REMEMBERING: The Way We Were museum at Wigan Pier

The Way We Were museum at Wigan Pier was part of a tourist attraction that, in its pomp, proved to be the second most popular in the North West (after Blackpool pleasure beach).

By Michelle Adamson

Published 12th Mar 2023, 15:45 GMT

People flocked from all over the country to the canalside premises – soon to be reborn as a food and drink hall – to see how life was in Victorian and Edwardian times, helped along by a cast of actors.

Here are some of the many photographs taken over the years of the exhibits and people bringing the borough’s past to life and attracting more than 10 million visitors from when it opened in 1986 to its closure in 2007.

Whelley Middle School pupils swot up on events in 1901 with copies of old editions of the Wigan Observer during a visit to The Way We Were at Wigan Pier on Tuesday 29th of April 1986.

1. 1986

Whelley Middle School pupils swot up on events in 1901 with copies of old editions of the Wigan Observer during a visit to The Way We Were at Wigan Pier on Tuesday 29th of April 1986. Photo: Frank Orrell

The actors from the Way We Were centre at Wigan Pier in 1988.

2. 1988

The actors from the Way We Were centre at Wigan Pier in 1988. Photo: STAFF

The school room at The Way We Were Museum at Wigan Pier.

3. 1997

The school room at The Way We Were Museum at Wigan Pier. Photo: JOHN LEATHERBAROW

An actor depicting life in the mines in Wigan in The Way We Were centre at Wigan Pier in 1986.

4. 1986

An actor depicting life in the mines in Wigan in The Way We Were centre at Wigan Pier in 1986. Photo: STAFF

North West Blackpool Victorian Edwardian