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Retracing GEORGE ORWELL’S Steps from THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER
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- čas přidán 12. 12. 2023
- / wanderingturnip
www.buymeacoff...
The 10th episode of the Death of the High Street - WIGAN
But today is going to be more than just a roam around a town looking at the decline of retail. I decided to follow in the footsteps of George Orwell, who in 1936 came up North to look at unemployment and the mining communities. This led him on to write 'The Road To Wigan Pier'.
I have just finished that book and so this video is accompanied by his words at times as well. This video has been the most interesting I have made, as not only looking at Wigan, but it also took me to the National Coal Mining museum in Wakefield. Beyond that, it lead me on to look at my own family history of mining, and visit my great great great grandfather's grave, who died in a mining accident when he was 33.
Thank you as always for watching.
W.T
#london #abandoned #capital #urban #decay #towns #buildings #fail #city #levellingup
All stock footage paid and fully licensed, listed below with thanks to the creators and sites.
Smoking Chimneys -
Stock Footage provided by victorfort, from Pond5
Old footage from Northern mines and town -
British Pathé
1946-Coal Mine / Ruhr Area / Germany / 1946
ITEM ID: 77880225
TheArchivalCollection
By: TheArchivalCollection
Brown Coal Miners Gathered Around Fire Warm Their Hands
ITEM ID: 91898285
VelvetMemories
By: VelvetMemories
The Man Produces Coal Miner Using A Jackhammer
ITEM ID: 94126221
Desperado3
By: Desperado3
I live in Wigan. Ive been here for 20 years, and over that time I have watched it decline year after year. The town centre was always busy, plenty of good shops and lively. Bit by bit its vanishing. The building work is the location where a large outside market was, and lots of shops. They all lost their jobs to make way for an entertainment centre and luxury apartments that nobody will be able to afford. You can go down almost any street in Wigan and see derelict abandoned buildings left to rot. Its heartbreaking. I love living here. The people are where its true heart is.
Oh yeah I think you commented on my other vid recently telling me to come Wigan?
The people really were great, I actually spoke to so many more people than just on camera and it felt like a proper community. In comparison to some places I go, that’s enough to make a place worth returning to.
@wanderingturnip yes, that was me. Ive travelled alot. Im from London, and lived in Germany and Canada, and have never found a town that has stolen my heart like Wigan. I love learning about the history, and spend alot of time wakking and cycling along the Leeds and Liverpool canal. The history along the canal is astonishing. Some spectacular old cotton mills, huge, massive chimneys. You should come back and explore some more. Buy yourself a pie, we are a town of pie eaters. Brilliant video ♥️
Still much better than other towns in the area 👍
Very good video with interesting content. You did a excellent job explaining the mining history and running it along side Orwell’s book was really spot on. The town centre is rundown I’ve 70 years of watching it get to this state just like all town centres today, councillor’s no idea what to do to get life back into them. Keep up The content you are doing a good job.
At the same time, you have housing crisis and so many empty buildings...
Beautiful tribute to your forefather and the men who worked and died in the mines.
That moved me as well for those who loves History wasn't easy even seating on the Grave ..Mad Respect ❤❤❤ means how much he cares 🎉🎉 we can't run away from death but allways respected ..crying😢😢😮😢
i agree so beautifully done
And the children of the mines.
The men, children, and women who worked in the mines....and who are still working in the mines of Australia, Zimbabwe, and Brazil, digging for lithium for our cell phones and laptops, and cobalt in the Congo for Teslas where they dig by hand.
@@le_th_ So true! 😢
WT - this structure using Orwell’s book as the narrative engine of the trip is superb . Love seeing your presenting growth .
Thanks so much 😀
Agreed, wouldnt look our of place on the proper telly.
@@wanderingturnip After Christmass and new year I will upload this to my website under an article, George Orwell first book and wonderingturnip...
@wanderingturnip it's good stuff mate
@@wanderingturnip Love this book narrative idea - top bloke.
Mate. Big respect for You.
I am Polish living in 🇬🇧 UK
From my experience, British people are great, and should
be proud of this country 👏.
Wish You all best 👌 👍.
Talking about how your distant grandfather had to move coal, and you walk around carrying a camera to record things--having some coal mining in my family history (in another country), I would have to say that your ancestor would most likely be thrilled that you are not in the mines, and think that you are doing a valuable service with your camera and your words. Well done.
in reply to jankarel6454... I love you, but you're a bastard ! Your beautiful way with words has reduced me to a mess of tears. Well said. Thank you. Nowadays we are just so lucky and we have our ancestors to thank for it. Fortunately my mum lived through WW2 in London, or I wouldn't be here today. cheers
Emotional video - we owe a lot to the miners. There job was so important that they weren't conscripted in the wars
Great point. I love that my family were mining stock. Being miners probably saved their lives during the wartime periods.
