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SUBJECT | TITLE | ARTICLE SUMMARY | ISSUE | PAGE | Link |
Heritage | An introduction to Wigan Heritage Service | 1 | 2 | Link | |
Heritage | The History Shop: First in Britain | The opening of the History Shop which will include exhibitions and local studies | 1 | 5 | Link |
Libraries | Wigan Library: The early years | 1 | 5 | Link | |
Places | Standish as it was | Exhibition at Standish Library | 1 | 6 | Link |
Mining | Colliery coup | The commercial vehicle Trans-Pennine Run visits Astley Green Colliery | 2 | 2 | Link |
Royal Visits | Visit of HRH Diana, Princess of Wales | Diana, Princess of Wales, opened the new Town Hall on 25 November 1991 | 2 | 2 | Link |
Family History | News from the Archives | Article about a notebook from the mid 18th century belonging to the Farrar family of Higher Hall ,Westleigh | 2 | 2 | Link |
Archives | The Thomas Dootson collection: A hidden treasure | Thomas Dootson was a solicitor who left his large library to Leigh | 2 | 3 | Link |
Health | Life before the NHS | Newspaper articles about health | 2 | 4 | Link |
Libraries | Wigan Library: The later years | 2 | 6 | Link | |
Heritage | History Shop opens 11 May | 2 | 8 | Link | |
Artists | Isherwoods on view again | Exhibition of the artist's work in the History Shop | 2 | 8 | Link |
Heritage | A likely story | The History Shop featured in a children's TV show 'A Likely Lad' | 2 | 8 | Link |
Leisure | Wigan at play in days gone by | Various leisure pursuits in the past | 2 | 10 | Link |
Halls | Haigh comes to life | The publication of 'Life and time at Haigh Hall' by Donald Anderson | 2 | 12 | Link |
Art | Sir Roger on tour | "Sir Roger and Lady Bradsaigh", a painting by Edward Hayley on tour in the North West | 2 | 12 | Link |
Diaries | Dear Diary | Diaries held by the Archives Service | 2 | 14 | Link |
Libraries | William Pink, Leigh Librarian and Amateur Genealogist | William Pink was Leigh Borough Librarian 1903-1922 | 3 | 4 | |
Breweries | Once a brewery town | History of Robinson's Brewery | 3 | 6 | |
Local History | Local history for your book-shelf | Two publications from the Heritage Service | 3 | 8 | |
Mining | Bickershaw machinery moved to Astley Green | 3 | 14 | ||
Watermills | Standish Hall water corn mill | The mill stood in what is now Elnup Wood | 4 | 4 | |
Industrial History | Industry in Victorian Wigan | Industries such as iron smelting, cotton spinning and mining | 4 | 5 | |
Halls | Owd' Tom Hughes & South Tunley Hall | The cyclist Tom Hughes and a photo of him outside the hall | 4 | 10 | |
Music | Book reviews | Thomas Pendlebury: a Lancashire craftsman, by Brian Hughes. Pendlebury was an organ-bulder | 5 | 5 | |
Quakers | To defy a king | Accounts of Quakers in Standish | 5 | 7 | |
Family History | Migration from the land | The interwoven stories of the Carson and Nurdin families | 5 | 10 | |
Windmills | From 'The Friends of Haigh Windmill' | A brief history and an invitation to join the Friends | 5 | 14 | |
Childhood | Aspull recalled | Digging for coal, working in a mill, and other memories | 6 | 3 | |
Biography | Francis Merryman and 'The Captain' | A local coucillor and publican survived a ship's capsize | 6 | 5 | |
Doctors | F. P. Sturm: A literary Leigh doctor | Sturm was a doctor and a published poet | 6 | 5 | |
Locomotives | The story of the Yorkshire Horse | Robert Daglish of Haigh Foundry built a locomotive for Orrell Colliery | 6 | 6 | |
Engineering | Remembering Walker Bros. (Wigan) Ltd. | Walker Bros built machinery for the mining industry | 6 | 8 | |
Family History | Migration from the land (part 2) | The interwoven stories of the Carson and Nurdin families | 6 | 10 | |
Windmills | Scholes Windmill - early history | Lamb's Mill was between 132 & 134 Scholes | 6 | 14 | |
Watermills | Arley Hall water mill | The mill is in the grounds of Arley Hall, which is now a golf course | 7 | 5 | |
Places | A community called Bottling Wood | The history of the area | 7 | 6 | |
Transport | Alfred Goulding Limited | The 90th anniversary of the road haulage firm | 7 | 8 | |
Doctors | A Leigh medical playwright, James Sackville Martin | James Martin was a doctor, playwright, poet and actor | 7 | 9 | |
Theatres | Year of drama 1994: The Prince of Wales Theatre, Leigh | Opened 1863, demolished by 1879 | 7 | 10 | |
Actresses | Year of Drama 1994: Lily Brayton | Lily Brayton was born in Hindley in 1876, and became famous here and abroad | 7 | 11 | |
Biography | A worthy citizen | The life of Robert Barrow of Golborne | 7 | 14 | |
Locomotives | The story of the Yorkshire Horse [Part 2] | Robert Daglish of Haigh Foundry built a locomotive for Orrell Colliery | 7 | 16 | |
Mining | Memories of a colliery electrician 1907-1912 | C A Lamb's recollections of working for Corlett Electrical Engineering Co. | 7 | 18 | |
Biography | A mystery solved: Ellen Weeton's last days | Further information about her life, and her date and place of death | 8 | 4 | |
Places | Collection of parish magazines acquired in house clearance | The Upholland magazines cover the period 1885-1955 | 8 | 5 | |
Biography | George Olivant obituary, Leigh Chronicle 24 September 1920 | Reproduction of the obituary | 8 | 7 | |
Heritage | The Spinning Jenny panel | The Heritage Service wished to restore the panel | 8 | 8 | |
Diaries | The diary of Roger Lowe of Ashton-in-Makerfield 1663-1678 | The Heritage Service published the edited diary | 8 | 9 | |
Biography | Nathaniel Eckersley | An account of the famous local MP, mayor and businessman | 8 | 11 | |
Mining | A terrrible and painful accident at Abram | The death of a colliery engine driver, Ludovic Berry, in 1945 | 8 | 12 | |
Childhood | The way we were in Aspull | Recollections of the author's childhood | 8 | 14 | |
Family History | Continous Wigan family connection from 1500s | The author traced his Wigan family back to the 16th century | 9 | 2 | |
Biography | Dr George Henry Evans and his Pyrotechnic Time Signal | The Leigh doctor burst a shell each day to signal 10pm | 9 | 3 | |
Photography | News from the Archives | The Archives acquired lantern slides of Edwardian Leigh, taken by Frederick Wynne | 9 | 4 | |
Military History | George Derbyshire 1919-1975 | George Derbyshire was the author of 'The Wigan Military Chronicle' covering various units from 1758 to 1948 | 9 | 5 | |
Theatres | Hippodrome Wigan | Recollections by the author | 9 | 5 | |
Actresses | A chat with Miss Lily Brayton | Lily Brayton was born in Hindley in 1876, and became famous here and abroad | 9 | 7 | |
Childhood | Memories of Hindley | Recollections from 1922 to 1947 | 9 | 9 | |
Childhood | Observations of life as a child in Ashton-in-Makerfield during World War ll | 9 | 10 | ||
Mining | Remembering 'Daisy', 'Delia' and 'Dorothy' | The anonymous author recalls colliery engines and the reason for the name of Maypole pit [connection with Morris dancing] | 9 | 13 | |
Poetry | Requiem for a Colliery | An anonymous poem about the Maypole colliery | 9 | 13 | |
Family History | Notes on Sarah Crank | The author traces his extensive research into his ancestor, of Ashton-in-Makerfield | 9 | 14 | |
Chapels | News from the Archives | The Archives acquired the records of the Christian Meeting House, Rodney Street (1858-1989) | 10 | 4 | |
Mining | The Atherton Mill disaster | Six [named] women were killed by the explosion on 21 September 1911 | 10 | 7 | |
Farming | Plough and Furrow | Herbert Worsley recounts his ploughing life in Lowton | 10 | 8 | |
Childhood | Observations of life as a child in Ashton-in-Makerfield during World War ll: School life | 10 | 10 | ||
Banks | 1894-1994 100 years of banking in Standish | The bank opened as a branch of Williams Deacons bank at 2 High Street (now Royal Bank of Scotland) | 10 | 13 | |
Childhood | The way we were in Aspull | Recollections of the author's childhood | 10 | 14 | |
Crime | Wigan murder mystery in 1894 | The unsolved murder of Richard Blaylock, the landlord of the Crofters Arms in Hallgate, in 1894 | 10 | 15 | |
Cotton Industry | News from the Archives | A collection of glass slides from Howe Bridge Spinning Company mills | 11 | 4 | |
Childhood | A schoolgirl's reminiscences of life on the pit brow | Visits to Victoria Colliery, Standish, during the early 1950s | 11 | 5 | |
Prehistory | Further Stone Age discoveries in Upholland | Prehistoric artefacts at Jollies i'the Dean Farm | 11 | 6 | |
Clergy | Notes on Jacob Robson, first vicar of Tyldesley | Jacob Robson, born 1799, became the first vicar in 1842,and died in 1851 | 11 | 7 | |
Military History | We remember them too! | Reminiscences of family and society in World War ll | 11 | 8 | |
Local History | Hard times in Edwardian Wigan | Information from a manuscript by William Henry Evans | 11 | 10 | |
Childhood | Mediterranean charm | Observations of life as a child in Ashton-in-Makerfield during World War ll [Part 3] | 11 | 12 | |
Childhood | Appley Bridge | The author's reminiscences | 11 | 14 | |
Family History | A long way round to Wigan Pier | The anonymous author traces his Wren ancestors | 11 | 15 | |
Windmills | New Jersey tombstone leads to link with Wigan windmill | The tombstone of Daniel Lamb records his Wigan birth. He had owned shares in the Scholes windmill. | 12 | 6 | |
Schools | "I amused the children this dinnertime by parading on the velocipede" | The logbook of Atherton Wesleyan Methodist School, Lamberhead Green, kept by teacher William Lord from 1865 to 1871 | 12 | 7 | |
Places | Book reviews | Standish: Corn Mills and Millers, by Adrian Morris | 12 | 8 | |
Local History | Hard times in Edwardian Wigan [Part 2] | Information from a manuscript by William Henry Evans | 12 | 10 | |
Biography | From the pit to the Peerage: the Gordon MacDonald story | The former miner became MP for Ince in 1929, then Governor of Newfoundland and was made a peer in 1949 | 12 | 13 | |
Childhood | More memories of Hindley | 12 | 14 | ||
Corn Mills | Standish Hall corn mill | Archaeological excavations in Elnup Wood, Shevington | 12 | 16 | |
Heraldry | The County Borough of Wigan Coat of Arms | The Coat of Arms from 1922 to 1974 | 13 | 2 | |
Shops | I remember when… | The author remembers Woolworths in Standishgate | 13 | 3 | |
Theatres | "Fierce fire guts Wigan's Theatre" | The fire which destroyed the Hippodrome in 1956: an account by fireman Henry Haddock | 13 | 5 | |
Charters | Wigan - A Borough- 1216-1996 | A special supplement to celebrate the granting of the town's charter | 13 | 9 | |
Military History | "I was born on VE Day" | Mrs Coleman was chosen to represent Wigan in the 50th anniversary celebrations of VE Day in London. | 13 | 17 | |
House History | Lime House, Lowton, and Mr P T Eckersley MP | Occupants of the house from 1903, including the MP and Lancashire cricket captain, killed on active service in the war | 13 | 20 | |
Town Twinning | News from the Archives: the French connection | An exhibition of items connected with the French twin town of Angers | 14 | 4 | |
Childhood | Shevington New Hall | The author recalls her childhood at the hall when her parents worked there | 14 | 5 | |
Police | Book reviews | Policing Wigan, by James Fairhurst | 14 | 8 | |
World War l | Book reviews | The finest of all: Local men on the Somme 1st July 1916 | 14 | 8 | |
Art Galleries | The Wickham Gallery | The opening of the gallery in the History Shop | 14 | 9 | |
Biography | William Woolstencroft, a Leigh worthy | William Woolstencroft was manager of the Hippodrome theatre, and Mayor of Leigh 1951-52 | 14 | 13 | |
Vehicles | Book review | Pagefield motor vehicles, by Tom Meadows | 14 | 13 | |
Schools | Hindley & Abram Grammar School | The author's reminiscences | 14 | 14 | |
Mining | A long haunted Summer | The 1926 general strike which united miners and transport workers | 14 | 16 | |
Biography | I remember when | The author recollects industry around Wigan Pier | 15 | 4 | |
Canals | Standish Festival canal trip (1996) | The description and history of a stretch of the Leeds- Liverpool canal | 15 | 6 | |
Biography | A visit to Wigan - 84 years later | An American traced the family of her father, born in Wigan | 15 | 7 | |
Places | More about Bottling Wood | The history of the area | 15 | 8 | |
Biography | Philip Larkin - The Leigh connection | Larkin's mother, Eva Emily Day, lived in Leigh | 15 | 9 | |
Biography | A daft lad | The life of Owen Davies of Tyldesley | 15 | 12 | |
Cinemas | The Regal cinema, Leigh | The cinema opened in 1938 on the corner of King Street and Spinning Jenny Street | 15 | 15 | |
Schools | An important news bulletin will follow… | Three reminiscences of Hindley and Abram Grammar School | 15 | 16 | |
Mining | A tribute to Harry Potts | Harry Potts was former chairman of the Red Rose Steam Society | 15 | 18 | |
Wrestling | Wigan's world champions | Photographs of past wrestling champions | 16 | 3 | |
Weaving | Silk weaving in Lowton 1827 to 1910 | 16 | 6 | ||
Shops | Woolies' article triggered off personal memories | Recollections of former shops and restaurants | 16 | 8 | |
Cinemas | From a Leigh fourth, third and second projectionist | Memories of the Regal cinema, Leigh | 16 | 8 | |
Biography | Interesting letter from a 'Down Under' 89 year old | Memories of life in Golborne from birth in 1908 | 16 | 9 | |
Schools | HAGS - school records | Extracts from the records of Hindley and Abram Grammar School | 16 | 12 | |
Shops | No. 8 Wigan Road, Hindley | Recollections of the Temperance Bar and Herbalist | 16 | 14 | |
Schools | Who was the 'Baron'? | Recollections of Hindley and Abram Grammar School | 16 | 14 | |
Biography | I remember when | More recollections of industry around Wigan Pier | 16 | 15 | |
Biography | A family funeral | An 1888 account by Alfred H Lamb of Bellingham Lodge | 16 | 16 | |
Roads | Tracing the ancient highway from Wigan to Standish | Tracing history via a walk from Gidlow Lane to Standish | 17 | 3 | |
Biography | Wigan's pioneer lady councillor | The life of Mary Elizabeth Hart (nee Connell) | 17 | 6 | |
Churches | Atherton Parish Church | The refurbishment of the 1879 church | 17 | 7 | |
Workhouses | Thowd Work Heause (or Mount Tabor), Lowton | The 11 cottages were demolished in 1939 | 17 | 8 | |
Chapels | The treasure of Park Lane | The Brindle family's connections with Park Lane chapel, Ashton-in-Makerfield | 17 | 12 | |
Swimming | Tyldesley Swimming Club - the forgotten years | The club was formed in 1876 | 17 | 14 | |
Artists | Arthur Turner 1892-1964 Artist: An appreciation by his daughter, Eva | The miner and artist, who drew enemy gun positions in WWl | 18 | 3 | |
Poetry | A Standish poem, 1756 | The poem was probably addressed to Cecilia, who was married to William Towneley, and inherited the estate in 1755 on the death of her father Ralph. | 18 | 4 | |
Actors | Mr Robert Donat's recitals (form the Leigh Chronicle 15 February 1924) | Robert Donat, then an elocution student, gave two recitals in Leigh | 18 | 5 | |
Mining | From the Manchester Guardian, 16 March 1875 | The Leigh Chronicle records Hindley miners recalling 'barbaric' wagers they made to win a gallon of beer | 18 | 5 | |
Breweries | Memories of Haigh Brewery | J F Moore worked there in the 1920 and 1930s | 18 | 6 | |
Biography | I remember when | The author recollects life around Wigan Pier | 18 | 8 | |
Family History | Lives of a Victorian family revealed in a scrapbook | The text and photos reveal the lives of the Lang family of Charnock Richard | 18 | 9 | |
Banks | 1922-1997: 75 years of banking in Standish (part 2) | Opened as a branch of Williams Deacons bank at 2 High Street (now Royal Bank of Scotland) | 18 | 12 | |
Mining | The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Permanent Relief Society | The society was founded in Wigan in 1872; Canon Bridgeman was the first president | 18 | 14 | |
Schools | Ashton Grammar School - and all that | Recollections beginning in 1938 | 18 | 16 | |
Schools | Hindley & Abram Grammar School | Notes for parents of new entrants 1964-65 | 18 | 19 | |
Recollections | Wigan Dole School? | The author asks for more details of the unemployment centre | 18 | 23 | |
Transport | On the (Wigan) buses for 47 years | Alfred Rouse was a bus driver for the Corporation, who drove the last Wigan tram | 19 | 2 | |
Biography | Leigh - did you know? | Arthur Rostron, Captain of the Carpathia, which came to the rescue of Titanic survivors, was married in Atherton | 19 | 4 | |
Childhood | Sweet nostalgia | Recollections of boyhood in Abram | 19 | 5 | |
Breweries | Memories of Haigh Brewery (part 2) | J F Moore worked at the brewery in the 1920 and 1930s | 19 | 6 | |
Biography | Memories from the life of James Albert Davies | His formative years in Aspull and Coppull 1912-1925 | 19 | 8 | |
Heritage | Friends | The launch of the Friends of Wigan Heritage Service | 19 | 12 | |
Recollections | Ashton-in-Makerfield in the 1930s | 19 | 14 | ||
Actresses | Viola Smart | The stage and screen actress (stage name Viola Keats) lived in Golborne | 20 | 4 | |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849) | Ellen Weeton's letters and journals include recollections of her time spent in Upholland | 20 | 5 | |
Breweries | Memories of Haigh Brewery (part 3) | J F Moore worked there in the 1920 and 1930s | 20 | 6 | |
Biography | Memories from the life of James Albert Davies (part 2) | The years from 1926 onwards | 20 | 8 | |
Music | "Come welcome the New Year with anthems of joy" | Singers from Roby Mill used to go carolling on New Year's Eve, beginning in the 1860s | 20 | 11 | |
Recollections | Ashton-in-Makerfield just before and during World War ll | 20 | 14 | ||
Museums | Astley Green Colliery Museum | Developments in the museum (now the Lancashire Mining Museum) | 20 | 16 | |
Swimming | Ashton Swimming Baths - a note | The baths opened in 1910 but closed shortly afterwards because of subsidence | 20 | 17 | |
Schools | Sacred Heart School, Hindley Green (early 1930s) | 20 | 18 | ||
Family History | Descendants of Robert Arkwright (born 1606) wanted | The author also records the death of John Arkwright in 1904 in Springs Branch colliery | 20 | 22 | |
Biography | John Faiclough (1854-1923) | Became the first mayor of Leigh in 1899, and a freeman of the borough | 21 | 4 | Link |
Biography | The illustrious 'Little' Steve | Stephen Walsh, brought up in the workhouse, became a miner, then MP for Ince and the Secretary of State for War in the first Labour government | 21 | 5 | Link |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849) Governess: From Lancaster to Upholland | Ellen Weeton's letters and journals include recollections of her time spent in Upholland | 21 | 6 | Link |
Childhood | A Poolstock childhood c. 1920 | The author was born in 1919 | 21 | 9 | Link |
Biography | Memories from the life of James Albert Davies | His experiences as a young teacher in the 1930s | 21 | 11 | Link |
Authors | Henry Josiah Atty's wonderful book | Henry Atty was the author and illustrator of 'Edwardian Rambles' | 21 | 13 | Link |
