Brilliant black and white pictures of Wigan mill staff at work and heading on holiday with their families

By Charles Graham

Published 16th Jul 2026, 15:45 GMT

Tens of thousands of people once worked in Wigan’s cotton mills, the majority of them women, and some feature in our latest nostalgic collection of photographs.

We have wound the clock back several decades with pictures from the Wigan Today archives of staff at work as well as on their way to holidays, with their families, during wakes weeks.

5. A retirement presentation to a long serving employee at Empress Mill, Ince, in 1966

. Photo: Gary Brunskill

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6. Wakes weeks meant a mass exodus from Wigan for a fortnight

. Photo: SUBMITTED

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7. Irvin-Diamond clothing manufacturer No 2 Eckersley Mill Wigan in 1970

. Photo: SUBMITTED

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8. Wiganers leave for their holidays as the mills closed for two weeks in the summer of 1968

. Photo: GARY BRUNSKILL

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Wigan Tens of thousands

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Brilliant black and white pictures of Wigan mill staff at work and heading on holiday with their families

Tens of thousands of people once worked in Wigan’s cotton mills, the majority of them women, and some feature in our latest nostalgic collection of photographs.

5. A retirement presentation to a long serving employee at Empress Mill, Ince, in 1966

6. Wakes weeks meant a mass exodus from Wigan for a fortnight

7. Irvin-Diamond clothing manufacturer No 2 Eckersley Mill Wigan in 1970

8. Wiganers leave for their holidays as the mills closed for two weeks in the summer of 1968

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