Photo-a-Day  (Saturday, 24th May, 2025)

The old and the new. The dour concrete up against the old brickwork no contest..How did the designer ever got away with the concrete block ?

Nothing that what wigan is now it cant be saved just like the rest of the shopping towns i am sorry to say that it is a gonna! It will never recover.

Funny enough, I took the same photo before I visited my good friend Ozy yesterday, but mine was from the other side and shows Irene's very good friend, Wigan historian Tom Walsh MBE. and Benemerenti Award winner, the Benemerenti award recognises and celebrates outstanding service to the church and is awarded by Pope Francis.
I didn't know any of that, I've just looked it all up.
But I will send the photo to PAD later today.

It must have been awful for the children of that time to see the big, over-the-top fancy bank buildings going up when they were living in the slums of Scholes.
Oh, what sad memories photos like these must bring to them now. I can remember being poor when I saw my friend's dad, who lived on Gathurst Lane, come home in a new sports car, and my dad only had an ex-bobbies bike.

Brown envelopes

A ’Community’ of placards to fill the gaps.
A touch of sarcasm with the young lady leaning on the cooked meat counter….I think! How long is it going to be before the Market is finished? If it’s even started..

I'm so glad to hear that Tom is up and about as he hasn't been well recently, and it seems fitting that he was seen in the vicinity of today's p-a-d as he worked at Lowe's Department Store from leaving school so that area will be very familiar to him and must hold many memories of the shops that were in that area when it was in a thriving, bustling place in the late 1950s/ 1960s instead of the forlorn view we are looking at today. Ozy, I hope Mick found you well....I was at the home of a mutual friend the other day and was admiring two paintings that you had done, of a dog and a cat....they were lovely, unlike the placards in the photo....are they meant to fire our imaginations or what?! I must be losing the plot as I just don't see the point of them.

Hey up I see the country bumpkin from the backwaters is on form spouting his usual dross ….theres not much going on in Shevvy La so he hops on his bike to see how the other half live. So sad….

By the way the Bene Merenti Medal is not awarded to a ‘winner’ either. In other words it’s not a game.

Dennis come Christmas I will be joining a few work mates in the Moon and no doubt Ozy will join us,going back to yesterday’s PAD was Rogersons motorbike shop next door to the Stag Inn,and was there a murder in one of the houses close by in the mid sixties when murders weren’t common like they are today.

The building just out of view on the left on the corner of the Wiend, was around 1900 the Furniture and Showroom and Warehouse of W.T.Gee.
In 1922 it opened as The Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank. In 1928 after a number of mergers it became Martins Bank, then in 1969 Barlclays Bank, it closed as a bank in 1987 when they moved across to the old rebuilt Lowes Building on Market Place.
I'm am not sure when that horrible looking green building that once housed Dunn's was constructed but for it to be built a very attractive building that was The Cross Keys Hotel was demolished.

With regard to those idiotic and completely useless billboards , I’m inclined to believe that if throwing money away ever becomes an Olympic event , then Wigan council have the expertise to sweep the board ,… taking gold , silver AND bronze .

The council tax has recently risen once again and it would appear that the only thing these muppets can find to waste it on , is this kind of unnecessary clutter .

Who the bloody hell among this shower makes the decisions eh?
That’s what I’d like to know .
Is it Fozzy bear ? …. or is it the Swedish chef ?

Whoever it is , I wouldn’t trust ‘em to pick up the dog muck in the plantations and get it right.

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE LISTENING ? …

I very much doubt it …
…cluster of dumb ***** !
( choose yer own expletive ).

Btw … thanks for the compliment Irene …
Totally undeserved , but thanks anyway .

Irene, sweetie pie I didn't see Tom; it was just a photo of him on one of them boards
John Christmas is a long way away to be planning your Christmas get-together, isn't it.
John only murder I can remember happening was when a lad named David Talbot murdered his grandmother.

Irene , Tom called in to have a chat on Wednesday. He's looking much better and his sense of humour is back to normal. We had a good laugh and chinwag.
He was diagnosed with leukaemia just over a year ago and thanks to the dedicated staff at Salford Royal he made a full recovery.

Ozy are you well,you should have been with us Thursday doing that littlebourgh ride,we ended up near Ashton instead of going underground anyway we turned around and found our way,Mick it was a woman who got murdered but that’s all I remember,Irene were calling round at Astley pit tomorrow as there’s a classic car show on maybe Dorothy will be there.

No, John, Dorothy won't be there but we hope you have an enjoyable time. What a shame the weather has broken after all those weeks of sunshine,, which must have been a boon for the various events held during that time, but I'm sure the plants and the wild birds and animals will be glad of the rain. Keith, I'm so glad to hear that Tom is okay....what a lovely man he is!

John, Grandmothers are usually women.

Well said Irene, Veronica and Ozy.What a waste ot of time, space and money these 'sentiments on show' are ! Glad Tom is doing well, he is a lovely man.

Yeah ! it can be a bit tricky when the Rochdale canal gets to Piccadilly John , as the towpath disappears and it’s all too easy to venture up the Ashton canal by mistake .

You have to cross over the Rochdale , then cross back over it on the Dale st road bridge in order to access the tunnel that takes you down to the gay village .

It’s possible for pedestrians to cross by means of the lock gates immediately adjacent to Dale st. bridge actually , but it’s awkward … well , practically impossible with a bike .

I take it you managed to navigate the confusing section at the end of the motorway in Rochdale without any problem then ? … that can be a bit of a bugger an’ all …as we’re both already aware eh ?

Ozy,yes that was no problem in Rochdale at the end of motorway I think we learned from past experience like you said,ended up turning round on the Ashton canal at the Coop Arena then on roads following Mancunian Way and passed the Hanson plant at Elizabeth Tower then back on canal near Potato Ward then homeward bound seemed a long day 40miles.

Another problem coming from that direction John is the sun’s reflection off the canal surface . It’s in your eyes constantly .

Probably best to tackle it when it’s p*****g it down eh ? …
Either then or at midnight .

Potato Ward not Ward sorry,the trains don’t seem to have much room for bikes like they did when you and I travelled to Littlebourgh Ozy.

Come on John … get it reet … Spud Wharf .

I did expect the sun to bother us but luckily it was cloudy Thursday.Potato Wharf is what I’ve been meaning to say Ozy.

Predictive text is annoying at times