Chapels | Record breaking chapel | The building of Jireh Baptist Chapel, Orrell | 21 | 16 | Link |
Biography | I remember when | The author recollects life after World War l | 21 | 19 | Link |
War Memorials | Second World War memorials in metropolitan Wigan | 21 | 21 | Link | |
Recollections | Ashton-in-Makerfield during the 1930s | 21 | 23 | Link | |
Biography | White Hope, or searching for Great Uncle Harry | The author researched her uncle, an amateur boxer who was killed on the Somme | 22 | 4 | Link |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849) Governess: Village life - coarse and fine | Ellen Weeton's letters and journals include recollections of her time spent in Upholland | 22 | 6 | Link |
Biography | Rev. John Braithwaite (1754-1812) | John Braithwaite was headmaster of Upholland School, and a curate there and at St George's in Wigan | 22 | 7 | Link |
Poetry | Miss Weeton, the great walker and versifier | Ellen Weeton's poem about Dean Wood | 22 | 8 | Link |
Poetry | Down there | Jack Daniels' poem about a pit accident in 1929 | 22 | 9 | Link |
Biography | Memories from the life of James Albert Davies | His experiences during the Second World War | 22 | 10 | Link |
Maps | Sew for the Millennium | A national project for communities to create parish maps | 22 | 13 | Link |
Places | One hundred years old | Celebrations to mark the centenary of Leigh being made a municipal borough | 22 | 14 | Link |
Biography | Let's talk Wiggin | The author has recorded memories from his elderly ancestors | 22 | 18 | Link |
Wrestling | Wigan wrestlers at the Alhambra | Several Wigan wrestlers competed at a national event in London in 1910 | 22 | 20 | Link |
Museums | The Museum of the Century | Opie's Museum of Memories opened at Trencherfield Mill | 22 | 21 | Link |
Mining | Giant's Hall colliery, Standish Lower Ground, near Wigan | The author's father was manager in the 1920s and 30s | 22 | 23 | Link |
Authors | How George Orwell took a running jump at Wigan Pier - and missed | The author reproduces his 1984 Guardian article taking issue with Orwell's description of Wigan and Wiganers | 22 | 26 | Link |
Restaurants | A lost eating house: Roy's Café | Roy's Café, started by the Gorner family, was at the junction of Marsden Street and Hope Street | 23 | 3 | Link |
Places | It happened in Ince | The history of Ince from the earliest times | 23 | 4 | Link |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849) Governess: Pastures new | Ellen Weeton's later life in Liverpool and Kendal | 23 | 7 | Link |
Biography | Thomas Rawlinson Weeton (1781-1845) | The life of Ellen Weeton's brother | 23 | 9 | Link |
Mining | Sir Henry Hall - The miners' friend | Henry Hall was HM Chief Inspector of Mines for Lancashire and North Wales | 23 | 10 | Link |
Hospitals | Wigan Infirmary in the early years | The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary opened in 1873 | 23 | 11 | Link |
Dialect | Is your dialect really necessary? | The author wished to promote the Wigan dialect | 23 | 17 | Link |
Recollections | More memories of Ashton-in-Makerfield in the 1930s | 23 | 18 | Link | |
Shops | A clean sheet | The first launderette was in New York in 1945; the first in the Wigan area was in Atherton in 1949 | 23 | 21 | Link |
Childhood | Early days in Hindley | 23 | 22 | Link | |
Celebrations | Unparalled scenes 100 years ago: Wigan and District on Mafeking night | The ending of the siege of Mafeking in the Boer war was celebrated by the public | 24 | 3 | |
Biography | William Maskell Peace | William Peace was a solicitor who was closely associated with the mining industry, and helped to secure the establishment of Mesnes Park | 24 | 8 | |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849) Governess: Work, pleasure and drama… | Ellen Weeton's adventures in the Lake District | 24 | 9 | Link |
Courts | Cursing King George at the Bull and Dog | In 1817 John Hart was charged with defaming the King in the Bull and Dog Inn | 24 | 12 | Link |
Maps | Mapping the Millennium | The Millennium map, in 28 sections, was to be exhibited around the Borough | 24 | 13 | Link |
Biography | I remember when | The author recalls his long association with cars | 24 | 16 | Link |
Dialect | Lanky Twang, or Language in its warkin' clooas | The differences in styles of speech within Wigan | 24 | 17 | Link |
Biography | Tamperin' wi' t'moon: the life of Lydia Fletcher (1845-1933) | The author's ancestor worked in a weaving mill | 24 | 20 | Link |
Rugby League | Albert V Twose (A reader's reminiscence) | Albert Twose played for Wigan for a short time from 1931 | 24 | 24 | Link |
Hockey | Bully off! | The author's recollections of men's and women's teams | 24 | 26 | Link |
Police | Wigan's longest serving Chief Constable | Tom Pey was Chief Constable from 1921 to 1946 | 25 | 5 | Link |
World War l | The bombing of Wigan, 12 April 1918 | 27 Zeppelins were dropped in Wigan districts | 25 | 6 | Link |
Biography | I remember when | The author recalls the effects of poverty in the 1920s | 25 | 8 | Link |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849) Governess: The stage coach traveller | 25 | 10 | Link | |
Childhood | The exploited generation | Memories of a 1930s childhood in Wigan | 25 | 12 | Link |
Recollections | May Day | Recalling the May Day parades and May Queens | 25 | 12 | Link |
Poetry | The Lamplighter's Pole | Dialect poem | 25 | 13 | Link |
Millennium | Mapping the Millennium | Celebrations of the Millennium in the Borough | 25 | 16 | Link |
Biography | Tamperin' wi' t'moon: the life of Lydia Fletcher (1845-1933) (2) | The author's ancestor worked in a weaving mill | 25 | 18 | Link |
Recollections | More memories of Ashton-in-Makerfield in the 1930s | 25 | 22 | Link | |
Childhood | Childhood reminiscences of Haigh | The author lived in Winstanley Farm, Haigh, from 1907 | 25 | 24 | Link |
Poetry | My Owd Case Clock | Dialect poem | 25 | 29 | Link |
Cinemas | Prince's Cinema opening | Anna Neagle attended the cinema opening in 1935 | 25 | 31 | Link |
War Memorials | A constant pledge - An obligation fulfilled | The memorial was unveiled on 17 October 1925 | 26 | 3 | Link |
Mining | Pit brow girls' protest | A deputation to the Home Office in 1911 in protest at the plan to exclude women workers from mines | 26 | 5 | Link |
Dancing | Dance to the music of time | Recollections of Miss Gee's School of Dancing | 26 | 8 | Link |
Dancing | Dance to the music of time | Recollections of Miss Gee's School of Dancing | 26 | 8 | Link |
Dancing | Take your partners please | Recollections of ballroom dancing in venues around the borough | 26 | 9 | Link |
Dancing | Request for information about named dance venues | 26 | 9 | Link | |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849) Governess: 'Spare the rod and spoil the child' | Ellen Weeton's time as a governess in Huddersfield | 26 | 10 | Link |
Statues | The strange case of the vanishing statue | An appeal to restore the Boer War statue in Mesnes Park on the war's centenary | 26 | 13 | Link |
Millennium | Mapping the Millennium | A summary of events around the Borough | 26 | 14 | Link |
Millennium | Wigan 2000: the way we are | Celebrating the Millennium and the people of the Borough | 26 | 16 | Link |
World War ll | The first two years of World War ll | Recollections of a pupil in Ashton Grammar School | 26 | 19 | Link |
Nursing | From Wigan to world tour: the life of Mary Alicia Hodkinson 1912-1995 | Mary Hodkinson was born in Wigan, emigrated to Australia and became a nurse | 26 | 20 | Link |
Biography | I remember when… | The author recalls his motor bikes and cars | 26 | 22 | Link |
Police | Wigan Borough police - a tale from the graveyard shift | Reproduction of the recollections of Sergeant Newcombe, from 1881 to 1902 | 26 | 23 | Link |
Recollections | God's good fresh air | The author's visit to his brother in hospital by bicycle, and a later serious car accident | 26 | 24 | Link |
Childhood | Coal fires and loved faces: memories of an Ince childhood | 26 | 27 | Link | |
Poetry | The beauty of Ince | An anonymous poem, dating from at least the 1940s | 26 | 31 | Link |
Biography | The Dr Mary Tomlinson story | Mary Tomlinson became a medical missionary in India | 27 | 3 | Link |
Elections | Election fever? You ain't seen nuthin! | The election in Wigan in 1857 in which Francis Sharp Powell and Henry Woods were elected | 27 | 4 | Link |
Dancing | I won't dance - don't ask me | The author's childhood attempts at dancing | 27 | 8 | Link |
Health | The Great Stink of Standish | Reproduction of an 1859 letter to the Wigan Board of Health about a noxious smell from a factory | 27 | 8 | Link |
Singers | Street singer who conquered empires | Mary Connolly, a native of Ireland, who worked at Pretoria Pit, became famous in the UK and Ireland | 27 | 9 | Link |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849), Governess: Persecution and despair | Ellen Weeton's disastrous marriage to Aaron Stock and her forced separation from her daughter Mary | 27 | 10 | Link |
Schools | Parr Hall: boarding academy for young ladies: Principal William Grundy | The school to which Aaron Stock sent Mary, his and Ellen Weeton's daughter | 27 | 12 | Link |
Aircraft | Crash landing at Aspull: the tale of an American B24 Liberator bomber | A bomber crashed in Hall Lane, Aspull, after taking off from Burtonwood on 27 August 1943 | 27 | 14 | Link |
Police | Wigan Borough police: a tale from the graveyard shift | An account from a police sergeant in 1902 revealing the extent of child cruelty at the time | 27 | 18 | Link |
World War ll | Reminiscences of events in Atheron township in 1941 | The damage caused by German aircraft releasing ordnance over the town | 27 | 19 | Link |
Parks | Yesterday in the park | Recollections of childhood visits to Mesnes Park | 27 | 21 | Link |
Biography | I remember when | The author recounts collecting cigarette cards and attending a debating society | 27 | 22 | Link |
Biography | Great Grandma Alice | The adventurous life and three marriages of Alice Skillicorn-Nichols-Latchford | 27 | 24 | Link |
Biography | The Hilton family - from Aspull to Australia | The author's grandparents moved to Australia in 1912 | 27 | 26 | Link |
Hospitals | The state of the National Health Service | The author's recollection of Billinge Hospital when visiting relatives, and later as a nurse | 27 | 27 | Link |
Schools | Gidlow Girls' Senior School 1939-42 | The author's recollections of school life | 27 | 29 | Link |
Dancing | Dancing days - the sequel | The author provides the names of more dancing establishments in the borough | 27 | 30 | Link |
World War l | Reluctant soldiers: Wigan's conscript tribunals 1916-1918 | The members of the conscript tribunal, and some of the cases they heard | 28 | 4 | Link |
Poetry | Church Walking Day | 28 | 7 | Link | |
Recollections | Another fine mess you've got me into, Stanley | Recollections by Stan Morris, recorded by his nephew | 28 | 8 | Link |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849), Governess: 'In heavenly love abiding' | Ellen Weeton's religious faith | 28 | 10 | Link |
Religion | Christianity in the 'Age of Reason' | A survey of religion in Britain in the 18th century | 28 | 11 | Link |
Religion | Independent Dissent and secession in Wigan 1775-1825 | 28 | 12 | Link | |
Local Government | A Town Clerk's story | The life and career of William Tyrer | 28 | 14 | Link |
Recollections | Perpetuum mobile | Recollections with an emphasis on motor vehicles | 28 | 15 | Link |
Transport | I remember when… | The difficulties of driving in wartime | 28 | 21 | Link |
Parks | Memories of days in the park | Recollections of Mesnes Park | 28 | 22 | Link |
Schools | Memories of the Central School, Ashton-in-Makerfield | The career of teacher Percival Clifford Ralls | 28 | 23 | Link |
World War ll | Life in the Grenadier Guards | The author volunteered from Wigan, and was at Salerno and Monte Cassino | 28 | 25 | Link |
Childhood | Childhood sounds of the 1920s and 1930s | The knocker-up, clogs, trams, music, etc. | 28 | 27 | Link |
Ancient History | The history of Tel-al-Amarna | The work of egyptologist, John Pendlebury, whose grandfather founded Pendlebury & Co. Ltd | 28 | 28 | Link |
Shops | "Wigan is a grand old town, the Romans knew it well" | Recollections of Baines grocery store, Darlington Street | 28 | 30 | Link |
Festivals | Queen at the annual May Day festival (14 May 1909) | The author's mother was crowned festival queen in Golborne | 28 | 32 | Link |
Swimming | The lovely ladies of Coop's swimming club | 28 | 35 | Link | |
Theatres | Jonathan Dewhurst - the Lancashire tragedian | Jonathan Dewhurst was a leading actor, and managed Leigh Theatre Royal | 29 | 3 | Link |
Recollections | Every picture tells a story | Memories of Ashton-in-Makerfield | 29 | 4 | Link |
Witches | The witches of Wigan | The 17th century witch craze, including Isabella Rigby of Hindley | 29 | 7 | Link |
Family History | The Hitchen name in Wigan: some clues to the past | Beginning with Peter Hitchen b. 1784 | 29 | 8 | Link |
Biography | Ellen Weeton (1776-1849), Governess: Final days | Ellen Weeton lived in Standishgate from 1827 to 1844 | 29 | 10 | Link |
Childhood | The ghost of Christmas past | Childhood Christmases in Wigan | 29 | 13 | Link |
Pubs | Market Hotel, Wigan, 1931-1976 | The author's father and grandfather were licensees | 29 | 14 | Link |
Scouts | Away the lads | Leigh parish church Scout camp in Filey in 1934 | 29 | 16 | Link |
Places | Aspull - the story of a village | The cover of a new book, designed by Gerald Rickards | 29 | 20 | Link |
Recollections | A time long ago | Recollections of Scholes from 1920 to 1932 | 29 | 22 | Link |
Clergy | Rev. Alfred Williams Momerie (1848-1900) | For a short time Alfred Momerie was a priest in Leigh | 29 | 24 | Link |
Biography | "Our Clifford" as told by Mrs Margaret Young to her nephew, Bill Chaloner, 2001 | The life of Clifford Young, who was part of bomber crew in WWll. Includes his own account of bailing out. | 29 | 26 | Link |
Schools | A matter of belief | A teacher's unkind correction of spelling at Marylebone primary school | 29 | 30 | Link |
Recollections | Letters and articles about 'The Hut' in Stoney Lane, Hindley | 29 | 32 | Link | |
Rugby League | It's simple! | The author's father played for the Ince All Blacks | 29 | 34 | Link |
Hospitals | "'Supported by voluntary subscriptions" | The author included a list of Wigan Infirmary subscriptions from 1899-1900 | 29 | 35 | Link |
Clubs | Left Book Club, Leigh | The author's father was a founder of the club which met to discuss books published by Victor Gollancz | 29 | 36 | Link |
Childhood | So many memories | Reminiscences of growing up in Kendal Street | 29 | 38 | Link |
Mining | Pre-eminent in his field | The author, a surveyor, attended classes led by Thomas Bryson in Wigan mining college | 29 | 39 | Link |
Women's Movement | A hidden gem in the Archives | The Heritage Officer found a 17th century book in stock:" Womans worth, or a treatise proveing by sundrie reasons that woemen doe excell men" (Author unknown) | 30 | 4 | Link |
Railways | Great days on the Great Central | The recollections of the author's uncle who worked on the railway line | 30 | 5 | Link |
Authors | James Hilton, a famous son of Leigh | James Hilton wrote Lost Horizon and Goodbye Mr Chips | 30 | 7 | Link |
Military History | Two courageous gentlemen of Leigh | Waterloo veteran Benjamin Baddeley, and LC Alfred Wilkinson VC | 30 | 8 | Link |
Family History | "What Auntie Winnie said", by Joan Francis (nee Coupe), born 7 May 1925 | Richard and Joseph Coupe set up the Vulcan Foundry in Clayton Street | 30 | 10 | Link |
Recollections | Every picture tells a story (2) | Memories of Ashton-in-Makerfield and Garswood | 30 | 13 | Link |
Hospitals | Were they cooking the books? | The author reproduces a letter from Pearson & Knowles in 1883, accusing the Infirmary of publishing misleading information in the list of subscribers | 30 | 16 | Link |
Childhood | A Wigan childhood | The author's recollections. | 30 | 17 | Link |
Workhouses | The Frog Lane 'ghost' - January 1901 | An extract from the local press of the time - the ghost was actually an inmate of the workhouse. | 30 | 17 | Link |
Places | Orrell | Reproduction of an artwork by Gerald Rickards | 30 | 20 | Link |
Recollections | My year in Garswood 1928-1929 | The author lived with her grandparents before emigrating to Australia | 30 | 23 | Link |
Theatres | Jonathan Dewhurst - the Lancashire tragedian | Further information about Jonathan Dewhurst's links with Leigh | 30 | 24 | Link |
Recollections | I remember when… | A teacher gave Ernie a valuable lesson for life | 30 | 24 | Link |
Cinemas | "The Bug" | Recollections of the Doric Cinema in Ince | 30 | 26 | Link |
Recollections | My Grandparents | Recollections by Mary Hodge, sent by her daughter | 30 | 27 | Link |
Poetry | Eric's Cardi | Written in dialect | 30 | 27 | Link |
Parish Registers | Parish registers | Volunteers transcribe the registers for the Lancashire Parish Record Society | 30 | 28 | Link |
Mining | Roman coal mining in Wigan | It is possible that the Romans dug for coal near the site of Arley Hall | 30 | 29 | Link |
Schools | From the other side of the Ditch | Recollections of a pupil at Ashton Central School | 30 | 31 | Link |
Schools | 34 years at Ashton-in-Makerfield Central School | The author's father, Firth Hartley, taught at the school | 30 | 32 | Link |
Football | [Photograph of a football team] | The named players of a Hindley & Abram Grammar School team 1949 | 30 | 32 | Link |
Schools | "I never wanted to leave school" | Recollections of Whelley Senior School | 30 | 33 | Link |
Family History | The story of Great Great Grandfather Horrocks | James Horrocks eventually inherited Scholes manor house | 30 | 34 | Link |
Dancing | Kenneth's word picture evoked memorable love for dance music | The author danced in several local venues | 30 | 36 | Link |
Schools | Glad to have missed Miss Gee! | Recollections of Marylebone Primary School | 30 | 37 | Link |
Women's Movement | "Womans Worth" revisited | Publicity following the discovery of the 17th century book | 31 | 4 | Link |
Vehicles | HCL Motorcycles Leigh - an unknown manufacturer comes to light | Hezekiah Close began production of motorcycles in 1922 | 31 | 4 | Link |
World War l | Saturday afternoon soldiers | The Fifth Manchesters in the Great War | 31 | 6 | Link |
Military History | The Victoria Cross | Four men awarded the VC | 31 | 8 | Link |
Biography | John Monk Foster | John Foster was a Wigan miner, author and publisher. Some of his stories were accepted for publication by Charles Dickens. He also launched The Comet journal | 31 | 9 | Link |
Dialect | Vincent Green - Lancashire dialect author | The author of short dialect stories under the name of Tom Picktub for the Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley Journal 1920s-1940s | 31 | 13 | Link |
Biography | George Lyon - Up Holland highwayman? | The life of the notorious thief and his hanging in 1815 | 31 | 14 | Link |
