FORWARDFORWARD ISSUE No. 25 SUMMER 2000

The Newsletter of Heritage Service FREE From the Editor The first year of the new Farewell to our Millennium has been an exciting one for Wigan Heritage Service, though tinged with sadness. History Man The Mapping the Millennium Festival was successfully launched on 13 April, at the Mill at the Pier - a thoroughly memorable day. Many of the 28 local sections of the Parish Map were on display, seen by a far larger audience than was ever expected. This is a Borough, a spectacular audio-visual programme commissioned specially to accompany the Parish Map on its tour of the Borough, was received with great acclaim, as was The Millennium Tree, a brand new play which was premiered in the evening before a packed house. The Festival’s tour of the Borough is now well under- way, and to date has been shown in Leigh, Golborne, Atherton, Wigan, Shevington and Standish (see pp 16, 17 for further details). The Year 2K exhibition, Wigan Heritage Service’s own special Millennium contribution, will open in the Bob in his element, as hundreds of young people will remember him - History Shop soon after this edition of Past Forward hits interpreting our local heritage on the streets of Wigan. the streets (for details see pp 14, 15). IN this issue we bid a fond farewell to a he moved to the then Central Library Exciting times, but also highly popular figure at the History in Wigan (now the History Shop) as sad times - as I write this, we Shop, Bob Blakeman, on the occasion Local History Librarian, and there he will soon be bidding farewell to Bob Blakeman, Education of his retirement. has stayed for the past 20 years. & Outreach Officer, due to ill- Known to all users over the last 20 In 1992 Bob was finally able to health. Bob’s knowledge of years as the Local History Officer, combine all his past training and Wigan’s local history was, Bob’s impressive knowledge of our experience when he became Education and will be, second to none, and he will be sorely missed, collection and the local area will be and Outreach Manager for Wigan by staff and readers alike. very hard to replace. Whether giving a Heritage Service. This post I’ve no doubt that his phone talk on Victorian Wigan to a local concentrated on local history and will be ringing for many years heritage provision while still allowing to come with requests for society, conducting a summer guided help from Heritage staff! walk around Worthington Lakes or Bob to spend time with the collection. This summer’s edition of simply answering enquiries from the It is in his educational role that he Past Forward is once again a public, Bob’s approach was always will be remembered by hun-dreds of bumper issue packed with fascinating articles, with thorough and his service excellent. our young people. The look of wonder something for everyone - What many of our regulars will not (and even fear!) on the faces of from dialect to Blackpool in know is that Bob actually started his countless classes experiencing Bob’s the 30’s, from an 83 year old demonstration of the craft of a on a motor bike to Hitler’s career as a teacher, in far off Stoke-on- Pope!! I hope you enjoy it - Trent. This training gives us a clear pikeman during the English Civil War from the many, many kind insight into how he was able to inject (with 10 foot pike) was something to comments you send me (the such life and relevance when behold! only complaint I have received is that you have to delivering local history for the people Bob was well known to all our wait too long between of Wigan. friends in local societies around the issues!), I have no doubt you Even his library career cannot be Borough and to many other officers will. easily categorised - he began as within the Authority, and I am sure Assistant Children’s Librarian at that they will all join with us in wishing All comments and Horwich, before moving to Leigh as him a long and active retirement. He is correspondence should likely to be as much in demand in the be addressed to: Children’s Librarian after gaining associate status in 1974. Six years later future as he was at work! Editor, ‘Past Forward’, Wigan Heritage Service, Market Suite, Covers: Wigan’s Parish Map montage (front) and a computer simulation of how the whole Map The Galleries, might look when it is finally brought together during 2001 (back). See centrespread for further Wigan WN1 1PX details about the Mapping the Millennium Festival. 2 NewsNews FromFrom thethe ArchivesArchives NEWS from the Archives is now gentleman in question as the documents exhibition, three original watercolours back to its normal format, you will were found by the depositor in a for the designs and a pamphlet about the be pleased to read. Since the last second-hand book! The first document exhibition. It is a delightful little issue there have been quite a few is William Grimshaw’s report from collection from a talented local lady. new accessions. I would like to Upholland Grammar School, Easter –––––––––––– 1917. The second is a certificate from thank all those people who have the Royal Drawing Society in 1902. If Windham’s Travel Journal thought to deposit documents with anybody has an idea who William 7 July 1769 - 9 January 1770 us. We are always grateful for new Grimshaw is or was please contact the ref: DDZ/EHC/20 deposits and to those people who Archive, we would be very grateful for want others to share a piece of any information. AS summer is upon us, many of us are history. planning holidays to foreign countries. I thought it would be nice to give an Many of these documents were EA 4039 insight into the summer holiday of an deposited at other outlets within the Something that may be of interest to 18th century man. The diary is part of a Heritage Service, such as the History family historians out there. Admissions larger collection of diaries, letterbooks Shop or Local History in Leigh Library, registers can be useful tools for and correspondence put together by Mr. but rest assured they all make it safely genealogical research, but so often the Edward Hall. to the Archive. The three sections records have not survived, or not been This particular diary is a highly specialise in different areas but work deposited much to the despair of family enjoyable piece of work. The diarist’s together to compliment each other and history researchers! This accession is comparisons of different countries and actively preserve the Heritage of the from Gidlow Senior School, which later his encounters with other Europeans are borough as a whole. became Gidlow Middle School. We have the admissions registers for particularly entertaining. Although the Recent Accessions Gidlow Middle School from September diary is not of any particular local 1972 until 21 March 1988. This interest it is part of a collection that has EA 4032 accession also includes log books of national and international importance. 28 Photographs from BICC. Very both the girls’ and boys’ departments at We are extremely lucky to have this interesting although highly specific Gidlow Senior Council School from collection in our possession locally. The collection of photographs. They include 1932-1957 (Girls), 1932-1972 (Boys). diaries can tell us so much about the various publicity photographs taken by The first log book of Gidlow Middle lifestyles of people in the past. We often BICC in Fine Testing Laboratory. There School (1972-1975) includes a list of forget that people had worries, is also an aerial view of the site taken at staff on opening of the new school. dilemmas, desires and memories as we the beginning of the 1980’s. The These log books provide a particularly do today. photograph was taken when the factory useful overview of day to day life in the Continued on page 4 was still intact during the company’s school and in particular the effect of the Golden Age. second World War on school life. The History Shop has a Meeting EA 4034 Catalogue Reference MMP EA 4041 Room, with a capacity for 36. 27/3 We were fortunate to receive