50 years of change in Standish

From Standish Wiki

1905 Wigan Tram extended to Standish	1911	1911 1911 Census

Commenting on the changes of the last half century, Mr J. M. Ainscough, a native and Mayor of Wigan in 1923, wrote in 1911, "The quaint old thatched cottages in Church Street, Preston Road, and in the Grove, with their old fashioned gardens, have given place to new bricks and mortar. The old hand-loom Weaving Shop at the corner of Squire's Hey has been pulled down and commodious offices for the Urban District Council have taken it's place. The old Court Houses in Cross Street still remains, but the small triangular green in front of it with it's overhanging beech tree has disappeared."

"The Malt-kiln Pit, the delight of the village boys and girls in a long frost has gone, and is replaced by a handsome Wesleyan Chapel with a trimly-kept foreground." Mr Ainscough also notes that the Grammar School building has been more than doubled in size since 1870, and the Rectory Lane Schools enlarged in a still greater degree.^[1]

1. ↑ The Rev. Thomas Cruddas Porteus, A History of the Parish of Standish, Lancashire (Published by J. Starr & Son Ltd, Wigan, 1927)