Many thousands of coal miners volunteered to join the army during The Great War. Poor working class men and boys swapped the danger, terrible working conditions and lousy wages in the collieries for three meals a day and regular pay in Kitchener's Army. Many of course never returned home and endured hideous conditions in the trenches at the Front. Miners were also used to dig tunnels under enemy lines which were then laid with explosives. The Germans were of course doing the same thing. One important point to remember at this time was that many of those working class volunteers did not have the right to vote - including
my own grandfather. We hear a great deal about the struggle for the enfranchisement of women but what is largely ignored is that by the beginning of WWI only 56% of men had the vote. Indeed the struggle for universal voting rights should be seen as a class struggle and not as a gendered one. Mrs Pankhurst, leader of the WSPU, did not want the vote for all women but only 'respectable' - i.e middle class - women like her. A fascinating subject and there is a very good series of vids on YT about it by William Collins: Centuries Of Oppression. Well worth watching and they explode many of the myths surrounding this subject.
my grandad was a miner and many of them were in the home guard.
I'd love to see this appear on mainstream TV. Brilliant work to set the Wigan of today against Orwell's work.
A powerful video. I come from a mining background from St Helens and what you say is very true. I remember my dad coming home from Sutton Manor colliery and using margarine on his eyes to wipe the coal dust away. Going to the miners welfare christmas party and coach trips. Miners looked after each other and sadly the strike of '84-'85 killed off the mining community and it was never the same after that. Thank you for a brilliant video.
Margaret Thatcher did the working class a favour, but they were too thick to realise it. Who wants to works 100s of feet underground in filthy, dusty, dark, dangerous, damp conditions all day, with the coal dust killing your lungs and the threat of gas explosions? Yes, it was difficult for current miners to switch vocations, but ultimately she did the working class as a whole a huge favour and many were re-employed and re-trained in the 'new' industries like electrical engineering, printing, publishing.
Mining had become a lot safer by the 1980s, thanks to the constant pressure of unions to introduce more health and safety and advanced tech to protect their members. All Thatcher really did was outsource coal to much more dangerous mines in apartheid South Africa and elsewhere, where they still used child labour and extremely old tech. She was no friend of the working class. She just realised more money could be made from importing coal from the colonies where there were no unions and no protections.
You also appear to have a very rose-tinted view about what happened to the ex-miners and those communities. The overwhelming majority of ex-miners ended up on the dole, and most mining communities never recovered. Some survived in miserable zero hours type jobs. Others fell into drug addiction and despair. Only a few managed to become "middle class". IMO, it was an awful way to treat the people who made this country. @@blackporscheroadster-yw8hb
@@blackporscheroadster-yw8hb The biggest favor Thatcher did anyone was keeling over.
Your channel is excellent. Using Orwell to drive the narrative was a brilliant idea. I'd love to see more like this
I’m hopefully going to do more like this. It was much more fun to make than just wandering round a town
Seriously turnip your content is getting better and better and it started off brilliant in the first place. This episode was outstanding. I too, even though I’m a soft southerner have mining in my family history and the story of your great……grandfather and others like him I found very moving. A fascinating history and family story to be proud of for sure.
Thanks so much 😀 I’m actually planning on visiting some of the other types on mining down south that I know a lot less about 👍👍
It would be nice to see a video on the tin mines in Cornwall.
I found this very moving and a tribute to your relatives and mine,my great grandfather died down the pit at 38 he collapsed down the mine due to pneumonia,if you didn't work you didn't get paid it was new years day 1937 RIP George Espley
When I saw the latest one was about Wigan I wasn't expecting much but I think this might be your best video yet.
The heart of your own personal connection, the eloquent literary extracts and the grizzley truth of the past and present, they paint a picture with many colours. I think these sum up what I love about this channel.
I really appreciate that. I think it was my favourite to make, and definitely the one I put the most time and effort into so I’m glad people are enjoying it 😀
So pleased you've been to my home town! One of my great grandparents survived the Maypole pit disaster. The family story is that he had a vision of a coffin in the corner of the mine where the disaster happened and he got out when he saw this telling people something terrible was about to happen. He left his name tag in the mine when getting out so they thought he had been killed in the disaster but he survived all thanks to this vision he had.
My dad worked in a cotton mill when he was in his late teens 😁
Mate you are an inspiration. You should be there right on top of any history programme. Your presentation and your editing is bang on. You and your family be they present and past should be and I believe are immensely proud if you.