Places | Standish | Reproduction of an artwork by Gerald Rickards | 31 | 20 | Link |
Railways | Another great day on the Great Central | The author worked at the LNER Lower Ince shed | 31 | 22 | Link |
Cinemas | Open door for the 'Penny Rush' | Recollections of the Labour Hall Cinema, Scholes | 31 | 24 | Link |
Rugby League | The year is…1959 | Recollections of Wigan's famous games and players | 31 | 26 | Link |
Mining | Bickershaw Colliery - a wealth of memories | Recollections of a mining engineer, manager and surveyor | 31 | 29 | Link |
Biography | Charles Albert Berry (1852-1899) | Charles Berry was a Congregational minister who travelled widely overseas | 31 | 32 | Link |
Accidents | Terrible gas explosion at Leigh | The Leigh Chronicle article of May 1905. Two sisters were injured at 24 Ellesmere Street. | 31 | 34 | Link |
Cinemas | "The Bug", "The Vic" and some Hindley characters | Memories of Hindley cinemas | 31 | 35 | Link |
Workhouses | The Frog Lane 'ghost' and other spirits | Letter from the grandson of the man who saw the 'ghost' (PF 30, p.17) | 31 | 36 | Link |
Schools | Spring View teachers in the late 1930's | Photograph of teachers (and another article with a photograph) | 31 | 36 | Link |
Romans | "The Romans knew it well" | A coin of Constantius l, who invaded Britain in 296, was found in a garden in Beech Hill | 31 | 37 | Link |
House History | Haigh Hall farm kennels | A photograph of the remains of the kennels, near the laundry room at the hall | 31 | 38 | Link |
Schools | Beech Hill Infants School | A photograph of a class from 1933 or 1934 | 31 | 38 | Link |
World War l | Remembering the Zeppelin raid on Wigan | A Zeppelin fell in Lorne Street in 1918 | 31 | 38 | Link |
Archives | Michael Follows | Tributes to a volunteer at Leigh Archives | 32 | 4 | Link |
Farming | Life on the farm | Photographs from Yew Tree Farm, Hindley Green | 32 | 6 | Link |
Biography | The Sam Woods story | Sam Woods was a miner and first president of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners Federation | 32 | 8 | Link |
Legends | The Dead Hand | Legend that a dead man's will was signed by the dead hand of Father Edmund Arrowsmith | 32 | 9 | Link |
Carnivals | Wigan Carnival | Memories from the 1920s and 1930s | 32 | 10 | Link |
Boer War | Letters from the Front | Local men in the Boer War 1899-1902 | 32 | 12 | Link |
Rugby League | A Rugby League diary 1898-1938 | Based on the diaries of John Counsell, chairman of Wigan Rugby League Football Club | 32 | 15 | Link |
Mining | Coal dust, the miner's unexpected menace | The explosions, deaths and injuries caused by coal dust | 32 | 18 | Link |
Places | Leigh | Reproduction of an artwork by Gerald Rickards | 32 | 22 | Link |
Authors | "In their own write" | Women writers associated with the area | 32 | 24 | Link |
Childhood | Childhood revisted | Growing up in Ashton-in-Makerfield | 32 | 25 | Link |
Recollections | Remember, remember, the fifth of November | Memories of bonfire night | 32 | 28 | Link |
Cars | I don't remember when | Memories of past car and motor bike makes | 32 | 29 | Link |
Family History | The Lambs of Wigan | Including William James Lamb, Mayor in 1880 | 32 | 30 | Link |
Transport | Wigan 100 - the centenary of Wigan Corporation Transport | Celebration held at Haigh Hall on 29 September 2002 | 32 | 33 | Link |
Recollections | Wigan tales | The author's mother went ot St Catherine's school in 1939, and then worked at Santus's Toffee Works | 32 | 34 | Link |
World War ll | Winstanley Hall WAAF camp confirmed | Three letters confirming its existence | 32 | 36 | Link |
Cricket | Park Lane Unitarian Chapel cricket team 1927 | Two photographs naming team members | 32 | 37 | Link |
Biography | Mr George Tinsley - local celebrity | Reproduction of a 1927 article about the miner, railwayman and rugby player | 32 | 38 | Link |
Railways | A particular interest in railways | Recollections of trainspotting in 1965 | 32 | 42 | Link |
Railways | Exciting time for a small boy | Memories of the Great Central Railway | 32 | 42 | Link |
Chapels | The old Primitive Methodist chapel, Bradshawgate, Leigh | The history of the chapel | 32 | 43 | Link |
Biography | Mr Tom Bennett | An ouline of the life of a volunteer, who had served in the RAF in World War ll | 33 | 3 | Link |
Parish Registers | The Sexton's day registers for Wigan All Saints Parish Church | Extracts from the late 18th and early 19th century registers | 33 | 4 | Link |
Boer War | Letters from the Front (episode 2) | Local men in the Boer War 1899-1902 | 33 | 6 | Link |
Schools | One man's memories of Wigan Grammar School in the 1930's | Contains a photograph naming most of Form 5C in 1935, with details of some of the boys | 33 | 9 | Link |
Cars | The rise and fall of the "Westwood" | A car made in Wigan from 1919 to 1924, designed by Bill Williamson | 33 | 12 | Link |
Authors | "In their own write" | Women writers associated with the area | 33 | 15 | Link |
Dancing | Clog dancing - a forgotten side of Wigan's heritage? | The author researched the history of clog dancing, and introduced it to school pupils | 33 | 18 | Link |
Artists | Wigan Town Hall | Reproduction of an artwork by Gerald Rickards | 33 | 22 | Link |
Aircraft | The day a North American F-86F Sabre jet crash-landed at Billinge | The aircraft ran out of fuel en-route from Bordeaux to Prestwick | 33 | 24 | Link |
Mining | Mining food for thought | An investigation into the diet and eating habits of miners | 33 | 26 | Link |
Rugby League | A Rugby League diary 1898-1938 (part two) | Based on the diaries of John Counsell, chairman of Wigan Rugby League Football Club | 33 | 28 | Link |
Childhood | Childhood revisted (part two) | Growing up in Ashton-in-Makerfield | 33 | 32 | Link |
Mining | More on the miner's menace - coal dust | The explosions, deaths and injuries caused by coal dust | 33 | 35 | Link |
Photography | Quest for Volney Stephenson's portraits | Volney Stephenson was an early photographer | 33 | 36 | Link |
Armed Forces | From a WAAF teleprinter operator | Cpl Betty Bell was stationed at Winstanley Hall from June 1943 | 33 | 37 | Link |
World War ll | "Memories are made of this…" | Letters about the wartime use of Winstanley Hall | 33 | 38 | Link |
Carnivals | Wigan Carnival, 1928, "Bohemian Girl" | Photographs based on the carnival's theme | 33 | 41 | Link |
Biography | Edmund (Ted) Cheetham | A brief outline of the life of a volunteer | 34 | 4 | Link |
Biography | Donald Anderson | Tribute to the former miner and mining historian | 34 | 4 | Link |
Maps | Opening of Wigan on the Map | Display of the 28 textile representations of parish maps | 34 | 5 | Link |
Boer War | Letters from the Front (episode three) | Local men in the Boer War 1899-1902 | 34 | 6 | Link |
Authors | George Orwell's "the Road to Wigan Pier" | How the book came to be written | 34 | 9 | Link |
Archives | Wigan Heritage Service - Discovery of regionally important textile archive | A regional survey of pattern books has uncovered the archive of Charles Hilton & Son, silk weavers | 34 | 11 | Link |
Lighthouses | The (long) road to Wigan Pier | The Wigan resident recounts his service with the Trinity Lighthouse Service | 34 | 12 | Link |
Horses | The cart horse (c. 1938) | The author's grandfather was a coal dealer with a shire horse | 34 | 13 | Link |
Schools | From Up Holland Grammar School to Winstanley College | A book traces the history of the school | 34 | 14 | Link |
Authors | "In their own write" | Women writers associated with the area | 34 | 15 | Link |
Music | Wigan Casino: memories of the "Heart of Soul" | The Casino Club was in Station Road, and hosted the famous 'All nighters' from 1973 to 1981 | 34 | 17 | Link |
Churches | St Nathaniel's, Platt Bridge | Marking the centenary of the laying of the foundation stone | 34 | 18 | Link |
Places | Ince | Reproduction of an artwork by Gerald Rickards | 34 | 22 | Link |
Childhood | The dream | Recollections of childhood in Ince | 34 | 24 | Link |
World War l | "Their name liveth for evermore" | The author found a memorial to a Leigh soldier in Skopje, Macedonia | 34 | 25 | Link |
Local History | Victoria's secret | Life in Wigan in Victorian times | 34 | 26 | Link |
Childhood | The memoirs of John Vincent Gorner | Transcribed from a 1969 letter to his son | 34 | 28 | Link |
Childhood | Pre-school memories | Growing up in Hindley | 34 | 30 | Link |
Childhood | Childhood revisted (part three) | Growing up in Ashton-in-Makerfield | 34 | 32 | Link |
Schools | All proud Wiganers | A photograph of named pupils at St John's C of E school, Abram, 1919-20 | 34 | 35 | Link |
Football | One of the highlights of the municipal year | The annual match, Town Hall v Municipal Buildings, with photo from 1953 | 34 | 36 | Link |
Family History | The Watsons, an old and respected family | A family of noted builders | 34 | 37 | Link |
World War ll | Photos of great personal interest | A photograph from RAF Station Blackbrook in 1946 includes the author's mother | 34 | 37 | Link |
Leigh | The 'Eight Mites' of Leigh | Photographs of a clog dancing troupe and Plank Lane rugby team | 34 | 38 | Link |
Heraldry | Mystery of Wigan's past | A photograph of the emblem of the Moot Hall and an unidentified heraldic device | 34 | 38 | Link |
Cinemas | Labour Hall Cinema anecdotes | Recollections of the Labour Hall Cinema, Scholes | 34 | 39 | Link |
Schools | "There's nowt like a blast from the past…" | Recollections of Wigan Grammar School | 34 | 40 | Link |
Biography | Miner's friend - Thomas Aspinwall | Thomas Aspinwall was miners' agent for Wigan district, and Vice-President of Wigan Infirmary | 34 | 41 | Link |
Corn Mills | Pleasant memories of the old corn mill | The corn mill stood at the bottom of Coppul Lane | 34 | 41 | Link |
World War ll | War years as a Flight Engineer air gunner | Memories of 1178 Squadron ATC | 34 | 42 | Link |
Family History | The Dragoon who served under Wellington | Various members of the Hitchen families of Wigan | 35 | 9 | Link |
Childhood | Childhood revisted (part four) | Growing up in Ashton-in-Makerfield | 35 | 10 | Link |
Recollections | Village life in Abram 1902-1911 | Extracts from Abram parish magazines | 35 | 13 | Link |
Dancing | The Falcons Dance Band | The dance band was formed in 1942 by ATC cadets in Leigh | 35 | 16 | Link |
Recollections | Random thoughts on Atherton | The author was born in 1921 | 35 | 19 | Link |
Boer War | Letters from the Front (Episode four) | Local men in the Boer War 1899-1902 | 35 | 21 | Link |
Biography | Donald Anderson (1912-2003) | Appreciation of the life of the miner and author of mining books | 35 | 24 | Link |
Recollections | "Good stuff comes out of Wigan!" | The recollections of Eunice Bowman at the age of 105 | 35 | 26 | Link |
Recollections | I remember when… | The author composed a letter on behalf of a coach driver, asking to visit Blenheim Palace, before it was opened to the public | 35 | 27 | Link |
Railways | Tyldesley railway station | Recollections of the station (opened 1864, closed 1969) | 35 | 29 | Link |
Family History | The Clarke brothers of Leigh | Five brothers served in World War l | 35 | 30 | Link |
Mining | The Children's Employment Commission (Mines) 1842 | The evidence gathered helped to end appalling working practices for children | 35 | 33 | Link |
Childhood | Saturday morning | Unhappy memories of shopping for a rabbit at Allsop's in wartime | 35 | 36 | Link |
Fire Service | Wigan's wartime Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) | Short article with a photograph taken in 1940 | 35 | 37 | Link |
Childhood | What a memory | Recollections of growing up in Swinley | 36 | 5 | Link |
Ghosts | The ghosts of Upholland | Ghosts said to haunt various houses in Upholland | 36 | 6 | Link |
Mining | Mining tales | Recollections of Bickershaw Colliery | 36 | 9 | Link |
World War ll | Tom Taylor's war | Wartime experiences in the Royal Engineers | 36 | 10 | Link |
Family History | Chance encounter | Research into the Taylor Family | 36 | 13 | Link |
Doctors | A Wigan family album | Photographs by Dr Maurice McElligot, in Wigan 1900-1925 | 36 | 17 | Link |
Parish Registers | Ephemera from the archives: baptisms and church registers | History of the registers and interesting examples | 36 | 18 | Link |
Recollections | Memories of happy days in Wigan | Recollections of Beech Hill and Gidlow Houses | 36 | 20 | Link |
Places | Wigan | Reproduction of an artwork by Gerald Rickards | 36 | 22 | Link |
Recollections | Memories of old Wigan | Various recollections from the 19th century | 36 | 26 | Link |
Recollections | Brass bands and kind hearts | Memories of Walking Days | 36 | 28 | Link |
Recollections | Barm cakes in the pantry | Visits to relatives in Wigan | 36 | 31 | Link |
Recollections | Garswood - the old village | Description of places and people | 36 | 34 | Link |
Music | Ashton-in-Makerfield Male Voice Choir | Account written in the 1960s | 36 | 36 | Link |
Biography | Apprenticeship memories, 'Top Pit', Dalton | Working in the pit run by Donald Anderson | 36 | 37 | Link |
Biography | Superb tradesman and gentleman | Working life in 'Bottom Pit' | 36 | 37 | Link |
Shops | The memories of a master butcher | The author recollects his and other shops | 36 | 39 | Link |
Schools | St Thomas's Infant School, Caroline Street, Wigan c.1948 | Three photographs and names of teachers | 36 | 41 | Link |
Recollections | Right in the first place | Bellringing in Holy Trinity Church, Downall Green | 36 | 42 | Link |
Boer War | Called to the colours | The author's grandfather served with the South Lancs Regiment and was awarded the DCM | 36 | 42 | Link |
Shops | A family business in Wigan | Lonsdale grocers and merchants | 37 | 5 | Link |
Recollections | Memories | Tom Unsworth's service in WWl | 37 | 6 | Link |
Dialect | Weer are't gooin | A story in Wigan dialect | 37 | 8 | Link |
Mining | William Thomas Miller (1880-1963) | William Miller was a pit deputies leader and Non-conformist | 37 | 10 | Link |
Farming | Farming notes in the wartime years | Recollections of Arrowsmith Farm, Leigh | 37 | 11 | Link |
Poetry | The farmer's year round | By a farmer at Garret Hall Farm | 37 | 11 | Link |
Artists | John Mallinson Stamper, Wigan 1910 | An artist who portrayed Billy Boston and the Infirmary | 37 | 12 | Link |
Biography | James Lowe | James Lowe was the founder of a metal works and vice president of Bellingham Bowling club | 37 | 14 | Link |
Biography | Sergeant Thomas Atkinson | A police sergeant who was wounded in a fire at Eckersley's mill | 37 | 14 | Link |
Mining | A pit brow girl's story | Recollections of Long Lane colliery ('Crowpit) in the 1930s | 37 | 15 | Link |
World War ll | Going to war | Service in the RAF | 37 | 16 | Link |
Rugby League | A try scoring machine! | The rugby career of Lewis Bradley, killed on war service in 1918 | 37 | 18 | Link |
Transport | Memories of LUT | The company ran buses, trams and trolley buses | 37 | 20 | Link |
Churches | Saint Luke's, Orrell | Art work by Gerald Rickards | 37 | 23 | Link |
Mining | Mary Lee, the last woman to work underground at Atherton collieries | Ellen Smith's reminiscences, written in 1921, of miners and mining at Gibfield | 37 | 26 | Link |
Mining | Foreword | Details of the magazine 'Carbon', published by Atherton collieries | 37 | 26 | Link |
Brass Bands | South Pemberton Brass Band | The author's father established the band | 37 | 28 | Link |
Water supply | The burning wells of Wigan | The combustion of methane from coal deposits | 37 | 29 | Link |
Nursing | My memory of World War ll | Nursing during the war | 37 | 32 | Link |
Recollections | From Spring Bank to Winstanley | Recollections of family life from 1938 to 1948 | 37 | 35 | Link |
Hospitals | The Sanny | Treatment of diphtheria at Whelley Hospital in 1937 | 37 | 37 | Link |
Churches | The beginnings of Christ Church, Pennington, 150 years ago | The foundation stone was laid in 1853 | 37 | 38 | Link |
Music | Parkside Choir | The author's father was the first conductor of Ashton Male Voice Choir, later dissolved and membership transferred to Parkside Choir | 37 | 40 | Link |
Recollections | Brigadoon situation | 60 families moved into new houses in Billinge in 1952 | 37 | 40 | Link |
Schools | Years rolled away | Recollections of St Thomas's school, Clayton Street | 37 | 41 | Link |
Schools | The Furey brothers | Attendees at St Joseph's RC School, Leigh | 37 | 42 | Link |
Entertainments | The Indians are coming! | The visit of Buffalo Bill's show in Leigh in 1904 | 38 | 4 | Link |
Recollections | Marlebone village 1900-1950 | Recollections include the Ball and Birchall families of Marylebone stores | 38 | 6 | Link |
Mining | The battle of Howe Bridge 1881 | The government sent in infantry and Hussars to intervene between working miners at Atherton and strikers from other districts | 38 | 8 | Link |
World War l | Another war in Iraq | William Moore DCM served in Iraq in the war, and died in an uprising there in 1920 | 38 | 11 | Link |
Family History | The Wright family | Six brothers served in the Primitive Methodist church | 38 | 14 | Link |
Mining | Grounds family newsletter | 2004 extract about a pit brow lass, Ellen Grounds | 38 | 15 | Link |
Family History | Three Wigan families | The Cole, Hulse and Taylor families of Beech Hill and Gidlow | 38 | 17 | Link |
Places | 25 doorways | A quiz asking for the location of Wigan doorways | 38 | 22 | Link |
Rugby League | Lance Todd: memories of a Rugby League legend | Todd played for Wigan from 1907 to 1914 | 38 | 25 | Link |
Schools | An apple for the teacher | Memories including school days at Ince Central school | 38 | 26 | Link |
Health | "Very nearly an armful" | Leigh blood transfusion service | 38 | 28 | Link |
Rugby League | Percy Leslie Moxey: Wigan (& Llanelli) | Percy Moxey signed for Wigan in1938, but died in a training operation in the RAF in 1942 | 38 | 29 | Link |
Poetry | The Ballad of Billinge Hill | Extolling the view from the hill, and the beacon used for aircraft observation in World War ll | 38 | 30 | Link |
Women's Movement | Womans Worth three | Professor Kari McBride is writing a book about 'Womans Worth', which was discovered in Wigan archives | 38 | 31 | Link |
World War ll | Wartime blitz on Atherton | In 1941 a German landmine killed three people and destroyed Cox's farmhouse in Atherton | 38 | 32 | Link |
Industrial History | Memories of the old 'Top Place' ironworks | The Kirkless steel works | 38 | 33 | Link |
Railways | The Workman Train | Memories of cheap travel to Southport | 38 | 36 | Link |
Poetry | A tribute…D-Day invasion | A poem commemorating the people who took part on D-Day | 38 | 38 | Link |
Poetry | "Request for pedicure" poem | 38 | 39 | Link | |
Mining | Nook Colliery | A bus crash near Nook pit in 1950 | 38 | 39 | Link |
Mining | The Burgie | Several letters about the meaning and location of The Burgie | 38 | 40 | Link |
