Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 20th May, 2025)

I remember the house still standing in the 60's but nobody lived there . By the mid 70's it was derelict .
We used to go in to shelter from the rain when fishing the nearby pond .
Hidden by trees it looked rather dark and secret , redolent of less tolerant times .
There was a priest hole at Standish Hall . And a black cat put in the window at Cat ith Window farm to inform that mass was being held .

This photo takes me back to the 1950s when my two elder brothers and one sister and I would walk to St Marie's church for mass on Sunday mornings and then again for Sunday school in the afternoon..
The old Hermitage house was still there, it was a lovely walk because it was mostly fields and woodlands, we went up the old lane and then into the fields, there was no Elnup housing estate back then, the fields always had grazing herds of cows the odd cottage that we passed had chickens and maybe ducks running around.
Sometimes we might sit on a wall or get a stick to poke something, and watch the Mill Dam waterfall
No traffic sounds, just cows mooing and birds singing. I especially remember the skylark, flying so high, but you could always hear its singing
When I watched the Railway Children film on TV, it took me back to those happy days.

Congratulations John in having another photo published. Just shows ‘having a bike will travel’.. uncovering interesting items all the while. You never know who might have got a bed for the night passing through at the Hermitage.

Although I don't of the church, its avery interesting piece of history that is probably missed by many people. Anyone know the story behind the 'black cat' ?
I have an old photo of my father's of a house somewhere in the Wigan area where there were 3 black cats painted in alcoves on the house wall...any ideas where that would be ?

Lovely reminiscences Mick.
Could be the introduction to very interesting book.
I remember the time before the houses were built on High Park and the Millbrook Estate, all field and public footpaths leading into Milldam and Elnup Wood.
There was still public access into Elnup Wood at the bottom of Christleton but some residents didn’t like ‘strangers’ walking past, the steps down became unsafe and the council blocked it off.
I’ve not been down for 20 years, is it still blocked off?

What a thought to have for the day, Mick in his vest with his Y-Fronts over his trousers zooming through Shevington!
Makes me think of Cooper Man, any offers from the ladies to join him as Blunder Woman?

Helen, that will be "Cat i'th Window Cottage" down Almond Brook Road in Standish. It, (including the cats in the alcoves), is still there.

Helen, they used a black cat because it was just handy at the time.
The bungalow with the 3 cats still stands at Almond Brook Road opposite St Marie's school, but the house used for religious meetups was the old farmhouse at the rear of the bungalow.

Liked Mick's reminiscences. Made me feel sad about my own childhood which can't come back. Mick's imagery was on a par with Houseman's Blue Remembered Hills. For us older members the dvd "Of time and the city" by Terence Davies is excellent. A moving documentary about the old Liverpool. It's like poetry.

Helen, it’s on Almond Brook Road on the right hand side going down to the Motorway. The Charley Arms is roughly opposite.
I have read numerous accounts of the Black Cat origins, Cyril will no doubt know a definitive origin.

Thank you Veronica it just goes to show you can get by with a little help from a friend.

Helen, I came across a of the photo on the Album which should interest you. Cyril and others posted many comments, It should pop up on recently viewed. Hope this helps?
Apologies John for digressing from your photo.

Helen, Google Cat 'ith' Window Standish

Colin, unfortunately The Charnley Arms does not exist anymore, for me the change of name should not have been allowed.

Right old Charlie, Charnley Arms!

I too liked your memories as a child Mick - I think they tally with most of us whose childhoods were in the 1940s and 1950s. Innocent times.

Oh, John Boy, have you got a new friend? Did she put in a good word for you?
I was told the black idea was because a black cat peeping out of the window looked like a nun.

When I last went past The Charnley the looked to have closed and had many workmen in looking to refurbish.
What name have they named it, has it reverted to its predecessor The Black Horse?

Thanks to Irene & everybody for the location of the 3 Black Cats. Good to know its still there.

Poet’s post sounds valid about the ‘ cat in the window’ as a secret sign that Mass was being said in those turbulent times.
There’s quite a few places that still have
‘priest holes’ in historic houses. There’s one at Ladywell in Preston.

Helen & Colin, this link to a photo of a cottage on the Album, says it is the original Cat Ith Window cottage though being on Robin Hill Lane, rather than Almond Brook Road.

https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=21924&gallery=Standish&offset=100

The old farm lane and footpath that at one time ran from Almond Brook Road to Pepper Lane along with off shoots to the Robin Hill farms, and it was at one time blocked off to vehicles by one of the farmers, could it at the time of the photo all have been called Robin Hill Lane?
With the bungalow there now being built more a less where this cottage once stood on the lane, but now having the address of Almond Brook Road.
Just a thought, but if anyone knows anything further, please do comment with your knowledge of the area.

I'm with Roy, with the name Charnley Arms staying, especially with it honouring the pioneering work of Prof. Charnley of nearby Wrightington Hospital.

More nonsense from the Mick I see.

John take no notice it’s the green eyed monster showing his true colours! §;o)

I think Poet’s comment is valid about a cat in the window also a fish was another secret sign during the Reformation.

There is also this by Graham Taylor at Wigan Building Preservation Trust, about the medieval cross bases on Standish Wood Lane.
(I'm sure Mick posted some photos of these on the site, though it could have been on the deceased Forum)
The travellers may then have stopped off at The Hermitage before resuming their pilgrimages to the Abbeys of Whalley and Furness, and going past the Cat Ith Window:
https://www.wiganlocalhistory.org/articles/standish-medieval-stone-cross-bases

Mick it was your photo of your bike propped against Harvey’s Cale Lane that got me interested in PAD many years ago as I was looking for friends that I used to work with back in 1968 such as Terry from the Alexander pub (Tesco) and Joe Stead from Aspull but no contact was had,no problem Colin and cheers.

Come on John, you can tell us who your friend is!!!!!

Yes Cyril it all happened at the very old farm which is up the track from the modernish black and white bungalow.
I used to go to St Marie's school so I spent many an hour gowping out of the window at those three black cats
Thank my friend John, I have influenced many people who ihave met over the years.

Veronica unsavoury comments to me are like water of a ducks back but I appreciate what you say.

Veronica , I think many priest holes must have been ingeniously constructed . Some have been discovered only quite recently , often by accident during repair work . Makes you wonder how many are still left undisturbed behind fireplaces or under dark cellars .
They found one in Astley Hall , Chorley , but even now they can't locate the entrance to it .

Desperate times Poet.
The one at Ladywell in Preston is still there as is the very old church. It’s in the most beautiful place surrounded by fields. I believe there is one at Whalley as well.

Colin I’ve many good friends including my neighbours and I don’t want to let the (black)cat out of the bag do I .

Yes, the Medieval cross bases are still on Standish Wood Lane, I've pointed them out to many travellers as they walk down to Wigan.
What many people don't know about this land is that in the late 50s, it was turned into a giant open-cast coal mine, this is why the track down to it from Beech Walk is made of concrete, is narrow now but at one time wagons used to climb up the hill full of coal.