Ah one of the nicest comments I’ve ever got mate, really keeps me inspired to make more stuff 👍👍
Welcome to Wigan! As a proud Wiganer it was nice to hear something which talks both about the good and bad.
The site where Orwell lived is marked by a plaque and you wandered close towards it at one point.
Oh no way I would have loved to have found that 👍
There is also a plaque for wigan casino club in the grand arcade. And I don't know if you saw it but when you were round the back of debenhams, there is a small bit of roman baths or heating excavated. I used to work in that debenhams and saw it daily.
Did I see Trencherfield Mill knocked down, or in the middle of??
Richard Ashcroft, the lead singer of The Verve, was born in Wigan. You are walking down the streets that inspired hits like "Bitter Sweet Symphony," "Lucky Man," and "The D***s Don't Work." Thank you, Wandering Turnip.
im a 50yo Wiganer lived there all my life the change over the last 10 years is drastic it used to be bustling town but now with ebay and amazon and the huge industrial shopping centres just out of town the town centre is dying when i was in my 20s we had a fantastic night life where 1000s of people would enter king street where there was 27 bars and clubs within 200m people came in coach loads from all over for the party atmosphere now your lucky if there is 3 bars open on a weekend. i worked on the canals in wigan for 10 years mainly on the wigan flight of 27 locks going passed all the old coal mines i loved it helping all the boaters going up and down the flight and maintaining them but the management had a brain wave that they did not need 7 lockkeepers because they saw volunteers would come up and help boats so there was no need for 5 of us so they let us go because 2 lockkeepers can oversee the volunteers by the time they realised a year later that the volunteers did not want to work 6 days a week in the rain and snow for no money and the canal system started fail due to maintenance no longer being done because they fired us and would have to spend lots of money training new workers because we all had better paid jobs and would not come back. so at the moment they are spending millions closing them down and trying to repair them. needles to say the guy who had the brainwave to cut costs ended up costing them more in the long run. i still go up every few weeks to chat to the last few workers and see how its going
My great Grandfather was one of the three survivors of the Maypole Abrham Pit disaster in 1908 shown on that plaque. I lived here til I was 12 til my old mum escaped with us to Manchester. Yeh, from frying pan into fire
Oh no way, that’s crazy. Do you know if he ended up going back down the pit after that?
@@wanderingturnip I've got the front page of a French newspaper reporting on teh event and a pic of my relative holding hands (?) with the two other survivors. He was a work a month later - no choice
My Mum was born in England . My ancestors were all farm laborers. My father worked in a gold mine here, in Canada. I was raised in a mining town. I love history and finding your channel has been so informative and interesting for me. As a result, I just ordered the book 'The Road To Wigan Pier', and look forward to reading it.
Just happen to be reading The Road to Wigan Pier at the moment, so I found this video particularly interesting. I was motivated to read the book because I think we may be returning to the time when a small part of the population lived prosperous comfortable lives whilst the vast majority struggle with everyday living expenses. Difficult times ahead for many.
Wow, what an enjoyable watch this is. Definitely your best video yet in my opinion. Loved how you weaved your family history into the mining heritage of the places you visited (and the references from Orwell). Never been to Wigan but it looks like it is doing better than some of the neighbouring towns. Finding the grave of your 3x great grandfather too- he must have been a popular chap as that grave is in a lovely spot and quite ornate.
I lived and worked there about 12 years ago and it's defo had a hard decade since then, it was struggling but never this bad
As a Wiganer, we’ve been watching you for some time now and each video gets better and better, this is fantastic. Please keep up the great work!
Ah thank you so much 😀
Aww mate the ending of visiting your great Grandfather moved me to tears. There is so much love, positivity in this video. He would be proud of the man you’ve become today, mate! ❤
I know its not much and youtube will take a cut, but just wanted to say thank you for all these videos and the passion you have in what you do. This video was brilliant as always mate.
Ah thank you so much. It really does help so much 👍👍👍
What an amazing video, possibly your best yet. A fascinating fusion of retail, literature and mining. Brian, Dublin, Ireland.
Thank you very much 😀😀
As a Miners son from Kent !! Also as a retired HGV 1 driver UK & Europe, I'm also interested by canals, railways and was surprised by the Northern towns, Leeds, Blackburn, Manchester Stoke and many more places to mention, massif Mills bridges and walks along the Manchester Ship Canal.
