Login   |   Register   |   
Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



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

Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 17th November, 2023)

Poets Corner


Poets Corner
Mesnes Road, Wigan. Named so after all the nearby streets, Chaucer Place, Wordswoth Avenue, Tennyson Drive etc.

Photo: Brian  (iPhone)
Views: 1,528

Comment by: . Ozy . on 17th November 2023 at 01:12

Not to mention the most famous poet of them all ,… Percy Byshe Brocket .

Comment by: Irene Roberts on 17th November 2023 at 07:50

My granddaughter Edie used to have a little Sunday job there when she was preparing for her GCSEs at school and we went for breakfast one Sunday morning; it was lovely.

Comment by: Veronica on 17th November 2023 at 08:45

That’s quite a witty name for the corner shop. Perhaps that’s where the would be WW Poets hang out. I could see Poet, Dtease and
‘ E’ in there swapping rhymes…
Also the shops look like they have been ordinary houses, I think we will see more corner shops springing up in the future…mark my words!

Comment by: Barrie on 17th November 2023 at 08:52

Cast your mind back 100 years and this was fields and footpaths. This stretch of road from Kenyon Road to Spencer Road was constructed during 1925/26. My Father mentions it in his 1926 diary as "Standish new road" or just "the new road"-to Marylebone.

Comment by: Dick Dastardly on 17th November 2023 at 09:03

I wonder if those people who live in Shakespeare Crescent think they're better than the dwellers of Pam Ayres Court ?

Comment by: Poet on 17th November 2023 at 09:08

If theres not a Keat's Seat anywhere in the cafe then there should be .

Comment by: Veronica on 17th November 2023 at 10:29

Wordy Wordsmiths,
Chaucer Chappies and Ten a Penny Tennysons all vying with their verses and suppin’ tay.

Comment by: Ian on 17th November 2023 at 12:15

Nice clear and bright photograph, Brian.
An interesting name for a cafe and one which is memorable, especially when you know that particular area. I had a friend who lived, for quite a number of years, on Milton Grove and I had a friend who lived on Tennyson Drive. Also, I believe, one of my old friends bought a house in Chaucer Place after he got married.
I think, Dr. Johnson lived on Milton Grove, in the large detached house which was demolished to make way for the Trinity United Reformed Church.

Comment by: Coireal on 17th November 2023 at 12:22

True Barrie, it was part of what was known as Beggars Walk, footpaths which at one time criss-crossed the area, a part of which went along there from Mab's Cross to join with Standish Wood Lane and was a section of a Pilgrims Way or pilgrimage route to the Abbeys of Whalley. Bolton, Jervaulx and Furness. Groups of ramblers can sometimes still be seen walking the route, though I'm unsure if the footpath that led along from Cat i'th Window at Almond Brook to Pepper Lane Standish is still there with houses now having been built on the farmland.

There are a lot more poet named streets in the Poets Corner at Leigh, there is Shadwell Grove (Thomas Shadwell) which always reminded me of the Welsh poet and philosopher character Siadwel (Shadwell) played by John Sparkes who appeared in Naked Video and other comedy shows.

https://youtu.be/LSjtBkdMM1U?si=XNQidebQThRjk14N

I doubt some of the poets when alive could have afforded to have a drink in there, with a glass of wine costing more than a bottle

Comment by: britboy on 17th November 2023 at 14:14

I must have been away from the motherland to long, I don’t recognise the area, can anyone enlighten me??

Comment by: Colin Traynor on 17th November 2023 at 14:35

Thanks for the information, now I know how it got its name.
We would visit but like most of that area street parking is prohibited.
Despite most if not all properties having drives, many for two cars, the roads outside are for permit holders only to key the riffraff at bay.

Comment by: Rev David Long on 17th November 2023 at 15:08

I think the folk you call 'riffraff', Colin, are likely to be staff at the hospital who, despite working unsocial hours when a lack of public transport means they have to get to work by car, have to pay to park.

Comment by: Owd Reekie on 17th November 2023 at 16:44

Britboy, this is at the top of Mesnes Road. Opposite Whitely Crescent and about 200 metres past the Brocket and 100 metres before the CherryGardens pub.

Comment by: Advert on 17th November 2023 at 16:59

We have sausage and mash by Ogden Nash
And Christina Rossetti's home made Spaghetti ,
Where Shelley comes to fill his belly ,
Care of our our head cook Rupert Brooke .

There's lots of snacks and delicious eats
Partaken by Coleridge , Wordsworth and Keats ,
Our tasty parkin by Philip Larkin
Goes down a special treat .

Rabbie Burns gets his kilt on
To join John Milton nibbling Stilton
In our bar you just can't lose
As Ted Hughes is in charge of booze
And it don't take long to get things going
Suppin' with Byron and Wilfred Owen ,
So come on down to the Poet's Café,
And have thy self a right good laffé .

Poet

Comment by: Sandra on 17th November 2023 at 18:49

A disrespectful comment made by Colin Traynor. You don't even know the People.

Comment by: Sir Bob on 17th November 2023 at 19:13

Poets Corner ?

I remember that when it was an offy (off-licence) it was called 'Victoria Wines' and I suppose you could have said it was a 'posh offy' because it was in a posh area, but whatever, it was a bloody expensive off-licence.

Comment by: Veronica on 17th November 2023 at 19:37

That’s very appropriate Poet…brilliant!

Comment by: Poet on 17th November 2023 at 22:53

My lady .

Comment by: Colin Traynor on 18th November 2023 at 10:28

Rev. Long, Sandra, I think you both have misinterpreted the point I was trying to make which was unnecessary parking restrictions
The riffraff I was referring to are outsiders like little me! not Nurses or the residents and certainly no disrespect was intended.
I take my elderly brother for regular appointments at the Infirmary and the parking charges are excessive, that's if you can find a space without endlessly driving around!
We all pay out taxes including road tax and people park their cars and vans outside my house in Standish all day, I wouldn't have that imposed on Mesnes Road. However a compromise to 'Permit Holders Only' I think would be a maximum period of say 2 hours allowing visit the Infirmary, Poets Corner, Mesnes Park, The Brocket etc. etc.
Cordially yours and love to all, Colin.

Comment by: Veronica on 18th November 2023 at 13:47

Wonderfully explained Colin. I have the same ‘problem’ outside my house but I have learned to put up with it as there’s a Medical Centre across the way from mine. After
5 00 it’s deserted! As you say we all pay tax…I am just glad I no longer drive. I retired from Bolton Hospital and there was an uproar when it was decided all staff including Doctors, Nurses and Clerical etc had to start paying for parking in the grounds. In fact I was once clamped because the disc had fallen off the window of the car! It took quite a few phone calls from the ward to get it unclamped! The pay for the parking was taken out of our wages - whether we liked it or not! Some nurses objected and parked in nearby streets perhaps walking a mile before they got to the wards. In a job they do I don’t think they should have to pay ,,,but what can they do?

Comment by: Colin Traynor on 19th November 2023 at 11:15

Thankyou Veronica.

Comment by: Phil Nelson on 20th January 2024 at 23:41

When I was a little kid in the early 50's we visited my grandparents in Wordsworth Ave. I would get sent to the Shelley cafe round the corner in Mesnes Rd. for fresh baked Barm cakes and Eccles cakes. When I grew up I still visited them but this time when I went round the corner to Mesnes Rd. it was for a quick pint at the Brocket.

Leave a comment?

* Enter the 5 digit code to the right of the input box. Don't worry if you make a mistake, you will get another chance. Your comments won't be lost.