They are the borough’s grottiest landmarks, some of which have blotted the landscape for many years, others which get uglier by the month and a few that are set to become a whole lot better looking in 2024.
5. WIGAN - 25-10-22 Exterior of Shanghai Palace, 69 Poolstock, Wigan - the scene of a fire which closed the road until the early hours of Tuesday. The former Chinese restaurant building is due to be demolished to make way for a three-storey building for 24 supported living apartments and 6 bungalows.
Just down the road from Monsoon on Poolstock is perhaps a bigger monstrosity: the former Shanghai Palace Chinese restaurant whose look wasn't helped by a fire there in 2022. Planning permission was given last year for it to be demolished to make way for a three-storey building for 24 supported living apartments and six bungalows but the long-suffering people of Poolstock are still waiting. Photo: Photographer Michelle Adamson
6. WIGAN - 19-12-23 GROT SPOT - Grotty buildings in Wigan - A derelict building on King Street West, Wigan.
Pub chain boss Tony Callaghan owns the buildings on the right here on King Street West, Wigan, which also go round the corner and up Wallgate. They have been in this shabby state for many years, but he has recently submitted plans to turn the upper floors into dozens of apartments so that could soon be a plus for the town centre Photo: Photographer Michelle Adamson
7. WIGAN - 22-03-23 A pile of bricks on the ground where Newtown Labour Club used to be before being demolished, next to the new football hub, Scot Lane, Wigan.
Worsley Hall welcomed the opening of a brand new football hub off Scot Lane and Laithwaite Road earlier this year, but the approach to it from one direction is far from impressive. This unsightly mound of bricks is all that remains of Newtown Labour Club, quite an eyesore itself when still standing in its latter days. And it has stubbornly sat there for several years now. In November 2021 Wigan-based Little Scotland Developments was granted planning permission to build 10 homes and four flats on the site and had three years from that date to do so. Requests from the company for an update, though, have not received a response, and there's no sign of construction work so far Photo: Photographer Michelle Adamson
8. WIGAN - BEST BUILDINGS - 24-04-19 An old building was Dawsons, near the old arcade (Grimes Arcade?) on King Street, Wigan. Feature celebrating the best buildings and beautiful features in and around Wigan.
Dawsons music shop used to sit in this once beautiful Grimes Arcade on King Street but the area has long been derelict and, in parts, dangerous. It's another property under Tony Callaghan's ownership and it is not long since he was saying it was soon to be done up as part of wider renovations to this once vibrant thoroughfare. But the plans are now on the back boiler because the catalyst for King Street's re-development - the restoration of the Royal Court Theatre by the Old Courts - has stalled. We hope for better news in 12 months' time. Photo: MA