I see the industrial North in the early 80s when much was still in commission, watching our lovely country decline over the years is disturbing, I even met Fred Dibner who was tending to a large chimney. My Mother was from Shirebrooke in Notts and Father a Dover boy. Regards Alan in Dover Kent :o)
Two sets of eyes from different times looking at the same things. My great, great great Grandad died in the Swaithe Colliery disaster, he was 35 and was married with children.😥 Another outstanding film, your passion and enthusiasm is brilliantly communicated.👍Being a library worker so happy to see you celebrating books, unfortunately many of our local libraries were also closed down during austerity.
I used to go to Wigan every day in the 80’s and it’s so sad now to see it. The thatcher (don’t start me on her!) killed the mines and the town just started to die. Sad times so many of people I knew worked in pits.
No she didn't.
Labour closed more mines than her...look it up !!
In Wales the miners established many libraries for them to learn and better themselves. They often built gyms from subscriptions etc for their communities
There was a huge camaraderie amongst them.
Apparently, there's still enough coal reserves in UK for 400 years, a study my then boyfriend was asked to do a few years ago
Harold Wilson closed down more pits than Thatcher, he said so in his own autobiography… You don’t need to necessarily read his book, just try and accept that the decline of an industry can happen over a long period of time…
Thatcher destroyed a lot more than the pits.She destroyed this once great country.
Actually amazing to see 1 man and his camera creating a historical an informative video. Just as good as any major tv production.
Cheers. This was definitely my favourite video to make so it’s really nice to get such nice feedback on it, proper appreciate it 👍👍
You deserve so much more recognition, your vids are so good entertainment wise photo shooting is just excellent
I always share these videos ❤
This was excellent mate - got me all emotional at the grave.
Oh I felt the same. Had to switch the camera off for a minute. Felt so detached from the fella, be it 100 years or so apart but still moved me
Thank you for a great video. My forebears, like yours, were miners - mine from Yorkshire. My great grandad was badly injured in a pit accident in the early 20th century and couldn't work again. His resourceful wife then worked as a private nurse to support the family. They were remarkable people.
Remarkable, or stupid. Depends on your perspective.
Born and raised in Wigan. We left there in 1983 when I was 16, and we emigrated to the US. Looking at this brought back so many memories. I remember the old Market Hall, it was demolished to make way for the newer one in the mid 80's, and by the looks of it, it is now in the process of being demolished! What a waste. 😢
I grew up working on indoor the market as a young lad. All day Saturdays, before and after school and in the school holidays too. Absolutely loved it. The stalls were so busy then. You couldn't move on a Saturday. Such a buzz and such a shame to see all the empty stalls and think of all the characters that used to work there and customers alike. Only thing certain in life is change they say. 😢
David, your video tours get better and better. Loved the lines from Orwell's book which you brought to life. Thanks.
Thanks so much 😀
Amazing video mate. Love Orwell, lived in Barcelona and worked in Wigan for a while too and his influence was still significant in both places.
Hey man, love your videos, your passion for your country and its history. I am a Florida resident in the states and I wander around my old childhood towns and count the dead malls as well, can be depressing but you bring life to it all. Regards
i love that you brought the book into it. its so important to see how our british writers wrote and felt from their times.
Really enjoyed this! I’m a Wiganer born and bred and it’s awful to see how it’s all changed. The demolition of the Galleries is a very sad time for me as I spent my childhood in Wigan town centre. So much is changing!
It's weird to see the gap left where the galleries once stood. I never realised how big it was until they knocked it down.
@@liamholcroft7212 Oh absolutely! It was big! I really don’t know what this revamp they intend on doing will actually do for the town centre. Time will tell! Wish they did something to save that clock! I watched another CZcamsr from Wigan who did regular updates on the demolition and he filmed it as they were demolishing the part with the clock in it! I got a bit watery eyed at that point.
Probably your best video so far. I enjoyed every second of it. Thank you for your great work. Beautiful tribute btw
Thank you! Definitely my favourite to make so glad you also liked it 👍👍
Wow thats fantasic that you found that grave . Mining was such a demanding job . I dont know how these guys did the job . One of your best streams mate . Many thanks 👍👍👍Respect to all of the guys that lost there lives working so hard .
That was very well done. You never know, there's a chance that, that penny might have passed through your Great Great Great Grandfather's hands at some point.
That is a really nice thought thank you 😀
Great video !
I was an apprentice at Wigan tech back in 1987, the year that the Galleries shopping centre was built ( the big open space you showed as it’s been demolished after less then 40 years.)
The town hall was the Wigan tech library st campus where we did our bricklaying theory .
We did night classes and practical brickwork down at the Trencherfield Mill next to the pier .
