centre shopping. As I have mentioned before not having a bus service discourages me from visiting.
By the way is it not BILL Bryson?

Was it Bill or was it Bob?Itwas Bill.

Yes, Anne, it's BILL Bryson....my mistake. I must have been thinking about my Dad, (Bob!). I hadn't even realised I'd put Bob until I saw your comment. Silly me!

Irene, I’ve never read any of his books but an elderly aunt of mine was on avid reader, had one in her handbag on most of her holidays.

Someone's being kept in a job writing signs. Permanently Closed!!

The only town in the UK with no town centre,you're right Dick Dastardly !

It's nothing to do with the Wigan electorate and a lot to do with government development policies.

Not that it's of any particular relevance to this debate Gary, but Bill Bryson arrived in Wigan from Manchester by bus.
I don't know the route number of the bus he caught, but my interpretation of his route description would suggest that he arrived via Fingerpost Aspull.
Could be wrong of course.
Wouldn't be the first time that's happened.

Why didn't he come on the train?

Someone probably warned him not to catch a Rattler, George.

When you say Rattler DTease , is that reptilially speaking ?

It's many years since I read the book but I recall he was quite complimentary about Wigan. Perhaps the bus (Number 38)? was convenient for hopping on and off. ( and more reliable)

Gary's right about Fakenham in Norfolk, go any week day & the town centre is dead, the place only comes alive on market day & what a fabulous market it is, it covers most of the town & people come from all over the place......Wigan should have spent the money thats been wasted on white elephants on its original market & the market hall. I disagree with Mr Hanson's reasoning. Much of the problem is the way people vote.....' I always voted for this party or that & always will'
mentality.....and moan about those voted in forever after !

Or maybe Bryson couldn't afford the tenner that Burnham imposed to use his travel pass on the trains within greater Manchester George.

There are many kinds of reptile on the trains Ozy. There’s the kind that likes to put it’s dirty feet on the seat opposite, the kind that likes to stand in the aisle next to the door and refuses to move down the carriage no matter how many people are struggling to get on, and my favourite of all, the well dressed business man who thinks his briefcase is entitled to a seat all to itself. This belly crawling specimen refuses totally to acknowledge the glares of all the pregnant women and little old ladies and men crowded in the aisle. When you finally confront him he gives you a look that says he’s not sure that he wants a member of the general public sitting next to his newly acquired executive suit and spends the rest of his journey staring through the window in the hope that you won’t engage him in conversation.
I recall you once saying Ozy that you had adopted a habit of picking your nose if anyone looked like they were going to sit next to you, maybe you could pass that little tip on to this kind of reptile, at least that is honest!

I have always liked the tale about Thomas Beecham objecting to a woman smoking in the railway carriage .

" Please put out that cigarette . I'm going to be sick "
" I'll have you know I'm one of the directors wives " , came the reply .
" Madam , if you were the directors only wife I would still be sick ".

Don't forget the 'reptilian' cyclists hugging their bikes near the exit - trying to get off with handlebars and wheels poking arms and legs.

The nose picking tip made me smile. I wonder if it would have worked if my friends and self had used it the day we were unfortunate enough to have football yobs board the train we were on.

No DTease, the nose picking ploy is specifically reserved for women who's estimated weight is in excess of 20 stone, or those who have six or more carrier bags with them.

All other dodgy looking individuals are treated to an elaborate pantomime of me reaching down inside my string vest, examining my fingernails then performing a pincer movement between the nail on my forefinger and the one on my thumb.
I find the success rate of this one to be reasonably high.

Now with regard to young ladies, my favoured approach is to offer to allow them to sit on my lap.

This ploy usually has a similar effect as the two previous ones unfortunately....but it's early days yet, and I'm still working on it.

I'm sitting here laughing Ozy, but the frightening thing is, I know exactly what you're talking about. We must have had the same upbringing, or the same lack thereof.

Getting back to subject the market hall is open until 2024. Still get eggs, meat and barms from there, go at least twice a week.

Yes they have said Market Hall will only close in 2024 but with the multi storey car park above closing I believe it may be earlier.I have heard that there will only be one access to the Market Hall as well.Not so much another nail in Wigan's coffin,rather there is no coffin left to nail.

I agree with Helen of Troy's comments about Wigan,the planning department must have made decisions that they knew would have such a detrimental effect.The turkeys did vote for Christmas and keep on doing the same.

final death of wigan peter