Places | Hall Lane tollgate | Memories of going through the tollgate in Hindley (with a photograph) | 38 | 41 | Link |
Places | Skeletons in the cupboard | Family members who lived at St Domingo Farm, Duke Street | 38 | 41 | Link |
Schools | Argyle Street School | Memories plus class photo | 38 | 43 | Link |
Health | Plague in Wigan | Record of plagues in 1625 and 1649 | 39 | 4 | Link |
Ships | Lost at sea | The Priam was wrecked in 1889, with passengers including Mr & Mrs Derbyshire and their servant Elizabeth Sith from Wigan | 39 | 7 | Link |
Health | Come to healthy Wigan, spa town extraordinaire! | There was a Harrowgate Spa in the 18th century, mentioned by Dr Prosser White | 39 | 8 | Link |
Armed Forces | RAF strikes, Calcutta 1946 | Rebellion in India when demobilisation was delayed | 39 | 11 | Link |
Singers | Anne Broadhurst | Anne Broadhurst was a pioneer singer on the radio in the 1920s, and an international performer | 39 | 15 | Link |
Cycling | Halcyon days with the Clarion | Recollections from the 1930s of the Leigh club | 39 | 16 | Link |
Places | Haigh & Wigan | Answers to the quiz about doorways [PF no. 38] | 39 | 22 | Link |
Canals | Life on a Lancashire canal during World War ll | Recollections of the Leigh arm of the Leeds & Liverpool, and of the Bridgewater, canals | 39 | 24 | Link |
Armed Forces | Norman Dewhurst MC - a Lancastrian | Norman Dewhurst enlisted in 1906, served in WWl, then became an intelligence agent for the government | 39 | 26 | Link |
Natural History | Charles Bell of Wigan | Charles Bell was a 'Seedsman and Taxidermist' in Wallgate, and interested in conservation`` | 39 | 29 | Link |
Shops | Anything for the weekend Sir? | Recollections of barbershops in Scholes | 39 | 30 | Link |
Recollections | The "Battle" of Wigan Lane Mark 2 | Young people used to parade down Wigan Lane on a Sunday evening | 39 | 31 | Link |
Local Government | The Poor Law - local government in 18th century Atherton | The workings of the Elizabethan law | 39 | 32 | Link |
World War ll | Wartime in Wigan | 39 | 36 | Link | |
Childhood | The Girl | Recollections of childhood in Ince | 39 | 37 | Link |
Wrestling | Burgy Ben | A Lancashire Style wrestler, born in 1867 | 39 | 39 | Link |
Schools | Ince Central School | Memories from the 1950s | 39 | 40 | Link |
Clubs | Irish clubs in the Wigan area | Request for more information | 39 | 40 | Link |
Recollections | Marylebone Village | 39 | 41 | Link | |
World War ll | Wartime blitz on Atherton | Landmines caused damage in 1941 [2 letters] | 39 | 41 | Link |
Biography | Mary Tomlinson - Pit brow worker | Mary Tomlinson spent two years as a pit brow lass | 39 | 42 | Link |
Childhood | Stoney Lane Bridge and Navvies Lump | Recollections of life in Hindley | 39 | 43 | Link |
Mining | Gibfield Colliery pithead baths still open for business | The baths, built in 1913 (and now a garage) were the first pit head baths in the country | 40 | 4 | Link |
Mining | Killed by electricity | An electrical engineering student was killed in an accident at Park Collieries in 1898 | 40 | 6 | Link |
Childhood | Trips on the barge | Recollections of barge trips on the canal at Crooke | 40 | 8 | Link |
Halls | Winstanley Hall | History of the hall and of the Winstanley and Bankes families | 40 | 9 | Link |
Schools | Higher Folds: a new school opens | An account of the opening in 1965, by the first headteacher | 40 | 15 | Link |
Recollections | I'll tell you a tale… | Recollections about Jack Cain, by his son | 40 | 18 | Link |
Places | Wigan Pier | Reproduction of drawings by Gerald Rickards | 40 | 22 | Link |
Childhood | Just one day | An account of one day growing up in Ince | 40 | 24 | Link |
Football | 50 years of football in Ashton-in-Makerfield | An account of Ashton Town Football Club | 40 | 25 | Link |
Childhood | The Return | Dreamy recollections of childhood in Ince | 40 | 26 | Link |
Battles | The Scots are coming | Atherton men took part in the Battle of Preston in 1715 | 40 | 28 | Link |
World War ll | Wartime in Wigan | Continuation of the series | 40 | 31 | Link |
Motor Racing | What happened to the prizes | A time trial in 1933 in aid of the mayor's Cot Fund, with Gracie Fields as the star guest | 40 | 32 | Link |
World War l | Wigan and the Arras tunnels | A Wigan man helped to dig tunnels under Arras with New Zealand army tunnellers | 40 | 33 | Link |
Cinemas | Fond memories of the Ritz | Two accounts of the cinema, in advance of its demolition | 40 | 34 | Link |
World War ll | "Never married, but wore engagement ring until her death" | Letters from the Western Front from Norman Wilkinson to his fiancee | 40 | 35 | Link |
Poetry | Wigan (Written on the Somme, May 1918) | By a Wigan soldier | 40 | 36 | Link |
Houses | Are we all knobsticks? | The term was used for strike-breakers, but the author's grandfather wrote in 1920 that people decorating their own homes did not deserve the name | 40 | 38 | Link |
Recollections | Memories 1935-1945 | Life in a grocery shop in Gidlow Lane | 40 | 39 | Link |
Rugby Union | Wigan Old Boys: RUFC: Memorials of Old Boys killed in action World War ll | The quest to find the families of 13 men killed in the war, for whom named tankards had been made | 41 | 4 | Link |
Skating | Joseph Bates, British speed skating champion | Joseph Bates became a national and international ice skating champion | 41 | 7 | Link |
Schools | Streaks of red bacon and metal monsters | Further recollections of Higher Folds School, by its first headteacher | 41 | 13 | Link |
World War ll | Should the invaders come! | Photographs of members of the Home Guard and emergency services | 41 | 18 | Link |
Recollections | Father's chimney | The lives of family members | 41 | 20 | Link |
Apprenticeships | Atheron apprentices in the 18th and early 19th century | Account based on the Atherton Township records in Leigh town hall | 41 | 23 | Link |
Mining | The Pretoria Pit disaster | One of the worst mining disasters in Britain | 41 | 26 | Link |
Refugees | A refuge in Wigan | Letters from people who were given shelter in Wigan during World War ll | 41 | 28 | Link |
Food | The famous Leigh cheese | The recipe contained in John Holt's 1795 book about Lancashire agriculture | 41 | 30 | Link |
Poetry | The Cleansing | A poem about pit-head baths | 41 | 33 | Link |
World War l | Wigan and the Arras tunnels | Men from St Helens awarded the DCM for their tunnelling work | 41 | 34 | Link |
Recollections | Memories of a golden voice | Memories of the the Black Horse pub, John Pit and Almond Brook | 42 | 5 | Link |
World War ll | A refuge in Wigan | The council and voluntary groups settled refugees from Europe | 42 | 13 | Link |
World War ll | [Letter] | Recollections of refugees from Guernsey | 42 | 13 | Link |
World War ll | [Letter] | Recollections of refugees from Guernsey | 42 | 14 | Link |
Shops | Memories of war time working at Rushton's | 42 | 15 | Link | |
Biography | Henry Tennyson Folkard, Librarian of Wigan Library, 1877-1916 | Henry Folkard was the first Wigan librarian | 42 | 15 | Link |
Railways | Brown & Haigh's chartered train | A works outing from the clothing wholesalers in Wood Street | 42 | 16 | Link |
Mining | Early mining gem rediscovered at the History Shop | Henry Folkard, the first librarian, acquired a 2nd edition of De Re Metallica, dated 1561 | 42 | 18 | Link |
Local Government | The settlement laws of the 18th and early 19th centuries | Parish relief could be offered only in one's own parish | 42 | 20 | Link |
World War ll | Robert Ogden - gone but not forgotten | Robert Ogden was one of the men killed by the sinking of HMS Hood in 1941 | 42 | 24 | Link |
Dancing | Dance in time | Recollections of various dancing venues | 42 | 25 | Link |
Schools | Joe arrived in a Jaguar | Further recollections of Higher Folds School, by its first headteacher | 42 | 27 | Link |
Theatres | Wigan Pier Theatre Company - outreach: past, present & future | Outreach work in Leigh | 42 | 29 | Link |
Wrestling | Riley's gym in the 1950s | Ernie Riley was a famous 'all-in' wrestler | 42 | 30 | Link |
Biography | They called her 'The White Mother' | Emily Sprott, a member of Wigan parish church, became a missionary in the Solomon Islands | 42 | 31 | Link |
Biography | Gerald Rickards (1931-2006) | Remembering the Wigan artist, who designed and painted the central window of Queen's Hall | 42 | 33 | Link |
World War ll | A refuge in Wigan part 2 | The warm welcome was contrasted with that of Blackpool | 43 | 11 | Link |
Mining | Black Friday 13th 1886 - Bedford Colliery explosion | 38 miners were killed in the firedamp explosion on 13th August 1886 | 43 | 13 | Link |
Schools | Student days at Gidlow Secondary Modern School for girls | From a pupil in the 1950s | 43 | 16 | Link |
Royal Visits | The Wigan Observer's Royal scoop | The author's photos of the royal visit on 20 May 1938 were published the same day as the event | 43 | 18 | Link |
Local Government | Robert Settle, Atherton Overseer of the Poor | Robert Settle kept detailed records from 1802 to1808 | 43 | 20 | Link |
Schools | Magic moments | Further recollections of Higher Folds school, by its first headteacher, as he retired | 43 | 27 | Link |
Childhood | Memories of Millgate | The author's grandmother had a sweet shop at the top of Millgate | 43 | 29 | Link |
World War ll | Walker Brothers' wartime nursery | The nursery was at the rectory in Frog Lane | 43 | 31 | Link |
Shops | Do you remember | Recollections of shops in Wigan town centre | 43 | 32 | Link |
Shops | Wigan memories | Recollections of shops in Wigan town centre | 43 | 33 | Link |
World War ll | [Two letters about Guernsey refugees] | 43 | 33 | Link | |
World War ll | Robert Ogden - gone but not forgotten: generous gift | A Past Forward reader donated one of Robert Ogden's medals to his nephew, Paul [see PF 42, p. 24] | 43 | 34 | Link |
Dancing | Dancing and Rugby | The Madhatters Dance Band was associated with Shamrock Rovers Amateur RL Club | 43 | 34 | Link |
Recollections | Life in the old Higher Ince | The author's parents ran the Bay Horse Hotel | 44 | 12 | Link |
Schools | Wesleyan Methodist Day School, Dicconson Street, Wigam | Recollections from the 1930s | 44 | 14 | Link |
Celebrations | [Letter] | Christmas presents given to Heinz employees | 44 | 14 | Link |
Celebrations | Father Christmas comes to Lowe's! | Father Christmas climbed the chimney into Lowe's shop | 44 | 15 | Link |
Childhood | Childhood memories of an Old Park Laner | Memories of Park Lane Chapel | 44 | 16 | Link |
Industrial History | Brock Mill Forge | R R Angerstein, a Swedish metallurgist, wrote about his visit in 1753, and the new inventions used in the iron works | 44 | 18 | Link |
World War ll | The last of the doodlebugs | An RAF man on duty at Springs Branch shed witnessed a plane about to drop bombs nearby | 44 | 20 | Link |
Recollections | 1960 | Work at Eckersley Mill, and dancing to new music in the evenings | 44 | 22 | Link |
Mining | The story of James Tinsley, one of the Explorers, Bedford Colliery explosion 1886 | Further recollections of the author's great uncle [see PF 43] | 44 | 24 | Link |
Shops | Shops ancient and loyal | Recollections of shops in the town centre | 44 | 26 | Link |
Schools | How the Archbishop 'saved Arnold's bacon' | Events at the laying of the foundation stone of St Thomas More School in Newtown | 44 | 27 | Link |
Transport | Book review | Review of 'Lancashire United - a centenary celebration' | 44 | 28 | Link |
Mental Illness | Committed to a lunatic asylum for being a vagrant and spitting | The author's ancestor who was detained in Lancaster until her death | 44 | 29 | Link |
Legends | The laying of the Gatley Farm boggart | An ancient waterwheel was the cause of ghostly sounds during storms | 44 | 31 | Link |
Shops | Rushton's | The author worked at Rushton's from 1939 to 1942 | 44 | 33 | Link |
Farming | [Letter] | Recollections of Edge Wood Hall farm, Orrell | 44 | 33 | Link |
Industrial History | J H Naylor Brass Foundry | Recollections of working at the Millgate works 1935-1939 | 44 | 34 | Link |
Books | Copernicus and Lord Crawford | The Royal Observatory in Scotland had a copy of a book by Copernicus which had been owned by Lord Crawford | 44 | 35 | Link |
World War ll | Refugees | Recollections about a Guernsey family in Pemberton | 44 | 35 | Link |
Dialect | "Wiggin speak" | The author shares 20 Wigan phrases, and hopes the dialect continues to be spoken | 45 | 5 | Link |
Archaeology | Wigan's bathhouse remains - a view from Wigan Archaeology Society | The exciting finds of Roman occupation in Millgate | 45 | 8 | Link |
Heritage | Wigan Heritage Network | An invitation to groups and individuals to join the new group | 45 | 16 | Link |
Local Government | Letter from America | An emigrant to Philadelphia wrote to the Overseer of the Poor at Atherton, asking for financial help to send for his family | 45 | 18 | Link |
Cotton Industry | The mid-thirties depression and the cotton queen | The author photographed some of the Lancashire cotton queens | 45 | 26 | Link |
Pubs | Bay Horse Hotel at Whelley | The community outreach officer collated people's memories | 45 | 28 | Link |
Churches | Happy 700th birthday: the Church of St Thomas | The history of the church, and the celebrations to mark the milestone | 45 | 30 | Link |
Industrial History | [Letter] | Further information about the screw cutting machine at Brock Mill forge | 45 | 32 | Link |
Farming | [Letter] | The author's father worked on a threshing machine | 45 | 32 | Link |
Churches | [Letter] | Recollections of Archbishop Downey at a CYMS rally in Wigan | 45 | 33 | Link |
Industrial History | [Letter] | Recollections of working at J H Naylor's works 1958-1964) | 45 | 33 | Link |
Shops | From counter to checkout in Wigan | The evolution of shops and shopping habits in the town | 46 | 4 | Link |
Recollections | Scholes remembered | Life in Scholes from the author's birth in 1925 | 46 | 8 | Link |
Industrial History | Copperas - a lost local history | Copperas was used to fix dyes in cloth, and there were several works in the Wigan area | 46 | 10 | Link |
Churches | The Church of Christ, Rodney Street ,Wigan | The church, founded in 1841 by Timothy Coop, closed in 1989 | 46 | 12 | Link |
Poetry | Memories of old Hindley | Recollections in rhyme | 46 | 15 | Link |
World War l | Wiganers at Gallipoli | The 6th (Service) Batallion of the Border Regiment included men from Wigan | 46 | 16 | Link |
Poetry | Growing on up Ashton Heath | Recollections in rhyme | 46 | 19 | Link |
Local Government | The Atherton Workhouse | Records of the workhouse building and its inmates | 46 | 20 | Link |
Memorials | From Coniston to Leigh: a Ruskin connection | The Johnson family erected a replica of Ruskin's Coniston tomb in Leigh municipal cemetery | 46 | 23 | Link |
Cotton Industry | Billy Rigby's magic | A metal worker repaired a mill engine, and many other machines | 46 | 24 | Link |
Mining | A "world's first" for Howebridge | The Mines Rescue Station (1908-1933) was the first in the world | 46 | 26 | Link |
Recollections | Wigan Telephone Exchange | Childhood in Upholland, and working in the telephone exchange | 46 | 30 | Link |
Childhood | 1926 and all that | Recollections of Higher Ince | 46 | 32 | Link |
Mining | When Borsdane Wood nearly became a mine | Excavations to find coal in 1926 stopped for an unknown reason | 47 | 10 | Link |
World War l | The World War l battlefields of France | A reader's photographs of the grave of a Wigan soldier on the Somme | 47 | 11 | Link |
Childhood | A portrait of my grandmother, Lillian Gorner | The family lived in Bryn | 47 | 12 | Link |
Health | Stone House, Pennington | Stone House housed the Child Health and Welfare Centre from 1920 to 1968 | 47 | 16 | Link |
Childhood | The other side of the Heath | Growing up in Ashton Heath | 47 | 18 | Link |
Local Government | The Leigh Poor Law Union: Atherton - 1837 | The formation and operation of the Union | 47 | 20 | Link |
Mining | Hindley Green Springs Colliery disaster | 62 people were killed by the explosion on 26 November 1868 | 47 | 24 | Link |
Police | Ghostly tales from a policeman | The author's grandfather joined the police in the 1890s | 47 | 27 | Link |
Shops | Ida Norcliffe's corset shop | The author wore a corset from the shop in Scholes | 47 | 29 | Link |
Recollections | Memories from Pool Street | Life in Poolstock | 47 | 29 | Link |
World War l | Gallipoli Campaign | Information about the Wigan men who fought and died at Gallipoli | 47 | 30 | Link |
Poetry | Memories of Hindley Green | Recollections in rhyme | 47 | 31 | Link |
Schools | Reunion - Gidlow Secondary Modern School for Girls | Recollections of school life at a reunion after 50 years | 47 | 32 | Link |
Civil War | Cromwell's Ditch | The named ditch which ran from Poolstock Church to the Saddle Junction appeared on early maps but may have been a natural feature not a fortification | 48 | 9 | Link |
Music | My family and music | Musical members of the author's family | 48 | 10 | Link |
Recollections | My teenage years | Life in Higher Ince and Wigan | 48 | 12 | Link |
Music | Stickability on a fiddle - the wartime adventures of a fiddle | The author took his violin with him on service in the far east in World War ll | 48 | 16 | Link |
Recollections | Do you remember? | Memories of life in Wigan | 48 | 18 | Link |
Local Government | The Atherton Local Board - a forgotten heritage? | The operation of the Board in the 19th century | 48 | 20 | Link |
Cinemas | Silver screen dreams | Names of lost cinemas in Leigh, and the new cinema club in the Turnpike Centre | 48 | 25 | Link |
Mining | Tydin' up is harder than a month in t'pit! | A short story about working in a mine | 48 | 26 | Link |
Shops | Ida Norcliffe | Further information about the corset shop [see PF 47, p.29] | 48 | 29 | Link |
Romans | The search for a Roman road in Higher Ince | An excavation around St William's primary school | 48 | 30 | Link |
Heritage | Wigan Heritage Network | Aims of the group | 48 | 32 | Link |
Sport | 1908 Olympians of the Borough | Two swimmers and a cyclist at the London games | 49 | 6 | Link |
Mining | Weekend community celebrations | Astley, Blackmoor and Astley Green commemorations | 49 | 8 | Link |
Wrestling | Uncovering the shy shooter of the north | The life and career of Bob Robinson, known as Billy Joyce | 49 | 10 | Link |
Local Government | Help for the deserving poor | 18th century social security | 49 | 14 | Link |
Mining | The Maypole Colliery disaster | 75 men were killed on 18th August 1908 | 49 | 18 | Link |
Health | Spanish Flu | Spring 1918 to Spring 1919 in Leigh, Atherton & Tyldesley | 49 | 22 | Link |
Members of Parliament | Jane Austen and a Wigan M.P. | Robert Holt Leigh visited Jane Austen at Stoneleigh Abbey | 49 | 24 | Link |
Recollections | Do you remember? | Memories of life in Wigan [see PF 48, p.18] | 49 | 26 | Link |
Biography | Harry Glover | Recollections of the author's father | 49 | 28 | Link |
Places | Beech Hill | A mineshaft was discovered under the author's house | 49 | 30 | Link |