Then flew the drone over the Gidlow mill which was going to be the main college campus. The construction part was moved in first so we rattled around in that massive mill. Eventually they built a brand new construction campus at the back entrance of the mill then it looks like they just abandoned the old mill . Such a shame to see it rotting away , once the roof has gone its game over .
Thanks for the video 🧱👍🏼
Great video, loved the parallels of yours and Orwell's narrative. I used to wander around Wigan now and then, it was interesting to see another part of it. Quite sad to see so many of these thriving industrial towns being left to the elements. So much of the North West has that Victorian shadow, I used to enjoy walking through a dense overgrown woodland and coming across an old chimney or workhouse, and sensing that history. And thanks for sharing your tribute to your family ancestor.
Blackpool fan , always been fond of wigan , Great history , two Great northern soul bands , mid 70's , one was WIGANS OVATION ( big hit with " ski- ing in the snow" ) the other was WIGANS CHOSEN FEW ,, Factor in wigan pier, and then this , today . . . So sad to see a once Great town Go this way , Blackpool backstreets similar , Glasgow city is a mess , just so sad.
What a touching moment you shared with us all. Thank you .
I think what is being demolished there is a 35 year old shopping centre that once was occupied by all the big name stores and became a dead mall. They are still pulling down the mills as they are pulling down the malls! Great video, keep it up and I love your passion for chimneys. I'm from Burnley and we had hundreds of them! Interesting comment about the lung disease caused by working down the mines when you are from Hebden Bridge which is notorious for the Cape Asbestos factory at Acre Mill!
I was born n bred in a mining town in Derbyshire and spent 15 years as a class one driver. I now live in Vancouver BC and work in psychiatric ER it’s so easy to forget our roots! It’s also very interesting to see how the British class system is still as prevalent today as it ever was. Keep up the good work and keep the vids coming…..a beer donation is incoming!
You are passionate, enthusiastic and research well. Great thought and understanding on the subject. Thank you for sharing a bit of your family's history too. It's a poignant moment putting a penny on your great great great Grandfather's grave and nice that the miners would help out the widow of a lost miner. Keep the content up. You're good at it.
I'm from Wigan, lived in Skelmersdale most of my life and I will say they are both depressing. Skelmersdale once it has you won't let you leave. You should do skem will take only 5 mins mostly roundabouts. One good thing tho is the greenery in skem over Wigan that I do like
And we still have to good old concourse that actively stops any development going ahead
My husband was from Skem, and he managed to get away to live in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and never once returned. He mentioned how green it was. So, you can get out, if you really want to. 😊
I love Orwell also. He too would have stood in front of that Town Hall (built 1903 and a former technical college until the 1990s).
Another great watch, thanks!
I was born and raised in Wigan. My grandfather uncles and cousins all worked in the mines. We left in 1966 for Canada. This video brings tear.
I found this video incredibly moving. Purely excellent throughout. Thank you 😊
I really enjoy watching your videos and seeing your enthusiasm. That was touching when you went to visit your grandfather x3’s grave. I couldn’t imagine even being at the entrance of a pit let alone being miles underground. Those guys from yesteryear were tough.
The most emotional episode. My family is originally from Lancashire but the Clitheroe area. I was looking at my family tree the other day. It’s strange to think that if those people had not existed we would not be alive today
Compelling viewing. I knew Wigan in the 80's via Rugby League. Loved Sweaty Betty's. As a pre-decimalisation child, threepence is pronounced thrup pence..........
Thruppence Aypenny.
Caught your last video soaking up Manchester
You mentioned Saint Eric
The Road To \Wigan
A most devastating account of Class Horrendousness
And now here you are in Wigan
I love your Passion young Man
Stay Awesome
PS
Wigan Pier in the late 70's and early 80's had the best
Northern Soul
Shuffle Dance Scene ever
I actually thought after I released this that I should have added in some footage of the northern soul dancing, that would have been great. Cheers for watching mate 👍👍
It's thanks to independently produced channels like this that we no longer need mainstream TV.. This type of content is simply *THE BEST OF THE BEST!*
Your enthusiasm is notably GENUINE, and highly contagious, David and your hard work is *MUCH* appreciated! You will soon get that YT silver plaque, but you deserve so, oh soooooo much more! You're going places, me lad!👍👏
Edit: Maybe I get a bit carried away with my comments 😂 but I mean every word and, hey.. positive comments can only help a channel and I've been following for a good while now and enjoyed watching Wandering Turnip grow.. into a huge Turnip 😂👍
Just read this and seen your others 😀 they really mean a lot. I’m always buzzing to see you enjoy my stuff, and especially this video. It was my favourite to make and to see you really enjoy it and say it’s potentially my best is ace 👏👍👍👍
The fact is, your channel is unique, David.. and it's unique thanks to your natural talent and passion for storytelling and your genuine interest in British industry and history! You definitely found your calling in life!
