The Decline of the UK Town Centre

Hello friends. Earlier today I took a stroll around my local town centre armed with my camera. I remember walking around this town centre as a small boy in the 1970's. Back then I would see something of interest everywhere I looked. The fresh fish stalls were my favourite places to look around. There were a handful of competing fishmongers all occupying the same section of the market. I remember spending lots of time looking over the different types of fish on offer. They were so weird and wonderful and looking back they probably sparked my interest in fishing which I took up at around 10 years of age.

I also remember being fascinated by the butchers. Like the fishmongers they occupied a section of the market; offering a huge selection of meats and other things that I couldn't identify and didn't fancy eating if I'm honest.

Well I'm afraid like so many other towns across the UK, Wigan town centre isn't like that anymore. So let's have a look at the real face of Wigan town centre as it is today.

This is 'The Face of Wigan.'

An 18ft sculpture made from hundreds of highly reflective steel panels, called The Face of Wigan, has been installed in the town’s Grand Arcade. The surface of the £80,000 work, by the British artist Rick Kirby, mirrors fragments of people passing by as well as the surrounding landscape. The Times 2008.

It wasn't actually installed inside the Grand Arcade as claimed in the article.It was installed outside about a minutes walk away from the Grand Arcade. I found it quite creepy when I first laid eyes on it. I found it especially creepy as I walked around it and saw that it looked like a head with no brain.

Funding for the project was provided by Modus Properties (the developers of Wigan’s Grand Arcade shopping centre) as part of an agreement with Wigan Council to provide a major piece of public art in the town centre.

The sculptured portrait is intended to represent not a single  celebrity, but all of the inhabitants of the area, the very people of Wigan. These are the people who make the place what it is today, and indeed have the power to determine what will be the future. Rick Kirby. (source)

I find this quote from Rick Kirby quite interesting. I wonder as we look through the pictures of Wigan town centre whether this is what the people of Wigan have determined for themselves with the use of their power as Kirby puts it.

This marble plaque adorns the entrance to 'The Galleries' shopping centre which was opened in 1991 by none other than Princess Diana. All of the retail units inside were occupied. These days 'The Galleries' lies empty. It was killed off by the opening of the £120m Grand Arcade in 2007.

There's nothing open and no one around.

Another famous UK brand has left town.

Even the wealthy football club have moved on.

The empty units go on and on...

...and on.

Another big brand name now located out of town on a retail park.

And another big name gone.

Looking down over what remains of the outdoor market. Today there was a stall selling smoking paraphernalia, someone selling pillows, a suitcase and bag stall, a stall selling wigs and blouses and a mobile fruit stall which arrives about once a week. That's it!!!

Compared to the barren outdoor market, the indoor market is faring better in terms of unit occupation but struggles for customers.

Looking down over the indoor market.

This indoor market opened in 1988. It sits on the same site of the market I remember in my youth.

That tiny veg stall run by Bickershaw Hall Nurseries is the last remaining veg stall in the town centre.

This butcher left over a year ago leaving only one remaining butcher in the town centre.

Another butcher who left years ago.

This was the last remaining fismonger in Wigan town centre. They left over a year ago.

The wonderful welcoming warning and map posted at each entrance to the market.

Across the range of slight seconds sofas are two stalls that epitomise businesses that are appearing to be able to survive and spread throughout the town. One is a mobile phone stall and the other is a nail technician and beautician.

This is a typical example of what has become of many of our wonderful old pubs that I remember drinking in. Many are taken over and run as restaurants which almost always fail within a couple of years.

This shop used to sell pies. Around this part of England the people of Wigan are known as pie eaters. The average Wiganer will probably like pies so when the pie shops are closing Wiganers know there are serious problems. Pie shops are a kind of local business barometer.

These two shops both had customers waiting inside.

This business is another example that has managed to survive in the town centre. It's a slot machine hall.

Ladbrokes bookmakers, Galloways pie shop and a photo outlet. I reckon the photo shop will be the first of the three to go.

A few of these vape clubs have sprung up across town. I'm not sure what purpose they serve except to alienate people who vape.

Another nail technician.

And then I came across this. The brand new Wigan bus station.

Opened only yesterday, the station cost £15.7m.

The new station sits on the site of the old station and offers everything that the old one offered....and not much more to be honest. In fact the only extra feature mentioned in the local news report refers to

Standard accessible National Key Scheme toilets, a baby changing room and an enhanced Changing Places toilet in the concourse. (Source)

Inside the station I found a man in a hi vis vest and asked him what this bus station had that the other one didn't have. He immediately recoiled and became defensive. He began to get a little hot under the collar as he pointed out the obvious difference between this new station and the old one. He highlighted the shiny new glass and the taller building. I then pointed out that I meant what extra services do we now have and how this new station is an improvement on the last one. Once again he began to talk about the shiny seats and the nice clean toilets. He couldn't think of a single additional facility.

I then asked him about the state of the town centre itself and once again he recoiled and this time refused to answer. I mentioned the fact that Wigan has been run by a Labour council for the last 100 years and as it is one of the safest constituencies in the country that may go some way to explaining some of the neglect. The man in the hi vis vest then said that he'd better be careful what he says because he's a local councillor and at that moment he pulled out his phone to answer a probably ficticious call.

As you might expect, the new bus station has been built on the site of the old one. I say old one, but it was only about 20 - 30 years old. The roads on the old site had begun to fall apart and collapse. So they built the new one in the same place! I wonder how long this new £15.7m bus station with its shiny seats and glass fronts will last.

So if you ever find yourself in the area why not try shopping in Wigan? Why not go on the bus? You will arrive at the lovely new bus station and when you venture on into the town you can be assured that you won't need much money.....because everything's bloody closed!

Thanks for reading.

STEEMONKEY🐒