Here is a nostalgic selection.
5. RETRO
Clogs echoing along the cobbled streets in the damp morning air as mill girls, pulling their shawls over their heads, hurried to work past rows of terraced houses. A memory from yesteryear...but Wigan 1967, retained many links with the past. Mrs Martha Carter, then 76, of Gilroy Street, Scholes still wore her shawl and walked down those same cobbled streets. Picture by Bill Batchelor. Photo: Bill Batchelor
6. RETRO
Redundant workers face a bleak future on Friday 21st of February 1975 as it is announced that Empress cotton mill in Anderton Street, Higher Ince, is to close. Photo: Frank Orrell
7. RETRO
Machinists contemplate their future as the closure of the Eagle Manufacturing Company at Clifton Mills, Poolstock, is announced in July 1978. Photo: Frank Orrell
8. RETRO
Workers leaving the Eagle Manufacturing Company at Clifton Mills, Poolstock, after the closure announcement. Photo: Frank Orrell