Schools | Spring View School | Recollections of the 1940s | 49 | 30 | Link |
Leisure | Pigeon power | Recollections of pigeon racing | 49 | 34 | Link |
Sport | Amsterdam 1928: Leigh's Olympic athletes | One high-jumper and two gymnasts | 50 | 4 | Link |
Police | My grandfather | The life of the author's grandfather [see PF 47, p.27] | 50 | 8 | Link |
Railways | 2968 and some of Wigan's surviving railway heritage | Some of Wigan's locomotives to be found in other parts of the country | 50 | 10 | Link |
Mining | The Maypole Colliery disaster | Report from the centenary commemoration weekend | 50 | 12 | Link |
Recollections | Do you remember?: Our house | Memories of home life | 50 | 14 | Link |
Pensions | Old Age Pensions: the Leigh experience | The introduction of the pension in January 1909 | 50 | 16 | Link |
Roads | The highways of Atherton in the early eighteenth century | How roads were maintained | 50 | 20 | Link |
Local Government | Christmas Day in the workhouse | The author visited the Frog Lane Institution with the mayor | 50 | 22 | Link |
Cotton Industry | Trencherfield mill engine: 100 years and still going strong! | Now a visitor attraction | 50 | 26 | Link |
Recollections | Brook Lane memories | The author's recollections from 1939 onwards | 50 | 26 | Link |
Entertainments | [Letter] | Dean Wood fairground | 50 | 29 | Link |
Recollections | [Letter] | Fundraising ro build a church in Hindley Green | 50 | 30 | Link |
Family History | A personal Road to Wigan Pier | The author's visit to the town to research his ancestors | 50 | 36 | Link |
Astronomy | Crowned with the stars | People from Wigan associated with astronomy | 51 | 8 | Link |
Family History | Weaving memories together | The extended Tierney family in the 1940s and 50s | 51 | 12 | Link |
Recollections | Do you remember? | More memories, especially of food | 51 | 15 | Link |
Politics | Trades Council to Labour Representation 1906-1908 | The Leigh Trades Council chose their own candidate for an independent political party | 51 | 18 | Link |
Banks | The commercial hub of post-World War ll in Wigan | Six banks in the centre of the town | 51 | 18 | Link |
Local Government | The parish vestry | The latter days of the parish administration in Atherton 1839-1864 | 51 | 20 | Link |
Floods | Welcome floods | Former meadows in town which still flood | 51 | 22 | Link |
Music | Looking back and looking forward | The link between northern music and Tamla Motown | 51 | 24 | Link |
Industrial History | Hidden in Haigh | Clues to the town's industrial past in the Haigh estate | 51 | 26 | Link |
World War ll | [Letter] | Two men from Hindley met in the Burmese jungle | 51 | 28 | Link |
Childhood | Trips on the barge | Recollections of barge trips on the canal at Crooke | 51 | 30 | Link |
Boer War | The war medals of Charles Hogg | A veteran donated his medals to the Museum | 51 | 34 | Link |
Museums | History Shop update | The building was being totally refurbished | 52 | 3 | Link |
Mining | The Miners' strike of 1984 | Recollections on the 25th anniversary | 52 | 8 | Link |
Parks | Vanished deer parks | Research into medieval deer parks, including at Haigh Hall | 52 | 12 | Link |
Health | My mother's eyes | Recollections of illnesses and treatment | 52 | 14 | Link |
Biography | Walter Hurst - 'Mr Hindley' | The life of the Hindley grocer | 52 | 16 | Link |
Railways | August 1966 - A nostalgic tour in the dying days of steam | A special tour which began at Springs Branch depot | 52 | 18 | Link |
Customs | Hindley's bell-man | An independent bell-man in Hindley in the 1930s | 52 | 21 | Link |
Cinemas | Do you remember? Wigan's town centre cinemas | Many named, now lost, cinemas | 52 | 22 | Link |
Hospitals | Whelley Hospital | Recollections of the former fever hospital which was to be closed | 52 | 25 | Link |
Poetry | Clogs on cobbles | A poem recalling Leigh in the past | 52 | 25 | Link |
Politics | The Leigh Labour Party, Tom Greenall and the battle for working men's vote | In 1910 the Liberals won the seat in the first election, and Labour did not stand a candidate in the second | 52 | 26 | Link |
Mining | Thomas Hulme's Edward Medal | Thomas Hulme rescued a fellow miner after a roof fall at Parsonage Colliery in 1941 and later donated his medal to the Archives. | 53 | 7 | Link |
Libraries | Celebrating 100 years of service: Tyldesley Library | 53 | 8 | Link | |
Wrestling | Joe Acton, Wigan's first world champion? | Joe Acton was catch-as-catch can lightweight world champion | 53 | 11 | Link |
Statues | Flora's story | Tom Brown MP bought the statue of Flora, goddess of Spring and flowers, from Hindley Green Hall for his garden | 53 | 12 | Link |
Biography | The lady of Station House | The life of Mary Cheetham, who married the signalman at Bryn Station | 53 | 14 | Link |
Local Government | "Political jobbery" at Leigh | Disputes within the council in the 1890s | 53 | 16 | Link |
Recollections | "Mild & bitter were the days" | A teenager's life in 1970, based on his diaries | 53 | 18 | Link |
Libraries | Andrew Carnegie 1835-1919 | In 1909 Andrew Carnegie came to receive the freedom of the borough in recognition of his gift of libraries | 53 | 20 | Link |
Poetry | A miner's tale | 53 | 21 | Link | |
Schools | Memories: King Street Methodist School, Leigh | The author started at the school in 1944 | 53 | 22 | Link |
Recollections | Gold, frankincence and th'mayor | Memories of the choir in the parish church | 53 | 23 | Link |
Fire Service | Hindley's fog horn | The very loud horn used to summon the fire fighters | 53 | 24 | Link |
Local Government | The eighteenth century constable | Their duties were much wider than just policing | 53 | 26 | Link |
Railways | Stanier Mogul 42968 | The history of the engine which spent part of its life at Springs Branch | 53 | 32 | Link |
Carriers | The Stott family: carriers of Astley and Tyldesley | The family were carriers in the area from 1780 to 1874 | 54 | 10 | Link |
Local Government | Where do I belong: Atherton settlement examinations | In the 19th century townships were unwilling to support people who did not have a right to live there | 54 | 14 | Link |
Recollections | More Brook Lane memories | The author's recollections from 1939 onwards | 54 | 16 | Link |
Places | The origins of Makerfield | The ancient territorial unit included Newton and lands attached to Wigan church | 54 | 18 | Link |
Recollections | Under the 'Greenwood' tree | Memories of people in Hindley | 54 | 20 | Link |
Workhouses | The neglect of Leigh Workhouse children | Records from 1902 | 54 | 22 | Link |
Methodism | Birth of a church | History of Bispham Methodist Church from 1845 | 54 | 24 | Link |
World War ll | A personal story: Italy 1943-1945 | The author was called up for Army service, and fought in several places in Italy | 54 | 26 | Link |
World War ll | My first job | A Home Guard exercise demolished a wall at Haigh, and the author was put in charge of hazard warning lights at the age of eight | 54 | 28 | Link |
Chapels | Chowbent Chapel celebrates 'The General' | James Wood served the congregation for 64 years | 54 | 30 | Link |
Family History | From Chowbent to Bath | A plaque in Bath Abbey memorialises Sarah Parry (nee Rigby) of Chowbent | 54 | 32 | Link |
Football | Sir Roger Hunt was wonderful | Hunt was born in Golborne, played for Liverpool, and took part in the 1966 World Cup victory | 55 | 4 | Link |
World War ll | The Spitfire story: Second World War memories of a young boy | The plane crashed in Aspull | 55 | 6 | Link |
Earthquakes | The Earthquake | A tremor was felt in Wigan on 14 September 1777 | 55 | 7 | Link |
Workhouses | Leigh Workhouse children's experience: a second look | Records from 1902 onwards | 55 | 10 | Link |
Churches | Spring clean for bells | Money was raised to clean the Leigh church bells dating from 1740 | 55 | 13 | Link |
Places | The medieval open fields of Wigan | Names such as Longshoot give clues to the open field system | 55 | 14 | Link |
Roads | The Atherton tollgate | There was great controversy over the placing of the toll bar in the 1860s | 55 | 16 | Link |
Schools | Rose Bridge School revisted | A former pupil visited the school | 55 | 18 | Link |
Rugby League | The first Rugby League tour Down Under | Five Wigan players were in the England team in 1910 | 55 | 22 | Link |
Biography | Sir Francis Sharp Powell | The local MP and philanthropist is honoured with a statue in Mesnes Park | 55 | 24 | Link |
Biography | Lawrence Spencer Murdoch (1866-1946) | Lawrence Murdoch was vicar of Christ Church Pennington | 55 | 28 | Link |
Biography | John Lancaster and The Deerhound | The MP and mine owner used his yacht to rescue people from a Confederate cruiser in 1864 | 55 | 30 | Link |
Churches | Bispham Methodist Church | More memories of the church | 55 | 32 | Link |
Mining | Aunt Maggie and the Pretoria tragedy | How the Pretoria Pit disaster touched a family | 56 | 4 | Link |
Mining | 344 - A story of the Pretoria Pit disaster | An ancestor of the author died in the disaster | 56 | 6 | Link |
Armed Forces | The Queen's shilling | The author's ancestor served in the army from 1842 and then was gatekeeper on the Haigh estate | 56 | 8 | Link |
Local History | Aspects of local life in the Wigan Gazette and Wigan Times | Extracts from local papers from the years 1838-1851 | 56 | 10 | Link |
Workhouses | Leigh Workhouse children's stories | Individual children's records from 1899 to 1910 | 56 | 12 | Link |
Shops | A Wigan childhood - shopping in the 1940s | The author recalls shops in the town centre | 56 | 14 | Link |
Employment | Keeping people in touch in a snowbound Wigan | The author struggled to get to work as a telephonist in a snowstorm in 1941 | 56 | 14 | Link |
Water Supply | 150 years of Cutacre Clough | Between 1863 and 1867 Tyldesley Local Board proposed to build a reservoir using part of the Clough | 56 | 16 | Link |
Farming | Medieval farming in Abram | Information gleaned from the records of Cockersands Abbey | 56 | 18 | Link |
House History | The family history of Kilhey Court, Standish | Built by Thomas Fairhurst | 56 | 20 | Link |
World War ll | Thomas Dainton and Stalag XXA | Dainton was a prisoner of war in Poland | 56 | 23 | Link |
World War l | Captain Walker's war diary | Captain Walker records his service in the Royal Flying Corps in 1915 | 56 | 28 | Link |
Mining | [Letter] | The author's mother was given a cup and saucer after her brother was killed in the Pretoria Pit disaster | 56 | 30 | Link |
Mining | [Letter] | The author's uncle was killed in the Pretoria Pit disaster, and he himself was a 'Bevin Boy' | 56 | 31 | Link |
Cars | Leigh's first motoring offence | In 1911 John Higham was fined for having no lights or licence | 56 | 31 | Link |
Statues | Hindley Green Hall and the Flora statue | The author's mother lived at the hall in the 1930s and does not recall seeing the statue [See PF 53:12] | 56 | 32 | Link |
Museums | The Eckersley sword | The museum collection includes the sword awarded to Eckersley in 1827 for his military service | 56 | 33 | Link |
Royal Visits | The 1938 Royal visit | Vincent France recalled the visit of King George Vl and Queen Elizabeth | 57 | 4 | Link |
Biography | Thomas Darwell Harrison | Harrison was a businessman and magistrate | 57 | 7 | Link |
World War ll | Southport at Callender's: World War ll's Holidays at Home | Local committees organised these local holidays so that non-essential travel could be avoided | 57 | 8 | Link |
Clogs | Clogs | The making and wearing of clogs | 57 | 12 | Link |
Poetry | Mark Thomas Hughes | Mark Hughes was a poet and painter and founder of Wigan Literary and Scientific Society | 57 | 15 | Link |
Royal Visits | Let's celebrate | Photographs from several royal visits | 57 | 18 | Link |
Memorials | The stained glass windows in the school: a memorial to Mr Kay | A window dedicated to John Kay who died in a pit explosion in 1895 is installed in a new school building | 57 | 20 | Link |
Biography | Mary Tomlinson | Mary Tomlinson worked in a mill and a pit brow, then became a doctor and a missionary | 57 | 24 | Link |
Singers | "I'm Margery Booth from Wigan" | The life of the opera singer who was a wartime spy for the allies | 57 | 26 | Link |
Manufacturers | Burney's and other memories | The factory in Woodhouse Lane made handbags | 57 | 28 | Link |
Elections | The glory of Benjamin | A political tract of 1852 denigrated Francis Sharp Powell's father who was campaigning for his son | 57 | 32 | Link |
Biography | Grandad's pal | Two friends who lived in Upholland | 58 | 4 | Link |
Methodism | William Henry Lax (1868-1937): The Dan Leno of Methodism | The life of 'Lax of Poplar' who lived for a time in Hindley | 58 | 7 | Link |
Biography | Who lived in my house | A previous occupant of the author's house was Reginald Kenney, who helped to save Pennington Hall | 58 | 8 | Link |
Boer War | The tragic story of Arthur Ward | Ward served in the 32nd Lancashire Hussars and was killed in a battle at Kheis in 1900 | 58 | 10 | Link |
Childhood | Sundays at 32 Kendal Street | Life in the caretaker's house next to the Indpendent Methodist Chapel | 58 | 14 | Link |
Local Government | Why keep records | Settlement records contained in historical township records | 58 | 16 | Link |
Places | Walk the canal in Leigh | History of the canals, buildings and adjoining streets | 58 | 18 | Link |
Mining | A very exciting day | The Mayoress Margaret Park led a deputation to London in 1887 on behalf of pit brow lasses | 58 | 22 | Link |
Biography | Memories of a Wigan lad | The author recounts his life, including knowing the footballer Billy Mitchell | 58 | 24 | Link |
Books | Discovering Coccium: The archaeology of Roman Wigan | The excavations at Millgate prove that there was a Roman settlement in the town | 58 | 26 | Link |
Singers | The Formby Project | Celebrations of the life of George Formby | 58 | 28 | Link |
Music | My best organ-ised bride | The photographer recalls the search for the organist for a wedding | 58 | 31 | Link |
Dialect | [Letter] | The work of Richard D Lewis, who studied the Wigan dialect | 58 | 33 | Link |
House History | South Bank - the history of a house | The house in Atherton and some of its occupants | 59 | 4 | Link |
Juidaism | Wigan's lost Jewish heritage | There were once two synagogues in Wigan, and Jews' Yard, off Millgate | 59 | 6 | Link |
Industrial History | Lowton blacksmiths | 59 | 7 | Link | |
Swimming | International pool remembered | The former pool was opened in 1966 and closed in 2008 | 59 | 11 | Link |
Childhood | My Christmas past | 59 | 14 | Link | |
Religion | A medieval religious recluse | The anchorite Alina was recorded as living in Wigan in 1322 under the patronage of Sir Robert de Holland | 59 | 16 | Link |
World War l | The fate of two soldier friends | Thomas Cunliffe and William Calderbank enlisted in the Grenadier Guards and both died in 1915 | 59 | 20 | Link |
Biography | All things bright and beautiful | A duchess, born in Haigh Hall, wrote a letter in praise of factory chimneys | 59 | 22 | Link |
Farming | Sowing success: a brief history of Harrison, McGregor | The Leigh firm made agricultural machinery | 59 | 24 | Link |
Societies | Beginnings of the White Cross movement in Leigh and district | The society was founded to promote social purity | 59 | 26 | Link |
World War 1 | The diary of a Leigh Tommy 1915-1916 | Extracts from the diary of Thomas Cooke of the Manchester Pals regiment | 59 | 28 | Link |
Biography | Frank Ridyard Horrocks: an unremarkable pioneer? | Frank Horrocks founded the Firs Lea Naturalist Association | 59 | 32 | Link |
Cinemas | Goodbye to the Palace | The Palace Cinema stood at the bottom of King Street | 59 | 34 | Link |
Churches | United Reformed Church, Union Street, Leigh | A history of the church, marking its closure | 60 | 7 | Link |
Diaries | Collections corner: The Edward Hall diary collection | The collection at Leigh comprises over 250 diaries and many other items | 60 | 8 | Link |
Halls | Wigan's own Downton Abbey | Life in Haigh Hall in the 1870s | 60 | 10 | Link |
Poetry | Zeppelins ow'er our house | The story of a Zeppelin raid in 1918, told in the form of a poem | 60 | 13 | Link |
Dancing | Preserving our heritage | The varying fortunes of the Morris dancing ground in Abram, Chowbent Chapel and Astley Green Colliery | 60 | 14 | Link |
Crime | Accused of murder: Thomas Rothwell of Haigh | Rothwell was found not guilty of the murder of Francis Brocke in 1699 | 60 | 16 | Link |
Biography | A family's story | Richard Stott's life, including service in World War l | 60 | 20 | Link |
Biography | Wigan's forgotten knights | The lives of Sir Ken Jackson and Sir Les Cannon | 60 | 22 | Link |
Elections | Elections 1831 | Violence surrounded the election of John Kearsley (Tory) and Ralph Thicknesse (Whig) | 60 | 24 | Link |
Childhood | My early childhood memories 1927-1937 | 60 | 28 | Link | |
Cricket | A brief history of the development of Leigh Cricket Club, founded in 1854 | 60 | 32 | Link | |
Railways | Leigh's railway tunnel | Bedford Wharf tunnel was part of the mineral railway from Howe Bridge to Bedford basin on the canal | 61 | 4 | Link |
Local Government | Major Tom Hunter - surveyor to Leigh Urban District Council | 61 | 6 | Link | |
Biography | Basil Tierney | Basil Tierney helped people on their pilgrimages to Lourdes | 61 | 10 | Link |
Breweries | A tale of two brothers and Oldfield Brewery | The Oldfield brothers acquired several town centre pubs | 61 | 12 | Link |
Chapels | Th'owd Gidlow tin chapel | The chapel which opened in 1897 on Buckley Street was replaced in 1950 | 61 | 14 | Link |
Schools | Upholland school days | William Berry attended the village school | 61 | 16 | Link |
Manufacturers | Ellsey's at 80 | The company manufactures vinegar | 61 | 20 | Link |
Biography | Wigan: home of Gerrard Winstanley and socialism | Gerrard Winstanley was the Wigan-born founder of the True Levellers, or Diggers | 61 | 24 | Link |
Streets | The street names of old Wigan | 61 | 26 | Link | |
Family History | "The bloody hand": the Foulds family coat of arms | The image on a cloth handed down through 4 generations depicts a coat of arms | 61 | 28 | Link |
Industrial History | The attack on Birkacre Mill | A mob, fearing for their jobs because of new efficient machinery, attacked the mill in 1781 | 61 | 30 | Link |
Mining | The fool's errand | Four women who had lost employment in the mines walked to London to look for work in 1844 | 62 | 4 | Link |
Railways | Lost railway | A walk along the St Helens line from Haydock Racecourse to Golborne | 62 | 8 | Link |
Railways | Around Whitley fields in the 1930s | An exploration of old railway lines and the site of pits | 62 | 10 | Link |
Elections | Can I buy your vote? | The Liberals petitioned that the Tories had won votes by bribery in the 1880 election | 62 | 12 | Link |
Nursing | Nurse Martha Hogg JP: she lived to serve | Martha Hogg became the first woman councillor for Wigan in 1920 | 62 | 14 | Link |
