Wigan's Lost History Rediscovered: Eckersley Mill b4 Phase 2 (History before its History special)

Ajouté : 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Hello, and welcome to rediscovering Wigan's lost history. Uh here we are at Eckersley Mill.

[00:00:07]Uh which obviously isn't lost.

[00:00:09]It's a history, and it's got a good future.

[00:00:12]Um but something that will be lost, so we're kind of discovering Wigan's lost history before it's lost, is this one, which is uh the mill in between the uh Eckersley Mill and another mill over there, uh which is a scheduled to be demolished before the end of the year as part of the redevelopment of the site.

[00:00:32]But interestingly, and very interestingly, uh there's a building here, which I think is amazing.

[00:00:40]Look at this stonework.

[00:00:44]Don't look at the graffiti.

[00:00:46]And then you got this.

[00:00:49]Sadly, not in the best condition at the moment, but hopefully at some point uh it may be brought back like the rest of the site. Uh Eckersley Limited.

[00:01:00]Eckersley with little um What do you call it? Oh, Brian's gone.

[00:01:08]Little comma thing uh there, which is very nice. Uh but yeah, look at that.

[00:01:12]That obviously was a window of some part.

[00:01:15]And this apparently used to be the uh food hall for the mills. Uh so where the kitchens were and everything, which I never knew. But if you walk down here, you see it says hall entrance.

[00:01:30]So this is where the workers would go in and get their uh meal uh during their shift, cuz they'd be working very long hours.

[00:01:38]And again, these probably were all windows at one point.

[00:01:41]Another archway there as well.

[00:01:43]And then we've got another doorway here, which says goods on it. So this is where all the food would go in. So one would assume uh that the building uh behind was the actual kitchen part, because the food would go in there and then get prepared by the the cooks and the chefs that they had.

[00:02:05]So, the entrance there, but there were two other entrances as well. And very much like schools of the time cuz we're talking well over 100 years ago.

[00:02:13]Uh they were segregated.

[00:02:15]Not by race, but by gender.

[00:02:18]Didn't realize that it was an old dining hall that the roller rink's in. But look at that. That's amazing. I love it.

[00:02:25]And then the men's entrance was here, which is next to the entrance where currently Wigan roller rink is.

[00:02:33]Now, that's a nice building, this building.

[00:02:37]It's part of Wigan's history and heritage, etc. But sadly, this is the one that is going to be knocked down, this entire mill.

[00:02:47]And uh probably replaced with I don't know, apartments or something.

[00:02:52]Um which is a shame. Um but it's beyond repair. I have no idea why, but it looks solid on this side, but it's probably not uh for a structural engineer. So, yeah, it's coming down.

[00:03:04]You got one of the old uh men entrances there for goods, I assume, coming in and out of the cotton mill.

[00:03:10]And that'll be a stairwell there, won't it?

[00:03:13]Uh going all the way down.

[00:03:15]Um what the hell?

[00:03:18]What are they?

[00:03:20]Like toy cars.

[00:03:21]Um but yeah, there's the mill that they've uh pretty much finished renovating.

[00:03:26]Uh I don't know whether these buildings are going to remain uh in the grand scheme of things. But then you've also got more of this mill that I was looking at a second ago, which is here.

[00:03:37]And like I say, from the from the outside, it looks okay, but like I say, I am not a structural engineer.

[00:03:43]So, [snorts] uh it's probably completely destroyed inside.

[00:03:48]So, this is the back side of it. I'm pretty sure actually I filmed uh the other side of it and uh uh yeah, I think it is pretty much falling down on the side that faces the river.

[00:03:59]Which is a shame cuz I've just been there, but there you go.

[00:04:01]Uh the mill over there though is salvageable.

[00:04:05]And uh it's going to be probably converted into apartments or something similar.

[00:04:13]And uh yeah, I do like the old mills. And look, it's got a chimney as well. I hope the chimney stays.

[00:04:19]Cuz the chimney is very cool indeed.

[00:04:22]I do like a good tall chimney.

[00:04:27]Scratch that.

[00:04:29]One thing they probably need to salvage from uh this mill that's coming down is the fire exit because uh that [laughter] one there.

[00:04:37]I mean, literally, if you if there was a fire in that building and you use that fire exit, you would literally fall to your death.

[00:04:44]Um >> [laughter] >> one assumes they're going to look into that.

[00:04:48]Uh but yeah, look at the chimney. Look at that. That is cool.

[00:04:53]This lower building here on this side of the chimney looks very, very run-down indeed. It don't look like it's got a roof on it.

[00:05:00]So, it's going to cost a fortune if they're going to renovate it. Or they might decide not to keep it, I don't know.