I may have lived in Italy for nearly 2 decades, (Derbyshire born and bred) but your videos conjure up memories of not only countryside walks in the Peak District or the Yorkshire Dales with my grandparents, but also holidays in seaside towns like Blackpool and Scarborough.. it's just *magical* to be taken back in time like that!⭐🌟 They are also extremely informative and educational..
Even my friends here in Italy (many of whom have never been to England) are fascinated to watch your videos because you make them interesting for EVERYONE..
It's strange how it took me so long to watch this Wigan video.. I had put it aside for later as I simply didn't know the town.. In fact it was *super interesting* and went way beyond my expectations! I think the old footage really added something special and made it your best work yet.. 🎩😀
It's hard to imagine the harsh life of the miners, but with such powerful visuals it brings everything to the forefront! Honestly, I have watched this video twice as it was so moving.. and I will be watching it again and have shared with my friends and family.. 🙏👏👍Your hard work is much appreciated..
@@wanderingturnip
@@pimpozza,spot on.
@@robedwrds3879 👍👍🙋🏻♀️
With awesome videos like wondering turnip I stopped watching trash tv more than 10 years ago
Tremendous work on your part realizing national and familial history. In my state of Arizona, we had massive mining of copper, gold and silver. Irish and Welsh miners were the main workers in Bisbee, the main copper producing mine in the world at that time. However, the bosses were vicious, the police corrupt and it was a bloody and inhumane mess. Lots of deaths. At one point they loaded the miners on trains and stranded them in New Mexico. All because they wanted better working conditions. I took an old rail car 1800 feet down the Queen Mine in Bisbee and upon entering a room they had everyone turn off their lights. Absolutely terrifying. The similarities between your story and this, 5,000 miles away, are extreme. Except the mines here have a year round temperature of 54F degrees.
Put this in your search engine if interested in more.
bisbee miners strike
Thank you for your videos.
Here's a mining story from Wigan. In the early part of the 1900's my great grandfather was a miner (huer) at a pit in Abram. One day he was crushed between two loaded coal trucks. His seriously injured body was then loaded onto a door which they used as a makeshift stretcher. He was then carried home and placed on the living room floor where he died in front of my Great Grandmother and Grandfather who at that time was only a young boy. They came back for the door a short time later. Ah the good old days.
Only since the first lockdown have I found time to find that some distant relatives worked the coal mines in Cheshire. My surname is unusual down south which makes it easier to trace. A lot of these mining town cemeteries have their records online now. I have found photos of the graves and like yours I have 2 in the same grave with an expensive headstone. Great stuff mate. A lot that you do is for posterity.
Living in Mid Cheshire, we were the global centre of Salt mining.
A wonderful, documentary like production, learned so very much today. You, Sir are brilliant!
As others have said.. this is *QUALITY STORY TELLING!* I had taken my time to watch this one, (not knowing Wigan well) yet it was packed full of so much more interesting history than I could ever have imagined.. and incorporating George Orwell was a class act! I am lost for words.. so poignant.. maybe your best video to date! 👍🙏👏👏
This was *so much more* than Wigan! This was a fantastic insight into the coal mining industry.. the strife and the hardships, depicted admirably with old footage.. and to top it all, you went to your great, great, great grandfather's grave.. Stephen Burnip was a victim of those hard times and this was a fine tribute to him and others like him who suffered an untimely demise.. Well done, David for these thought-provoking and brilliantly produced videos. The drone footage made it especially memorable.. thank you! 🙏👏
The suicide rate in Wigan is constantly above the national average. It's true what they say, it's grim up north. The roads are full of potholes, the traffic is horrendous and the takeaways all have terrible scores on the food hygiene ratings. It needs sorting out, but what do you do?
As regards to the standard of takeaway hygiene it just reflects a race to the bottom and standards that reflect 3rd world countries.
Fantastic video. Im from Wigan and my Grandad was a coal miner. Had a lucky escape from a collapse in one of the local mines, sadly no longer with us to tell his tales. But looking at the town and how far it has fallen over the last 20 years really hurts, and that new 'development' like most things, will just turn out to be a huge waste of space and money.
I disagree, they are putting flats in there which should boost commerce in the town centre as it is right on their door step. Only time can tell though.