Celebrations | A bit of a do | Celebrations to mark the coming of age of Lord Balcarres in 1893 | 62 | 16 | Link |
Places | The rise and fall of Pony Dick | The pony which died in 1841 was owned by the Bankes of Winstanley Hall. The article is about the area. | 62 | 20 | Link |
Places | Our story: Shevington with Lower Ground | 62 | 22 | Link | |
World War ll | Blitz & Bananas! A wartime drama film | The film maker involved many people from the Wigan area | 62 | 24 | Link |
Recollections | My life in Leigh | The author was born in 1925 | 62 | 26 | Link |
Mining | Proud to call him cousin | The life of William Maskell Peace, who was a solicitor who worked on behalf of miners | 62 | 28 | Link |
Diaries | Edward Hall: the early years | The life of the man whose collection of diaries is held in the Archives at Leigh | 63 | 4 | Link |
Health | Under the weather in Victorian times | A collection of letters in the Edward Hall Collection reveals Victorian health concerns and treatments | 63 | 6 | Link |
Armed Forces | The diary of a rambling life as a soldier's wife | Anna Walker (b. 1763) married George Townsend Walker, who commanded the Rifle Brigade. Part of the Edward Hall Collection | 63 | 10 | Link |
Civil War | The Tyldesley Monument | A history of the inscription on the Wigan Lane monument | 63 | 14 | Link |
Biography | William Medlen Hutchings | Hutchings was a preacher, writer, debater, printer and journalist | 63 | 16 | Link |
Manufacturers | The restoration of Gullick Dobson Ltd., of Wigan | The firm, now part of Joy Mining, made tamping machines for use underground | 63 | 20 | Link |
World War ll | The Anderson shelter in Wigan borough | The provison of shelters in the war | 63 | 22 | Link |
Cotton Industry | A contented and productive workforce | Working life in J & J Hayes Mill in Leigh | 63 | 24 | Link |
World War ll | From hilltops to bunkers | Experiences in World War l led the government to devise better methods of defending the populace | 63 | 26 | Link |
Festivals | Whit Monday | Celebrations around St Patrick's Church | 63 | 28 | Link |
Societies | The Duo-decimal Society: Leigh's first creative writing group? | The society was formed in 1901 to discuss literature and perform readings | 64 | 4 | Link |
Diaries | Edward Hall: the hungry Thirties | More of the life of Edward Hall, the diary collector | 64 | 6 | Link |
Shops | A German pork butcher in Wigan | The Mynekyme family were butchers who changed their name to Marsden in World War l | 64 | 10 | Link |
Romans | "Coccium" and its origins | The article asserts that Wigan was a Roman pottery-making settlement | 64 | 14 | Link |
Health | Health, sanitation and the Government Loan 1891 | The Atherton Local Board applied to the government for a loan to build an isolation hospital to tackle unsanitary conditions | 64 | 16 | Link |
Streets | Signs of a vanished past | Street names can give clues to vanished buildings | 64 | 20 | Link |
Recollections | My first day at work | The author worked as a carpet fitter for Lowe's department store | 64 | 22 | Link |
Boer War | Captain Edwin Kerfoot (1868-1920) | Edwin Kerfoot served with the Second Canadian Mounted Rifles, and volunteered in World War l | 64 | 24 | Link |
Natural History | Pennington Flash: a floral history | 64 | 26 | Link | |
Childhood | The glow upon the heavens | A boy, whose uncle was killed at Paschendaele, lived in the shadow of Wigan Coal and Iron Kirkless works | 64 | 28 | Link |
Churches | The sins of the father: parishioners and the vicar of Leigh | Parishioners petitioned against James Irvine, the vicar of Leigh in 1852 because of his inflexibility | 65 | 4 | Link |
Industrial History | "No Truck": at Far Moor | The dire conditions of nailmakers led them to form a trade society in 1865 | 65 | 6 | Link |
Health | An outbreak of smallpox in Wigan, 1798 | The disease outbreak caused many deaths | 65 | 8 | Link |
Nursing | The Leigh District Nursing Association: the first 25 years | The association was formed in 1893 | 65 | 10 | Link |
World War l | Commemorating the First World War | Different ways in which to mark the war | 65 | 12 | Link |
Mining | Artefacts from the Atherton coalfields | The results of metal detecting in the area | 65 | 20 | Link |
Railways | The Walking Horse and Clarke's Railway | Robert Daglish built the third steam locomotive in the world at Haigh Foundry in 1813 for John Clarke's railway at Winstanley | 65 | 22 | Link |
Food | Wigan's food chain: a link with the past | How food was harvested and sold in the 1930s | 65 | 24 | Link |
Family History | James Dean - survivor of the Royal Charter shipwreck | James Dean survived an 1859 shipwreck off the coast of Anglesey | 65 | 26 | Link |
Poetry | Ancient and Loyal | A poem in praise of Wigan | 65 | 29 | Link |
Wrestling | Wigan's undefeated champion of the world | Billy Riley twice won the middlewight catch-as-catch-can world titles in 1922 and 1931 | 66 | 4 | Link |
Health | Travelling dentists: Moseley, Gabiel and Eskell | Three Jewish dentists advertised their services in Wigan newspapers in the mid 19th century | 66 | 6 | Link |
Family History | The Thicknesse family of Beech Hill | Family members were involved in Kirkless colliery, banking, medicine, the church and politics | 66 | 8 | Link |
Railways | Peter Peters: a life given to the London & North Western Railway | The stationmaster at Wigan North Western met an untimely end in 1898 | 66 | 10 | Link |
Health | Saving Leigh's babies (1900-1925) | Central and local government services gradually improved the mortality rate of babies | 66 | 12 | Link |
Diaries | Edward Hall: life begins at 40 | More on the life of the man whose collection of diaries is held in the Archives at Leigh | 66 | 14 | Link |
Churches | Stonemason's mallet returns to its origins | The ceremonial mallet which opened St Michael and All Angels Church in Atherton was returned after 137 years | 66 | 21 | Link |
Mining | Wigan collieries in 1923 [part one] | 66 | 22 | Link | |
Museums | The museum gets connected | The Museum of Wigan Life is part of the Greater Manchester Museums Group | 66 | 24 | Link |
Churches | Falling from grace: Reverend Newbold and his Hindley parish | The vicar's scandalous behaviour led to his suspension in 1873 | 66 | 26 | Link |
Railways | High speed railways in Wigan, 1900 style | A proposed Wigan and Heysham railway was never built | 66 | 28 | Link |
Schools | My first day at school, St Patrick's, 1949 | 66 | 30 | Link | |
World War l | The Fallen | Although most casualties were buried in official war graves, some men and women are buried in local cemeteries | 67 | 4 | Link |
World War l | The 5th Battalion, the Manchester Regiment | Many local men served in the Territorial regiment | 67 | 6 | Link |
World War l | Deadman's Penny | Thomas Woodcock VC was a pupil at St Patrick's School | 67 | 10 | Link |
World War l | Postcard from Africa | The author's grandfather served in Africa with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment | 67 | 12 | Link |
World War l | Brothers in war | Joseph and Charles Simm both served on the Western Front | 67 | 14 | Link |
World War l | From playing field to battlefield: Lewis Bradley and Patrick O'Neill | Two Rugby League players lost their lives on the Western Front | 67 | 16 | Link |
World War l | The unknowable Arthur Turtle | Arthur Turtle was imprisoned for refusing to serve in the war | 67 | 18 | Link |
World War l | 1915: trouble on the Home Front | Tramway employees were on strike despite the war | 67 | 20 | Link |
World War l | Tragedy at Westleigh | A man who volunteered for the war committed suicide with his wife before joining up | 67 | 22 | Link |
World War l | They also served | Bertha McIntosh died of TNT poisoning in a munitions factory and is commemorated on a war memorial in Lowton | 67 | 23 | Link |
World War l | Gallipoli: A Wigan man's eastern journey | The author's grandfather signed up in 1914 and was wounded at Gallipoli | 67 | 24 | Link |
World War l | War time friends: Zeppelins over Wigan | The Zeppelin raid on Wigan on 12 April 1918 | 67 | 26 | Link |
World War l | Lusitania | Some Wigan men survived the sinking in 1915 | 67 | 28 | Link |
World War 1 | Wigan hero wins Victoria Cross? | Contemporary council records congratulated John Gleave on winning the VC, but there is no record that he did | 67 | 30 | Link |
World War l | Thomas Dakin: an experience of war | The author's father enlisted in the Royal Welch Fusiliers and was wouded on the Western Front | 67 | 32 | Link |
World War l | Commercial advertising and the First World War | 67 | 34 | Link | |
World War l | Edward Williams (1890-1918) | The author's grandfather served with the Royal Field Artillery and died of wounds in 1918 | 67 | 36 | Link |
World War l | Ashton's First World War 'Alien enemy' | German-born butcher August Reiss was declared an enemy alien and imprisoned in 1914 | 68 | 4 | Link |
Recollections | Memories of Scholes: a town within a town | 68 | 6 | Link | |
Poetry | The young soldier | Poem about the first world war | 68 | 9 | Link |
World War l | Home Front to battle front: Wigan Borough at war, 1914-1918 | A commemorative exhibition in the Museum of Wigan Life | 68 | 10 | Link |
Museums | Museum of Wigan Life wins Heritage Lottery Fund support | A project to engage young people with the museum's collections | 68 | 11 | Link |
Biography A life of service: William Blackshaw and the Leigh Spiritualism Temple | William Blackshaw was an Alderman, county councillor and magistrate | 68 | 12 | Link | |
Mining | Wigan collieries in 1923 [part two] | 68 | 14 | Link | |
Diaries | Edward Hall: war and peace | The life of the man whose collection of diaries is held in the Archives at Leigh | 68 | 16 | Link |
Mining | Supporting the town: Gullick Dobson and the British coal industry | The firm, now part of Joy Mining, made tamping machines for use underground | 68 | 20 | Link |
Authors | George Orwell's visit to Wigan: Slagged off? | The writer contends that Orwell was not as prejudiced in his views of Wigan as some maintain | 68 | 24 | Link |
Health | Giving nature a hand: Maternity care in Leigh 1902-1931 | Central and local government services gradually improved the mortality rate of babies | 68 | 26 | Link |
Local History | Ballots, books and bribes: using electoral registers for your research | 68 | 28 | Link | |
Local Government | The old police station, Leigh: memories of the weights and Measures Service | 68 | 30 | Link | |
Family History | "Love laughs at locksmiths": the extraordinary story of forbidden romance in a small Lancashire village… | Elizabeth Durie escaped from an asylum to marry Ellis Norris | 69 | 4 | Link |
Rugby League | Leigh Shamrocks RFC 1889 | The story of the club from its founding | 69 | 6 | Link |
World War l | Remembering local men at Gallipoli, 1915 | 69 | 8 | Link | |
Family History | Genealogical experience | Using various resources to trace the Marsden family | 69 | 12 | Link |
Childhood | Half-timers: children caught between two worlds | Children who attended both school and work | 69 | 14 | Link |
Mining | The Lancashire collier girl [part one] | An account, purporting to be based on fact, published in 1795 under the guidance of the philanthropist Hannah More | 69 | 18 | Link |
Mining | Gullick Dobson: A major Wigan enterprise buffeted by the decline of the British coal industry | The firm, now part of Joy Mining, made tamping machines for use underground | 69 | 20 | Link |
Biography | A poppy for Harry | The author laid a poppy on the memorial at the Tower of London in memory of her uncle | 69 | 23 | Link |
Biography | The enigma that was George Lyon: to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his execution | The author has searched records to find more details of the life of the Upholland highwayman | 69 | 24 | Link |
Biography | David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford (1871-1840): 'A man for all seasons' | The earl who volunteered as a private in the First world War | 69 | 26 | Link |
World War l | "The whole of South Lancashire was in mourning" | The vicar of Haigh lost four sons in the war | 69 | 28 | Link |
Places | Memories of Atherton | 69 | 30 | Link | |
War Memorials | The Waterloo Monument at Bispham Hall, Billinge | 69 | 32 | Link | |
Ancient History | Ancient history rediscovered | The Museum of Wigan life displayed the collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts | 70 | 4 | Link |
Ancient History | Exploring Egyptology | Detailed examination of the Egyptian artefacts held by the Museum of Wigan Life | 70 | 6 | Link |
World War l | My family and the First World War: looking back at my roots | The involvement of the author's family in war and the home front | 70 | 10 | Link |
Mining | Counting the cost: The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Permanent Relief Society collection | Wigan Archives service was awarded a grant to promote and develop the collection | 70 | 13 | Link |
Biography | A life well lived: Thomas McCarthy, champion wrestler, war hero and trainer of Wigan Rugby League club | 70 | 14 | Link | |
Mining | The Lancashire collier girl [part two] | An account, purporting to be based on fact, published in 1795 under the guidance of the philanthropist Hannah More | 70 | 19 | Link |
World War l | Not to be tainted with pauperism: the First World War's wounded soldiers at Leigh | 70 | 20 | Link | |
World War ll | Frederick Joseph Jervis, DFM: Pathfinder, 156 Squadron, Group 8 | Frederick Jervis was awarded a DFM in 1943, but died on active service the following year | 70 | 22 | Link |
Slavery | Wigan and slavery | Notable Wigan families who derived wealth from their links with slavery | 70 | 24 | Link |
Local Government | Local government, Victorian style | A collection of papers from the Town Clerk's office reveals the development of gas supply | 70 | 26 | Link |
Halls | Wigan Hall | The hall in Hallgate, built in 1875, served as the rectory and is now used as offices | 70 | 28 | Link |
World War l | John Wainwright: a Wigan man's rise through the ranks during the First World War | John Wainwright served in various ways in the war, becomg a Lieutenant | 70 | 30 | Link |
World War ll | Mary O'Shaughnessy: an unsung heroine | Mary O'Shaughnessy, from Leigh, worked as a nanny in France, joined the Resistance and was sent to Ravensbrűck concentration camp | 71 | 4 | Link |
Legends | The Mab's Cross legend | The facts behind the legend | 71 | 6 | Link |
Societies | The beginning of the British Women's Temperance Association in Leigh and district | The association began in 1878, after a visit from American campaigner 'Mother' Eliza Stewart | 71 | 10 | Link |
Football | South Lancashire Tramways Ladies football team during the First World War | In 1915 the company became the first in the world to promoet women's football | 71 | 12 | Link |
Health | Saint or sinner? Villain or victim?: the trial of a Wigan herbalist's wife | Nancy Bedford was tried in 1897 for supplying pills to induce pregnancy terminations | 71 | 14 | Link |
Places | The women of Wareing Street: a snapshot into the lives of Tyldesley women in 1911 | Analysis of the 1911 census | 71 | 16 | Link |
Authors | Beth Ellis | Beth Ellis wrote seven romantic historical novels | 71 | 18 | Link |
Biography | Margaret Park - the Mother of Wigan | The mayoress was a philanthropist, and champion of pit brow lasses | 71 | 20 | Link |
Biography | Cecilia, Lady Bindloss | Lady Bindloss married William Standish in 1660, and wrote notebooks and other manuscripts | 71 | 22 | Link |
Biography | Charlotte Ann Fletcher | Charlotte Fletcher was a philanthropist in Little Hulton, Tyldesley and Oswestry | 71 | 24 | Link |
Biography | Lily Hodson | Lily Hodson was a prominent local trade unionist | 71 | 26 | Link |
Elections | The 1906 General Election: how Wigan's 'doughty henchwomen' fought Britain's first women's suffrage candidate's campaign | Women union members supported Thorley Smith in his (unsuccessful) bid to enter parliament on a women's suffrage platform | 71 | 28 | Link |
Mining | Women and miners' relief in Lancashire | The role of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Permanent Relief Society in supporting bereaved and injured people | 71 | 30 | Link |
World War l | Munitionettes | The women who worked in munitions factories in the war | 71 | 32 | Link |
Romans | Greco-Roman women in the Museum's archaeology collection | Busts of the heads of women in the Museum of Wigan Life | 71 | 34 | Link |
World War l | Remembering Wigan Borough's soldiers at the Somme | Named men who fought on the Somme | 72 | 4 | Link |
Biography | The man who made Leigh beautiful | Mayor Joseph Ashworth successfully campaigned for a public bowling green and park | 72 | 6 | Link |
Shops | Wallwork's Chemist of Tyldesley | Joseph Wallwork moved into the premises at 94 Elliott Street in 1860 and it became a family business | 72 | 8 | Link |
Trade Unions | Julia Walkden, Wigan weavers and political activism | Julia Walkden was a prominent member of the Wigan Weavers Union | 72 | 10 | Link |
Recollections | Sunday afternoon, 1950s: a sixpenny wish | How the author as a child spent a typical Sunday in the park | 72 | 12 | Link |
Biography | Ernest Ball: Mayor of Wigan County Borough 1937-1938 | Ernest Ball helped to transform public transport in the borough | 72 | 16 | Link |
Family History | In search of Cecilia Strickland of Sizergh Castle, Cumbria | Cecilia Strickland was the daughter of Ralph Standish | 72 | 18 | Link |
Medieval Period | Medieval stone cross bases in Standish | The crosses may have been religious way-markers | 72 | 20 | Link |
World War l | Wigan's first World War Military Tribunals | An examination of some of the cases found in the Archives | 72 | 22 | Link |
World War l | A Wigan man's Eastern journey: Mesopotamia | Further details of William Bentley's WWl service | 72 | 24 | Link |
Mining | A monument's story: Taylor and John pits, Standish | The monument was erected in honour of men from the pits killed in WWl | 72 | 27 | Link |
Churches | A Canadian surprise for Leigh St Mary's Chuch | Sketches of window designs by James Powell were bought in Canada for the church | 72 | 28 | Link |
Churches | The Rigby bell | One of the bells in St Luke's Lowton was given by Thomas Rigby | 72 | 29 | Link |
Schools | Going back to school | The author's recollections of Wigan Grammar School | 72 | 30 | Link |
Health | Pills and potions | Remedies for ailments before the NHS | 72 | 32 | Link |
Museums | Treasure: the extraordinary to the everyday | A collection of art and artefacts on display in the Museum of Wigan Life | 73 | 4 | Link |
Biography | The life of 'The Black Knight' and other visitors to Victorian Leigh | African-American musicians came to Leigh to perform | 73 | 6 | Link |
Churches | All Saints Parish Church, Hindley | There has been a church on the site since 1641 | 73 | 8 | Link |
