Tony Porter Ponders: Queens Hall repairs, Cooking and Ageing

Next week I will be looking at the Budget announced on Halloween, so I thought I would write about nonpolitical stuff this week. We all know Queens Hall Tower, many might not know the name of it, or the fact there is a church beneath it, fewer will know it used to have a huge multi floor hall at a jaunty angle at the rear, where the bus station is now, which was demolished and remodelled to be what it is today.

The tower even features on the hoardings around the Galleries redevelopment site. The sad news is that it is in need of some urgent repairs. From the dome at the top, down the ‘pillars’ and the structure holding it all up. We have, through various reasons, lost many of Wigans landmark buildings over time, it would be a shame to lose this one. There is a fund-raising appeal that has been set up to restore and save this fabulous building for future generations.

All the information is available in the main hall, where they hold meetings and run the café. Please, if you can, help this historical building and do what you can. It was built in 1906 and I hope it is still there in 2106. As you know I am a devout atheist but feel that many churches do a great deal for the local population and mental wellbeing for those that use them, I do hope this organisation can continue its great support for all that use it for a long time to come.

On a personal note I have surprised myself with the use I have got out of my air fryer that I bought about a year ago. I was told I would not use my oven again, oh how I laughed, but it was true. Apart from an odd pizza for mates, my oven has remained unused for months. The savings finically are impressive, I would recommend Air Fryers to all. In fact I bought a brand new one, bigger with two drawers, last week and look forward to being a little more adventurous with cooking my recipes.

Many say they cook only chips in theirs, I don’t, though my most cooked items are raw chicken wings, cut at the joints, 9 minutes at 200 degrees, add baby sweetcorn, another nine minutes then as a few mushrooms and either a squirt of tomato sauce or a sprinkle of curry power and five minutes later a tasty non e numbers chemical filled meal. I have done an easy cooking playlist on my YouTube showing various items, including sausages and fish, along with chips. Air Fryers are a game changer, if you have one you will know that already, if you don’t then have a look at getting one. They even can warm up/cook ready meals, though I do avoid those personally, but with the area smaller than a conventional oven, they are cheaper even just using it for that.

Next week also sees a milestone birthday for myself, I honestly imagined while at school that by the time I was forty I would be fat, bald and smoking a pipe. I am well past that, overweight, just, have my hair, just, and have never smoked, so I think I am doing alright.