@@liamholcroft7212 well lets see who inhabits them before we start thinking they will have 'spending power' 😂
I've only recently come across your channel and you're already in my top 3 favourite channels. I absolutely loved this video. It was so interesting to learn about the mines and your great grandfather. I'm from down south but my ancestors moved around the UK a lot and some came from Ireland. I love to hear stories from these times, I think we cannot fully appreciate what our ancestors went through so that we can live the comfortable lives we live today.
So glad to have found your channel.
Great piece of journalism and story telling, thank you
Thank you for watching 😀
@ 6mins.......That 'Huge huge space' was only completed on 1990, I'm a Bricky and worked all around there but not actually on the Galleries as it's known. Just imagine all that regeneration of the old Market Hall and Square, demolished in less than 35yrs!!!!! Absolutely staggering waste and criminally poor planning.
Oh that’s nuts, thanks for this mate 👍
I used to live in Wigan, left in 2010. I remember that now demolished shopping arcade still had the Chelsea Girl door handles on that unit; it hadn't been open for many, many years along with most of those shops on the lower level.
Most beautiful one to date
Also loved the discussions with some of the locals - always gives a taste of the area and humanises people who are typically living in more deprived areas
Wigan once had the greatest pub in the world. The Tudor House, where ex miners and students and musicians and poets rubbed shoulders. It closed for many years and I have heard it's reopened. I hope it's still good. Your use of Orwell as a kind of guide is superb here, I lived in Wigan and as an ex colonial who was educated at a very old and expensive public school I felt a kinship with him, a man who was already one of my favourite writers.
Tudors gone now. It only came back for a short while, sadly.
That one pub had so much history, with some huge bands playing there.
@@pablothehut I am very sad to hear it's gone again. I once pissed off Richard Ashcroft of The Verve by sitting in "his chair" there, and this was back when they were still playing support gigs for Tansads!
@dansharpe2364 it was the only place my friends went to as kids.
Lots of memories there.
I found the end of this episode very emotional
He was so so young
Bless him
An episode that would interest me in this series would be my hometown of Wolverhampton.
I’ve not lived there for 14 years and not been back there for around 5 years so have no idea what the city centre is like now.
This video was very moving, how you linked your family history into the decline or should I say the total death of mining and it's impact on not just Wigan but much of the North. It was also interesting using passages from the book which much of it seemed to ring true to today's Wigan and many other towns.
I come a steelworking family which obviusly relied on coal mining for fuel. One side of my family is from around North Lincolnshire, the other side are from Cumbria and left the steel works in Workington to go and work in Scunthorpe. I know live in Shefffield so I can't escape steel. Similarly to coal mining many of my family ended up with health issues caused by the job, had work related injuries and I know one of my Great, Great Grandfathers died in an accident at work.
Great video! I’m from mining stock, my grandad fell down the pit, moaned about having a bad headache for weeks after, only to discover he’d fractured his neck! As soon as he was mended he went back down there 💪 I was only young when he died, but what I do remember of him was this strapping man with a heart of gold. Your video has brought on some fond memories. Thank you 🙏
Used to travel to Wigwam every weekend as a kid. I remember Robin Park, The Ritz cinema, the indoor and outdoor market, Tom Whalley's petshop near the Ritz. In my later life i drank in The John Bull Chophouse, went to Maximes, sometimes Wigan Pier, had a lunchtime pint in Crofters and sometimes The Tudor next to the bus station. Good memories. I havent been around Wigwam in 2 decades.
Great video as always ❤
Did orwell mention in his book that one of the best hard house nights used to be based in wigan pier? Aye lad them were the days, thats when pills used to be pills, not like the rubbish they have nowadays.....
Used to go to the casino in the 70s Wigan was a lovely town .. we used to go for a swim after a good all-nighter then go for breakfast in a little cafe (forgot the name) and have a walk round town before we’d catch train back home ....
Amazing presentation, well planned and professionally done.
I grew up in Bolton just down the road from Wigan. There were a couple of boys from Wigan in my course at the technical collage. I thought they were pulling my leg when they told me that Wigan has a pier.
I knew a few guys who had worked down the mines and changed jobs for health reasons. They told me it was filthy back breaking work at the best of times, but there was always a sense of community among the men, you could always rely on them when you had a problem.
Great video again, such a shame what's happened to my home town, the building work you saw, is for mostly entertainment not many shops
Really enjoyed your Wigan Tour you made it interesting used to be a lot better but progress doesn’t always make things better does it.Wigan Lad 👍
A fairly reasonable video, Visiting Wigan and no mention of Pies, Photos of former Wigan Rugby-league players on the wall of the entrance to the shopping centre, I believe, Not my Rugby-league team But good to see. Just bought a copy of The Road to Wigan Pier. Straight after watching your video.