Football | A Talbot Road celebrity | Jack Fort of Leigh played for Exeter city and Millwall | 73 | 10 | Link |
Biography | Jane Sullivan: an Irish woman in Scholes | The life of the author's ancestor | 73 | 12 | Link |
Biography | A life in Westleigh: James William Slater | The author's grandfather told her of his earlier life | 73 | 16 | Link |
Biography Biography | Lawrence Cox, soldier and policeman | Cox fought in the Crimean War | 73 | 18 | Link |
Places | Wigan piers & dock | The history of the area | 73 | 22 | Link |
Football | The Burnden Park disaster | On 9 March 1946, 33 fans were crushed to death in a match between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City | 73 | 24 | Link |
World War ll | When General Patton 'gave it to them double dirty' at Ashton | General Patton toured the UK before D-Day giving fiery speeches to troops, including at Ashton-in-Makerfield | 73 | 30 | Link |
Family History | Mam and Dad: another world, Thomas and Frances | The author recounts the lives of his parents | 73 | 32 | Link |
Biography | The power of Past Forward | An article in Past Forward led the author to research the life of his ancestor George Heath, a veteran of the Boer War | 74 | 4 | Link |
Civil War | Pennington Cavaliers | Names men who fought for the Royalist cause | 74 | 6 | Link |
Industrial History | The Apprentice | Two apprentices who worked at Rylands Mill and Haigh Foundry | 74 | 8 | Link |
Places | John Street: Scholes 1950s to 1960 | The author discovered that her ancestors had lived on street where she lives | 74 | 10 | Link |
World War l | The 1st Astley Lions Troop and the First World War centenary | Astley scouts researched the stories of men who died in WWl | 74 | 12 | Link |
Mining | Memories of a pit brow lass | The author worked at Wigan Junction colliery, starting in 1948 | 74 | 16 | Link |
Recollections | Tony Ashcroft | Tributes to the former Local and Family History Officer | 74 | 18 | Link |
Biography Biography | Lawrence Cox, soldier and policeman [part 2] | Lawrence Cox served as a soldier in India, then became a policeman in Leigh | 74 | 20 | Link |
Family History | A changing world | More memories, including from WWll | 74 | 24 | Link |
Mining | Two brothers and a pit disaster | Edward and John Saunders were killed in Pretoria pit | 74 | 26 | Link |
Places | Keeping Leigh time: Leigh's two time signals | Two people devised methods of keeping time | 74 | 30 | Link |
Schools | Schools in crisis | A survey of the state of schools in Wigan borough in the 19th century | 74 | 32 | Link |
Biography | Charlotte Blears | The Leigh woman was transported to Tasmania in 1843 after being convicted of theft | 75 | 6 | Link |
Crime | Pablo and other 'Unfortunates': Prostitution in Victorian Wigan and Leigh | 75 | 6 | Link | |
Crime | Carry on cleaning: Wigan's Court of Quarter Sessions records | Cases uncovered when volunteers clean the documents | 75 | 8 | Link |
Women's Movement | Foolish or brave? Militant suffragette imprisoned by Leigh magistrates… | Florence Clarkson was harshly treated in prison, but the Leigh Medical Officer of Health supported force feeding | 75 | 10 | Link |
Biography | Ralph Standish of Standish (1670-1755): rebel and traitor or brave loyalist? | Ralph Standish was captured at the Battle of Preston in November 1715 | 75 | 12 | Link |
Crime | The mystery of the kidnapped corpse | The body of the 25th Earl of Crawford was stolen from his Scottish estate, recovered, and re-interred in All Saints church, Wigan | 75 | 14 | Link |
Crime | The Button Pit murder | James Barton was murdered in 1863, causing a national outcry | 75 | 16 | Link |
Family History | Tracing your criminal ancestors | Sources useful in family history research | 75 | 18 | Link |
Health | Wigan Dispensary | The dispensary, formed in 1798, amalgamated with the Infirmary in 1873 | 75 | 20 | Link |
Societies | The origins of the New Springs Plotters | The history of New Springs Horticultural Society | 75 | 22 | Link |
Marriage | A midsummer marriage | The marriage of 12 year old Humphrey Winstanley and 17 year old Alice Worsley in 1559, and subsequent annullment | 75 | 24 | Link |
Schools | Emmanuel School admission registers, Ashton-in-Makerfield | A volunteer has transcribed the 1870-1919 registers | 75 | 29 | Link |
Newspapers | The story of Leigh People's Paper and Leyth, Bent and Bongs People's Paper, 1973-1983 | 75 | 30 | Link | |
Immigration | Irish immigration in Wigan | 75 | 32 | Link | |
Mining | "A friend for life" | A miners' relief society gave aid after the Pretoria Pit disaster | 76 | 4 | Link |
Health | Where there's muck, there's brass: The rise and demise of the Midnight Mechanics | Ashpit and nightsoil removal in Victorian and Edwardian Leigh | 76 | 6 | Link |
Breweries | The breweries of Leigh in Lancashire | Named breweries in the town | 76 | 9 | Link |
World War l | Norris Marsden, 1887-1916 | Norris Marsden served with the King's Royal Rifle Corps and died from wounds received on the Somme | 76 | 12 | Link |
Mining | The 1929 Coalfield Distress Fund in the Leigh area: a snapshot | Help was needed after the Great Depression | 76 | 14 | Link |
Schools | Not just the 'Three Rs' | The history of Shevington Community Primary School | 76 | 16 | Link |
Places | Who was Wigan? | A suggestion that the town took its name from a person | 76 | 18 | Link |
Customs | "Ringing the sinner in" | Rural customs persisted in towns when people moved there from the countryside | 76 | 20 | Link |
Family History | A different angle on my great-great grandad | The author's research into her Bradshaw ancestors | 76 | 23 | Link |
Societies | Best of sisters: 70 years on | The Soroptimist club in Leigh celebrated an anniversary | 76 | 24 | Link |
Brass Bands | The development of brass bands in the Leigh and district area | 76 | 26 | Link | |
Chapels | Samuel Kniveton - Methodist local preacher | Samuel Kniveton devoted his life to the mission of Astley Methodist Chapel | 76 | 28 | Link |
Schools | Madame Teapot takes drastic measures | A humorous account of a teacher at Wigan Grammar School | 76 | 30 | Link |
World War ll | Civil Defence project | Civil defence and ARP measures in Leigh | 76 | 33 | Link |
Chapels | James Wood: Preacher man | The life of James Wood who was a preacher at Ashton Chapel in the 17th century | 77 | 4 | Link |
Architecture | J C Prestwich: Builder of dreams | Prestwich built Leigh Town Hall and other impressive buildings in the town | 77 | 6 | Link |
Biography | Charlotte Blear… the story continuess | The Leigh woman was transported to Tasmania in 1843 after being convicted of theft | 77 | 8 | Link |
Biography | Miss Ellen Weeton: mother-in-law and grandmamma | Ellen Weeton spent some time in Upholland | 77 | 10 | Link |
Women's Movement | Leigh's political women and women's suffrage 1910-1914 | 77 | 12 | Link | |
Family History | Medieval Wigan and the two Ince families | Research into two Ince families from Ince | 77 | 14 | Link |
Breweries | The breweries of Leigh in Lancashire [part two] | Named breweries in the town | 77 | 16 | Link |
Biography | Hindsford boy's life in France | William Mather from Atherton became a jockey in France in the 1930s | 77 | 18 | Link |
World War l | Wigan women come together for the war effort | Societies were formed to assist the families of servicemen | 77 | 20 | Link |
Mining | The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Permanent Relief Society | 77 | 23 | Link | |
Biography | Memories like 'Orwell' | Early memories of the author, born in 1930 | 77 | 24 | Link |
Crime | Thomas Unsworth: A ticket of leave man | Thomas Unsworth was a habitual criminal from Culcheth | 77 | 26 | Link |
Family History | Letter from Australia | The Australian relatives of Rev James Irvine, Vicar of Leigh | 77 | 34 | Link |
Celebrations | Letter from Amercia | An American vistor attended an event organised by the Orwell Society to commemorate the 80th anniversary of 'The road to Wigan Pier' | 77 | 35 | Link |
Heritage | £1.3m Heritage Lottery Fund investment in Leigh… | Leigh Town Hall to be transformed to showcase heritage collections | 78 | 3 | Link |
Elections | Thorley Smith: 'He served his generation faithfully' | Thorley Smith was the first person to stand for election to Parliament on a women's suffrage ticket | 78 | 4 | Link |
Biography | William Henry Jones | The life of the author's father | 78 | 7 | Link |
House History | Damhouse and Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee | The celebrations at the Damhouse estate, otherwise known as Astley Hall | 78 | 8 | Link |
Shops | John Trayner, Chemist of Hindley | The chemist shop occupied several different addresses in Market Street | 78 | 10 | Link |
World War ll | William Lane: Royal Air Force navigator | William Lane survived a wartime crash in the Netherlands | 78 | 12 | Link |
Local Government | Tales of a Standish parish nuisance inspector | Thomas Bentham was employed to investigate breaches of the law | 78 | 14 | Link |
Leisure | Holidays by the seaside | In 1952 Wigan council bought a property in Rhos-on-Sea for local people to have holidays | 78 | 16 | Link |
Biography | Uncle Willie: William Anthony Thomas | The life of the author's uncle | 78 | 19 | Link |
Gas Supply | Wigan town centre gasholders dismantled | The gasholders were in Darlington Street | 78 | 20 | Link |
World War ll | Remembering John Victor Randall - 'Jack' | John Randall's plane crashed near Boulogne in 1941 | 78 | 21 | Link |
Shops | Half a century: The journey of one greengrocer's shop | Anne's Fruit Shop in Ashton-in-Makerfield closed after 50 years | 78 | 22 | Link |
Shops | Saturday morning shopping | Recollections of shopping in Ashton-in-Makerfield | 78 | 24 | Link |
Local Government | John Cheetham, Mayor of Wigan 1918-1919 | John Cheetham was said to be the first working man to be made a JP in England | 78 | 26 | Link |
World War ll | Dunkirk - The Aftermath | Edward Hall served as an administrator with 73 Squadron of the RAF, and later donated a collection of diaries to Wigan | 78 | 28 | Link |
Schools | Leigh Grammar School project | The project is cataloguing, digitising and researching the collections held in the Archives | 78 | 30 | Link |
Biography | [Letter] | Tom Boardman was a prisoner of war on the Burma-Siam railway in WWll | 78 | 33 | Link |
Dancing | [Letter] | Flora MacDonald became a ballet dancer who starred in musicals and entertained troops in WWll | 78 | 33 | Link |
Biography | Black families in Victorian Leigh and Tyldesley | Black people who were born or settled in the area | 79 | 4 | Link |
Mining | The miners, pit brow lasses and women's suffrage | The National Miners' Union sought to prevent women working on the pit brow | 79 | 6 | Link |
Poetry | Tales of Clogger Jack | Barbara Barclay submitted her late husband's poetry | 79 | 10 | Link |
Biography | Granddad John William Turner | John Turner was a clogger and shoe repairer with a shop just outside Wigan, and became a councillor | 79 | 11 | Link |
Women's Movement | Searching for suffragists | Florence Hindshaw was the first secretary of the Leigh branch of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies | 79 | 12 | Link |
Crime | Murder and mayhem in medieval Abram | 79 | 14 | Link | |
Biography | A loss to Atherton: the life of Sarah Hesketh | Sarah Hesketh was a renowned teacher and philanthropist | 79 | 16 | Link |
Theatres | Royal Court Theatre | The Old Courts purchased the theatre in King Street in order to bring it back to life | 79 | 18 | Link |
Places | Leigh in 1900…the year of James Hilton's birth… | The changing fortunes of the town where James Hilton was born | 79 | 22 | Link |
Mining | Twenty five years gone | Marking the closure of Parsonage and Bickershaw collieries | 79 | 24 | Link |
Biography | Josephine Butler 1828-1906 | Josephine Butler was a pioneering campaigner for women's education and the repeal of prostitution laws | 79 | 26 | Link |
Railways | I remember | Goods agent John Tarver began work at Wigan in 1877 | 79 | 28 | Link |
Biography | Miss Weeton and Parr Hall St Helens | Ellen Weeton's letters and journals include recollections of her time spent in Upholland | 79 | 31 | Link |
Women's Movement | Votes for women | The arrest of Florence Clarkson in Leigh in 1909, in cartoon form | 79 | 32 | Link |
Theatres | "There are no flies on Brierley": The Theatre Royal, Tyledesley | William Brierley built a wooden theatre in 1890 | 80 | 4 | Link |
World War l | All the King's men - the Eckersley brothers | Three brothers served in the army - Harry survived, but William and James were killed | 80 | 6 | Link |
World War l | A First World War hero remembered | The author's grandfather was awarded the Military Medal | 80 | 8 | Link |
Social History | Leigh and Wigan's Female Reform Unions and Peterloo | Women were amongst those calling for political reform at the time of Peterloo | 80 | 10 | Link |
Water Supply | All's well that ends well: The story of Standish well and the arrival of piped water in the township | James Ainscough was responsible for an improvement scheme which included capping the well | 80 | 14 | Link |
Biography | Professor James Topping 1904-1994 - a distinguished Wiganer | James Topping was a physicist and pioneer in university education | 80 | 16 | Link |
World War ll | Bert Trautmann and POW Camp 50, Ashton-in-Makerfield | The footballer arrived at the camp in 1945 | 80 | 18 | Link |
Sculpture | A Pennington sculptor: Mary Pownall Bromet | One of Mary Bromet's commissions was Watford War Memorial | 80 | 20 | Link |
House History | Astley Sanatorium formerly Astley Hall - Damhouse | The author lived at the lodge at the sanatorium | 80 | 24 | Link |
World War ll | "The art of survival" | The Hindley Green resident recalls life in Jersey during the German occupation | 80 | 26 | Link |
Biography | A Wigan hero | A man from Standish Lower Ground rescued a boy who fell into the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Litherland in 1938 | 80 | 28 | Link |
Wrestling | Thomas McCarthy Junior - a wrestling comedian | Thomas McCarthy became the lightweight champion of the North, and a noted comedian | 80 | 30 | Link |
Biography | Found…the grave of Miss Weeton's brother Thomas | Ellen Weeton's brother is buried at Holy Trinity Church, Horwich | 80 | 32 | Link |
Childhood | Growing up in wartime Scholes | The author's family housed evacuees from Coventry | 81 | 4 | Link |
Biography | Comical Cris | The author's grandfather was a well-known ventriloquist | 81 | 6 | Link |
Biography | A tragic affair | The intertwined lives and deaths of Walter Eckersley and Gladys Shaw, whose graves are in Manchester. Gladys's husband was a Leigh brewer | 81 | 8 | Link |
Social History | The Douglas Valley, the 1832 Reform Bill and Parbold Bottle | Parbold Bottle was erected to mark the passage of the reform bill | 81 | 12 | Link |
Workhouses | Ellen Hindley: a country girl | The former cotton weaver died in Leigh workhouse | 81 | 14 | Link |
Social History | More than the Leigth Feight: women, protest and Chartism in Wigan and Leigh 1838-1850 | People from the area were involved in political activism and protests against living conditions | 81 | 18 | Link |
Clogs | From logs to clogs: The sole survivor | Recollections of clogs, and of Rothwell's shop in Hindley | 81 | 24 | Link |
Railways | A dreadful tragedy at Wigan North Western Station | Thirteen people were killed and many more injured in a crash in August 1873 | 81 | 26 | Link |
Biography | Jane Nisill Traynor 1887-1940 | After being widowed, Jane Traynor trained as a midwife in 1917 | 81 | 28 | Link |
World War ll | D-Day | The contemporary account of the landing, by Bert Ryding | 81 | 30 | Link |
Biography | The reluctant baronet | The life of Sir Robert Clayton, the last Baronet of Adlington, who is buried in the churchyard of St Wilfrid's in Standish | 82 | 4 | Link |
Buildings | The ups and downs of Billinge beacon | The beacon has served many purposes | 82 | 6 | Link |
Recollections | Remembering | Memories of life around Miry Lane in the 1930s | 82 | 8 | Link |
Family History | Family histories: the Worswicks and the Greens | 82 | 10 | Link | |
Crime | "A capital example": the case of John Wainwright | John Wainwright was hanged at Lancaster in 1826 for a non-fatal stabbing in an election day crowd | 82 | 13 | Link |
Exhibitions | Igniting the Fire Within | Outline of the temporary exhibition in the Galleries in Wigan town centre | 82 | 22 | Link |
Crime | Did the body snatchers come to Leigh? | Body snatchers stole newly buried bodies to be used by anatomists, and there is circumstantial evidence that a man was murdered for the macabre purpose | 82 | 24 | Link |
Water Supply | All's well that ends well: The story of Standish well and the arrival of piped water in the township [part two] | How piped drinking water reached Standish | 82 | 28 | Link |
Biography | The strange tale of Edwin Lindsay | Edwin Lindsay, the fourth child of the 6th Earl of Balcarres, was confined to Papa Stour island for 26 years because of his bizarre behaviour | 82 | 30 | Link |
Mining | Suffer little children | The appalling working conditions endured by children working in mines | 83 | 4 | Link |
Places | The Welsh in Ashton-in-Makerfield | Stubshaw Cross was known as 'Little Wales' because many Welsh miners moved there for work | 83 | 6 | Link |
Women's Movement | Playing with the past | The author wrote a play 'How to be WomanLEIGH' about pioneer women | 83 | 8 | Link |
Buildings | Ashurst Beacon - Icon of the Douglas Valley | The beacon has served many purposes | 83 | 10 | Link |
Women's Movement | Julia Walkden, Wigan Weavers' Association and early 20th century trade union activism | Julia Walkden represented weavers, with fellow union members | 83 | 12 | Link |
Rugby League | Good Friday 1959 | A record crowd of 47,747 watched Wigan Warriors beat St Helens 19-14 | 83 | 16 | Link |
Water Supply | All's well that ends well: The story of Standish well and the arrival of piped water in the township [part three] | 83 | 18 | Link | |
Music | Did Handel visit Leigh? | Descendants of Richard Guest of Leigh have a pipe stopper given to him by Handel | 83 | 20 | Link |
Civil War | The Earl of Derby's dungeon | Prior to his execution, the Earl spent a night in the Kings Arms in Leigh (since demolished) | 83 | 22 | Link |
Family History | Charlson and Clayton: a tale of two families | The two families lived in Culcheth in the 18th and 19th centuries | 83 | 24 | Link |
Churches | The bicentenary of Wigan's heavenly twins | Two Catholic churches, St Mary and St John, were built in Standish in 1819 | 83 | 27 | Link |
Crime | Person or persons unknown: the murder of George Green | The unsolved murder of George Green from Culcheth | 83 | 28 | Link |
World War l | Turkish beaded snake | The memento made by a Turkish POW was given to a Leigh soldier and is in the care of Wigan museum | 83 | 32 | Link |
World War ll | The Second World War and the Home Front | Collections in the Archives relating to the Home Front are being analysed and recorded | 84 | 4 | Link |