[00:05:05]And then we can see some more uh modern modern uh additions there.

[00:05:11]A couple of um looks like maybe asbestos.

[00:05:17]Uh corrugated asbestos or corrugated metal.

[00:05:21]Uh used a lot back in the olden days.

[00:05:24]And uh yeah, that does look like uh that they'll probably disappear as will probably this loading bay as well.

[00:05:32]Uh I can imagine this unloading bay will not be part of the plans. It's not really uh in line with uh what they're trying to do. Like I said, the main mill number one, they've done a fantastic job on.

[00:05:45]Uh Heaton Group, uh congratulations. So, let's they can do the same here.

[00:05:49]And, uh, you know, bring this whole building back to life. Here is the engine room of the old mill, and you can just about make out some tiles in there.

[00:06:01]Which is nice. Hopefully, they'll manage to keep that and make it part of some kind of uh, main building bit.

[00:06:09]Um, I don't know, maybe have that as a lobby or something. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?

[00:06:14]You can see it's a little bit clearer there. No doubt there's a lot more uh, there. In fact, angle the camera, you can see there is a lot more there.

[00:06:26]Yeah, a lot more tiles in there. That's That's fantastic.

[00:06:33]All the way up there. Look at that.

[00:06:37]Wow.

[00:06:38]Yeah, let's hope that stays.

[00:06:41]Well, I think the pigeons might be a bit upset because they won't be allowed to roost there anymore.

[00:06:47]Oh, brilliant.

[00:06:49]I like the arch window to the right as well. That's nice.

[00:06:53]Again, hopefully, uh, reinstate it as a window.

[00:06:57]Look at that. It's like a a little building with a used to have a window in it.

[00:07:02]Kind of stuck in between where the chimney is.

[00:07:07]So, but obviously, the chimney is part of the power unit, which is next to or behind it.

[00:07:16]So, I don't know where the coal would be that would, uh, turn the steam engines in that building there that we looked at with the tiles.

[00:07:27]But, obviously, uh, maybe something to do with that building that we could just see.

[00:07:33]Again, they're quite minor, but look at the attention to detail of the edge of that what was a entrance of some kind with the, uh, different color bricks.

[00:07:43]Again, hopefully gets preserved.

[00:07:46]You got this tower as well.

[00:07:50]Looks like this was added on. Doesn't look the same architecture.

[00:07:55]Um don't know what that was for. Maybe it was offices or a toilet block or something.

[00:08:00]Um but yeah, you look at the the way the windows are, with the arches and everything.

[00:08:07]Uh and then you look at this.

[00:08:09]It's a lot more basic, isn't it?

[00:08:11]So, uh I don't think it is part of the original structure.

[00:08:15]Again, it'd be interesting to see how much of this is kept.

[00:08:18]Look up there, it does say that this was built in 1900.

[00:08:22]So, it's 126 years old.

[00:08:26]And uh got another 126 years ahead of it, all being well.

[00:08:31]Yeah, from the other side you can see that this has been added on at a later date.

[00:08:37]And uh got this Basically, they built a a tunnel.

[00:08:44]Bridge thing, I don't know what you call it.

[00:08:47]But not to worry, cuz I'm at the Big Boys Garage.

[00:08:51]>> [laughter] >> What a brilliant name. Big Boys Garage.

[00:08:55]Uh remap, servicing, restoration, tires and more. I I've got the one with the more, please.

[00:09:00]Got some entrance there as well for Elite Go-Karting. Not sure whether that's still trading or not.

[00:09:07]Um but yeah.

[00:09:11]Be interesting to have a look at this, have a walk around this in a few years time. I don't know what the time scale is.

[00:09:17]Uh when it's finished and see what's uh what's been done with it, cuz I'm sure it's going to be amazing.

[00:09:25]Oh, don't panic as well.

[00:09:27]Uh there's a fire exit on this side of the building that actually does reach the ground.

[00:09:31]Uh so, that's good.

[00:09:32]Um uh yeah, definitely to back and keep an eye on this as it gets developed over the next few years. Also interesting to see what happens with the rest of the site cuz obviously they want to build apartments. I think it's a hotel lined up. I looked at plans couple of year ago.

[00:09:49]And uh they've done a fantastic job at the uh Mill 1. So one hopes they can do a similar thing here.

[00:09:57]And uh you know, keep Wigan's heritage alive and rebuild it for the future.

[00:10:02]Anyway, bit of a difference uh discovering Wigan's lost history because I'm discovering it before it's history.

[00:10:08]Or am I?

[00:10:10]Until next time.

[00:10:11]Don't forget to check out the other Wigan videos I've done and I will see you uh then. Until then, uh goodbye.