Originally read it at 16 years old, Will understand more of it with more ",Life experience ".
Enjoy your vids very much that was not Wigan pier that was the canal warehouse that was a pub called Wigan pier but the actual pier is on the other side of the Leeds Liverpool canal it's just two rails called a staithe where they loaded barges.
Oh damn I thought I had found it 😂
you're a great enthusiastic presenter. I really enjoy your videos and channel!
Thank you very much! 😀
@@wanderingturnip are you by any chance related to Steve Burnip who used to work at YTV? I worked with him years ago.
Oh no way, yeah that’s my dad!
@@wanderingturnip Hope he is well! I worked in the newsroom at YTV like 20 years ago! Wasn't there very long. was one of my first jobs :)
He always talks about how interesting work was back at YTV. I feel like that environment doesn’t exist anymore like it did. Probably what got me interested in making videos and stuff to be fair
The connection to the past and present , delivered in a respectful manner towards the old ways. A pint of bitter your only man after a hard days graft. Thanks WT for your videos.
Wow. My favourite video. Love finding the insight into your own family history mixed with Orwell and the history!! Subscriber!!
Your channel is a nice alternative to all these "screaming and whining" British CZcamsrs, that sound like they are trying to sell You stuff.
Don't change, and keep up the great work, waiting for more vids to come.
Used to love hitching up to Wigan in the 80s and 90s from Liverpool to go and buy HC punk records from Alan's Records and go to gig's in The Den and The Cricketer. I did a load of work on the water mains there in the later 90s and it was kicking along, with local businesses, decent shops and local colleges. Decent chippies, pie shops. cobblers and a clog makers!
It's no surprise these days that it looks like a fucking tip, but it's refreshing to see that the market side of Wigan looks to be alive.
Your videos are really informative, but depressingly predictable. Once great towns and cities that have had the arse ripped out of them by exorbitant rents and rates. I've lived abroad since 2004 and I can't think of a single vacant shop on any of the local high streets. However, in the big malls there's always one of two shops that fold after a couple of months due to shitty positioning.
Keep up the great work mate and you've inspired me to get on Google Earth and check the old stomping grounds out.
This is without doubt, terrestrial TV quality and the irony is, David would'nt even need a camera crew or producer. Thank God CZcams has given rise to these professionally presented channels and content. I wish you every success to 100k subscribers and beyond, mark my words the old TV order of the BBC etc will be history in maybe another 10/15yrs?
Thanks so much for this. This was definitely my favourite video to make so I’m really glad people are enjoying it. Very much appreciated reading these words 👏👏👏
I had never heard of that book before. I love the narration. I’m definitely going to read it now.
Excellent video paying tribute to these bygone and brave miners, that worked for the industry that shaped our modern world. Sadly, thanks to the government interference, led by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; favoured the destruction of this noble breed and the coal industry. The objective was to weaken the trade unions - that Thatcher described as the ‘enemy within’, and which she regarded as a barrier to ‘national recovery’. Her view was that the economic crises of the 1970s could only be overcome and profits revived by reducing the ability of unions to prevent pay cuts and defend the public sector. The real legacy of the pit closure programme in the UK is not so much the greener valleys (an accidental by product) but the decades long combination of unemployment, under-employment, ill health, increased crime and drug use and lack of hope.
You look at the infrastructure and modernization going on in places like China and then you look at this. Britain is in decline but it's hard for people to accept that.
Excellent video Mr Turnip, I'm pleased you found your GGGrand Fathers grave, the lives and people were so much tougher back then. Thanks for visit to that time.
Once again I am honoured to be part of this amazing project and watch you find your relatives resting place… you continue to educate us with your findings…and once again I continue to to be humbled by your beautiful work… thank you for what you do 🙏
Love videos shame they all gone whst shame so many lost of towns and men jobs very interesting
Britain Needs the Soul of its' High Streets back, instead of all these Americanized Soulless Malls. Therin Lies the Rub.
Your right it doesn't work here in the UK. Capitalism and privatisation have killed it. I'm not communist but weird how there is no in-between.
Actually.. I think this is what people really want, everything gets sacrificed for convenience 😔
@@WilliamKlaesson greed and capitalism and lack of empathy.
Beautiful how objects from another era can pass through time and come to us. Very touching tribute to your great-great-great grandfather.
The drone footage was illuminating. Good narrative here and your family connection to the place, all the more worth telling
I left school the year Thatcher got in and I've seen the country destroyed by the Tory governments. I'm glad my life is nearly over because this country is finished.
Wow loving the positivity mate, going out on a high note are we?
And then Blair finished the Job.