World War ll | A Wigan soldier's story of survival | The experiences of Donald Jolley in Turkey and Italy and his imprisonment in Silesia | 84 | 6 | Link |
World War ll | John (Jack) Morris POW 4224 | John Morris was a POW for four years in Silesia | 84 | 9 | Link |
Rivers | The importance of the Douglas Navigation to the development of Wigan | The Douglas Navigation Act 1720 allowed the river to be navigable to the Ribble Estuary | 84 | 10 | Link |
Biography | Hercules Dowie (1780-1851) | The Dowie family suffered from profound deprivation | 84 | 13 | Link |
Biography | He would not pay a farthing | A love triangle between a stonemason, his wife and a Methodist minister | 84 | 14 | Link |
Biography | Mary Tomlinson - an inspiring pit brow lass who became a missionary doctor | The author has written a book about a remarkable woman | 84 | 17 | Link |
Places | Tyldesley memories | 84 | 18 | Link | |
Crime | A Glazebury tragedy | A dispute arising at a mill resulted in Ernest Monaghan shooting dead William Hindley in 1921 | 84 | 20 | Link |
Gravestones | The snake grave of Billinge - George and Kitty Smith | Kitty Smith was killed by a snake bite, and the gravestone bears an image of a snake | 84 | 24 | Link |
Mining | Out of the pits and into Parliament: Part 1 - the legacy of Ashton-in-Makerfield miners | In the late 19th century miners came to realise that they needed political representation | 84 | 28 | Link |
Rivers | The River Douglas | 84 | 31 | Link | |
Mining | Out of the pits and into Parliament: Part 2 - winning hearts, minds and votes | In the late 19th century miners came to realise that they needed political representation | 85 | 4 | Link |
Biography | What's in a name?: Tracing Myles Standish | Was the Mayflower Pilgrim descended from the Standish branch of the family? | 85 | 7 | Link |
American Civil War | Lancashire lads in Lincoln's army | Two men from Leigh fought in the American Civil War | 85 | 8 | Link |
Gravestones | Death's dictionary: a guide to 19th century gravestone symbolism | An illustrated guide | 85 | 10 | Link |
Health | The Wigan Borough Covid-19 archives | Readers were encouraged to submit their experiences of the pandemic | 85 | 13 | Link |
Cotton Industry | A hidden flaw: an Atherton tragedy | Six women were killed in Dan Lane Mill when a pipe leaked scalding steam onto the workers | 85 | 14 | Link |
Halls | Lost parts of Standish Hall found in America | Some parts of rooms of the hall, demolished in the 1980s, have been installed in locations in America | 85 | 18 | Link |
Halls | Finch House - fact and fiction: a lost gem of the Douglas Valley | The history and demise of the house near Shevington Moor | 85 | 22 | Link |
Family History | The Flitcroft inheritance | Tracing the family from the 17th century, until the inheritance of the estate was settled in 1869 | 85 | 24 | Link |
Biography | Joseph Peters - a man of his time | From humble beginnings, Joseph Peters became President of the Liverpool Trades Council | 85 | 28 | Link |
Mining | Jim Hammond: miners' leader and trade unionist | Jim Hammond was prominent in the Lancashire area of the National Union of Mineworkers | 85 | 30 | Link |
Halls | The Observatory, Haigh Hall, Wigan, Lancashire | No trace remains of the observatory, originally a folly, which was in existence in the mid-eighteeth century | 85 | 32 | Link |
Apprenticeships | The apprentice compositor | The author served an apprenticeship with a printing firm | 86 | 4 | Link |
World War l | Wigan's women: welfare, work and war | Individual and group experiences of women | 86 | 8 | Link |
American Civil War | Cotton is king: Lancashire and the American Civil War | The hardship caused in the industry by the blockade of cotton exports from America | 86 | 12 | Link |
Family History | Self-made: the Charltons of Tyldesley | Tracing the family from the 1840s | 86 | 14 | Link |
Exhibitions | Rebels, radicals, reform: the fight for better | Campaigns to improve life for local people | 86 | 16 | Link |
World War l | The diary of William Walls of Abram 1915-1919 [part 1] | The diary in Wigan Archives details William Walls' life before and during war service | 86 | 18 | Link |
Rugby League | Leigh v Australia: 7 October 1959 | The home team defeated the visitors | 86 | 22 | Link |
Mining | Wigan Mechanics' Institute | The Institute in King Street, founded in 1853, was an early forerunner of Wigan Mining and Technical College | 86 | 24 | Link |
Local History | Wigan Local History and Heritage Group: history and background information | The author founded the group and was also responsible for starting the successful campaign to have a Wigan mining statue | 86 | 27 | Link |
Rugby League | Boxing Day | The lapsed tradition of a Boxing Day match between Wigan and St Helens | 86 | 28 | Link |
Shops | Memories of a student's holiday job at Tyldesley Cooperative | The author's job as a holiday relief van driver | 86 | 30 | Link |
House History | The weavers' cottages in Twiss Green Lane, Culcheth | Their history from the 1830s to the present day | 86 | 33 | Link |
Social History | George Okell: 'Rector o' th' Obelisk' | George Okell was a prominent temperance campaigner in Leigh in the 19th century | 87 | 4 | Link |
Schools | A pipe dream? | The building and extension of Leigh Girls' Grammar School | 87 | 6 | Link |
Entertainments | Cloth caps and cowboy hats: the day the wild West came to Wigan | The visit of the Wild West show, including Buffalo Bill, to Lamberhead Green in 1904 | 87 | 8 | Link |
Romans | What ever happened to Cautopates? | The headless statue of the Mithraic deity was found in a field in 1937 but has since disappeared from public view | 87 | 10 | Link |
Heritage | AWL - Archives: Wigan & Leigh | The continuing development of the Archives at Leigh Town Hall after a lottery grant | 87 | 14 | Link |
Local Government | Leigh's Poor Law Union 1837-1848 | 87 | 16 | Link | |
World War l | The diary of William Walls of Abram 1915-1919 [part 2] | The diary in Wigan Archives details William Walls' life before and during war service | 87 | 22 | Link |
Sport | I say, 'Anyone for tennis?' | The history of Winstanley Tennis Club | 87 | 24 | Link |
Mining | Wigan's Mining and Mechanical School | The school (now the Town Hall) was the second oldest mining school in the country | 87 | 26 | Link |
Streets | The street that was | The history of King Street | 87 | 30 | Link |
Childhood | Childhood memories of growing up in Ashton-in-Makerfield | 87 | 32 | Link | |
Entertainments | The Empress Ballroom | The ballroom opened in 1916 and later hosted Wigan Casino | 88 | 4 | Link |
Clockmakers | The curious tale of a well-travelled Wigan long-case clock | A clock made by Henry Burges in 1690 was owned by Joseph Clayton in Australia | 88 | 6 | Link |
Family History | The tragedy at Winstanley Hall: the Shortrede family | The family, living at Park House on the estate, suffered two sudden deaths | 88 | 8 | Link |
Biography | "From Gipsy tent to pulpit": Rodney Smith in Wigan and Leigh | Gipsy Smith, the evangelical preacher, visited in 1895 | 88 | 10 | Link |
World War ll | Spitfire crash in Aspull | The Polish pilot bailed out before the plane crashed in February 1942 | 88 | 16 | Link |
Biography | Thomas Jones: a miner and war hero | Thomas Jones volunteered with the SAS, was captured, and returned to mining after the war | 88 | 18 | Link |
Nursing | A hidden story | A gravestone in Tyldesley cemetery led to the story of Margaret Stoney, who organised hospitals in South Africa in the 1940s | 88 | 20 | Link |
Mining | Wigan Technical College finally gets a home of its own | The school (now the Town Hall) was the second oldest mining school in the country | 88 | 22 | Link |
Pubs | The Bricklayers Arms, Culcheth: a pub through time | The pub, now a new building named The Cherry Tree, began as a grocery 200 years ago | 88 | 26 | Link |
World War l | The diary of William Walls of Abram 1915-1919 [part 3] | The diary in Wigan Archives details William Walls' life before and during war service | 88 | 30 | Link |
Mining | The story of my great aunt Charlotte | Charlotte Davies worked for 52 years in local pits | 88 | 33 | Link |
Rugby League | gerrumonside! | The Museum of Wigan Life opened an exhibition about Rugby League | 89 | 3 | Link |
Social History | Care of Friendless Girls and Unmarried Mothers in Wigan 1884-1934 | Associations in Wigan which cared for vulnerable young women and unmarried mothers | 89 | 4 | Link |
Family History | The portraits in the Archives | The lives of Richard and Jane Greenhough | 89 | 8 | Link |
Family History | Marital discord in 16th century Bryn | A divorce was granted to Thomas and Jane Gerrard | 89 | 12 | Link |
Biography | A lad from Scholes meets Queen Victoria | Robert Richards, licensee of The Harp, became mayor and was presented at court | 89 | 14 | Link |
Biography | Barry Mason, songwriter | Barry Mason wrote several popular hit songs | 89 | 16 | Link |
Rugby League | Simply the best: Wigan, Rugby League and the Thomas Gerrard collection | The Archives houses the Rugby photographs which Thomas Gerrard took, which have been catalogued by the author | 89 | 18 | Link |
Places | The Road from Wigan Pier! | The author has taken part in the restoration of former mining areas | 89 | 20 | Link |
Halls | The Gate Lodges of Culcheth Hall | The lodges and their occupants | 89 | 22 | Link |
Archives | Stepping back in time | Two students have transcribed court documents from 1898 | 89 | 24 | Link |
Local History | John Buckley - the historian of Tyldesley | The history was published in 1878 | 89 | 28 | Link |
Biography | Lives well lived | The lives of Alec and Olive Hughes of Lowton | 89 | 32 | Link |
Biography | "Something of a novelty": Elizabeth Wheldon, Leigh's first postmaster | Elizabeth Weldon was appointed in 1892 after Leigh was made a postal town | 90 | 4 | Link |
Armed Forces | James Pearson Fletcher and the Atherton Volunteers | The volunteer force was formed in the 1860s | 90 | 6 | Link |
Places | The place by the brook | A personal history of Poolstock | 90 | 8 | Link |
Mining | The mine is yours | Astley Green colliery has been given a heritage lottery grant | 90 | 12 | Link |
Recollections | Memories of an Ashton lad [part one] | Memories from the author's father-in-law | 90 | 14 | Link |
Family History | Where did your ancestor work? | A guide to business records held in the Archives | 90 | 16 | Link |
Cotton Industry | The knight's tomb | The life of Joseph Orrell, a cotton manufacturer in Culcheth, and his family | 90 | 18 | Link |
Town Twinning | Wigan and Angers twinning | Report about the town twinning, written by the French ambassadress | 90 | 20 | Link |
Local History | Getting side-tracked while volunteering | A volunteer has come across interesting facts in the Archives | 90 | 22 | Link |
Biography | Thomas Halliwell: from printer to outlaw | Thomas Halliwell began the Leigh Chronicle and was a postmaster who embezzled funds and absconded | 90 | 24 | Link |
Social History | Poverty in the Depression years | The work of Wigan Guardians and Wigan Councillors in the 1920s | 90 | 26 | Link |
Mining | Wigan Technical College expands and diversifies during the interwar years | The school (now the Town Hall) was the second oldest mining school in the country | 90 | 30 | Link |
Architecture | J C Prestwich - a Leigh town trail | Prestwich built Leigh Town Hall and many other buildings in the town | 90 | 32 | Link |
Social History | The story of Kate Mallon | The orphan applied to emigrate to Canada in 1903 but was rejected because she had had TB | 91 | 5 | |
Accidents | Victims of forgetfulness | A deadly explosion at Resolution Mill, Tyldesley | 91 | 6 | |
Schools | They paved paradise and put up a parking lot | History of the demolished Tyldesley Chapel British School | 91 | 10 | |
Rugby League | First visit to Central Park 1978, age 7 | 91 | 12 | ||
Mining | Keeping the peace: miners, magistrates and military | Events in Wigan district during the 1881 miners' strike | 91 | 14 | |
Football | The birth of ladies' football | Its beginnings in 1894, its banning by the FA in 1921, and its development since | 91 | 18 | |
Artists | Unusual art find in Wigan | In 1907 a self-portrait by Godfrey Kneller, who had painted Lady Rachel Bradshaigh, was bought in a Wigan shop for 5 shillings | 91 | 20 | |
Biography | Sir Francis Sharp Powell | 91 | 22 | ||
Recollections | Memories of an Ashton lad [part two] | Memories from the author's father-in-law | 91 | 24 | |
Rugby League | Wigan Warriors - 150 years of history [part one] | 91 | 26 | ||
Archives | Carry on cleaning | The discovery of interesting stories whilst caring for old records | 91 | 30 | |
Places | Pinfold and The Pingot | Two Leigh place names from the past | 91 | 32 | |
Crime | "Oh no! It's our Annie, and she is dead" | The Ackhurst Hall murder of 1868 | 92 | 4 | |
Crime | "Tenpence": a matter of life, death or transportation | John Wilson was transported to Botany Bay for stealing goods worth ten pence | 92 | 8 | |
Courts | Wigan Court of Quarter Sessions | An Archives volunteer explains the court's function | 92 | 10 | |
Crime | Ann Poole: a smashing lady | The 19th century criminal career of a Leigh woman | 92 | 12 | |
Crime | The murder on Market Street | Walter Davies was murdered by William Chadwick in a pawnbroker's shop in Atherton in 1889 | 92 | 16 | |
Crime | A remarkable coincidence | Two strangers found that both knew of a woman who was murdered in 1951 | 92 | 18 | |
Rugby League | Wigan Warriors - 150 years of history [part two] | 92 | 22 | ||
Recollections | A step back in time | The author recalls working for the council's water department | 92 | 26 | |
Women's Movement | Painting Wigan red | Women and Wigan's Labour movement | 92 | 28 | |
Armed Forces | The 5th Manchester Regiment | The regiment is commemorated by a Living History Museum and Association | 92 | 32 | |
Mining | History is full of surprises | Two local men were given industrial heroism medals designed by Eric Gill for brave mines rescues | 93 | 4 | |
Social History | Towards a queer history of Wigan | The attitude towards LGBTQ+I people from 1760 onwards | 93 | 6 | |
Social History | Roll up! Roll up! Wakes Week starts here! | How Wakes Week was celebrated | 93 | 8 | |
Chapels | Douglas Chapel: over six hundred years of service | The chapel in the Douglas valley was demolished in 1878 | 93 | 10 | |
Entertainment | Make Some Noise | An exhibition celebrating the history of entertainment in the borough | 93 | 13 | |
Local Government | Sidetracked while volunteering | A volunteer uncovers stories from the records of Wigan Poor Law Union | 93 | 14 | |
Mining | Journey's end | Some miners from the Wigan area were tempted south to work in the Kent coalfield | 93 | 18 | |
Methodism | A Standish baptism | The history of Methodism in the town, following visits by John Wesley | 93 | 23 | |
Family History | Humphrey J G Walmesley of Westwood, Ince, Wigan | Humphrey Walmesley moved the family from Westwood House to Inglewood House in Hungerford in 1893 | 93 | 24 | |
Places | Our Town project | Some items from the Archives relating to Ashton were on display in the library there | 93 | 26 | |
Poetry | The Clayhole | A poem celebrating a Hindley Green beauty spot | 93 | 27 | |
Women's Movement | On the same terms as men | Women redraw Wigan's municipal politics 1919-1923 | 93 | 28 | |
Family History | A grand day out! | The author has indentified the people in an Edwardian photograph | 93 | 32 | |
Rugby League | Wigan Warriors - 150 years of history [part three] | 93 | 34 | ||
Streets | "The King Street story that was": an update | Progress on the project to revive King Street | 94 | 3 | |
Architecture | George Heaton: "Foresight, sagacity and thoroughness" | The architect and engineer built many buildings still standing today | 94 | 6 | |
Theatres | Built to last | The history of some theatres in Leigh | 94 | 8 | |
Places | Lions Bridge: Leigh's bridge of myths and mythstakes | Myths surrounding the bridge which one stood in front of Atherton Hall, at the top of The Avenue | 94 | 10 | |
Local History | Celebrating the past: mapping our blue plaque project | Plaques are being erected to celebrate people and organisations within the borough | 94 | 12 | |
Biography | "Oh, Maggie, I lost my mind": the tragedy of Father O'Neill | A Catholic priest committed suicide after unendurable prolonged pain | 94 | 14 | |
Maps | Time travel with maps | An Archives volunteer describes the history and cataloguing of the map collection | 94 | 16 | |
Mining | Visions of the mine (Annotated): sketches of real life at our collieries | The 1891 book by Samuel Woods has been edited and republished | 94 | 23 | |
Sport | Unearthing the past: searching Douglas Valley's lost golf course | The story of Appley Bridge Golf Club (1907-1951) | 94 | 24 | |
Art | Chris Murphy, cartoonist | A volunteer is creating cartoons to tell stories of Wigan's past | 94 | 28 | |
Jacobites | Discovering Wigan's Jacobites: the early Jacobites, 1688-1701 | 94 | 30 | ||
Churches | The history of St Luke's, Lowton | The history of the Chapel from its opening in 1732 | 94 | 32 | |
American Civil War | The politician and the privateer | John Lancaster, a businessman from Hindley Green, became involved in a sea battle during the American Civil War | 94 | 34 | |
Biography | James Marsden: how James Marsden comes to live and work in Wigan | James Marsden took over the running of Coops clothing manufacturers from Timothy Coop, his father-in-law | 95 | 4 | |
Doctors | "Prosser" Dr Robert Prosser White | Biography of the doctor who specialised in industrial diseases and skin problems, and who lived in King Street | 95 | 6 | |
Shops | High Riders to Rolls Royces | The history of the car dealership of Timberlakes | 95 | 8 | |
Elections | "A woman stands for Ince": the general elections in Wigan and Ince, 1918, 1922 and 1923 | 95 | 10 | ||
Police | A death in custody: the police sergeant and the Irishman | Peter Caffrey was acquitted of manslaughter after his arrest and rough treatment of Bartholomew Stone in 1863 | 95 | 14 | |
Places | Orrell - our town | Wigan Archives worked with a local group to create an open day and heritage trail | 95 | 16 | |
Places | Wrightington: part one - its history and its hall | 95 | 24 | ||
Biography | Moses Morris: an Atherton "Dipper" | The life of the miner and Baptist | 95 | 28 | |
Local History | Past Forward: a treasure trove of Wigan and Wiganers | A volunteer has indexed all past copies of the archives and museums magazine | 95 | 30 | |
Social History | Crimes not fit to be named amongst Christians | People prosecuted for homosexuality in the early 19th century | 95 | 32 | |
Crime | A brave Atherton lass | Mary Alice Hartley was the only bystander who helped PC Thompson when he was attacked by John Peacock in 1910 | 95 | 34 | |
Family History | Aunt Mabel and the Peers family - a generational saga | 95 | 36 |