Wigan 2024 news review Part I: tragedy and triumph

There have been stories of heartbreaking tragedy and thwarted ambitions, but also those which give great cause for hope and ones of sporting triumph.

Below are some of those which made front page news between January and June. A review of the second half of the year will come next week.

January

We met the parents of Wigan toddler Patrick Jennings who were trying to fund medical treatment which they believe will give him a better chance in life.

Complications at birth led to the tot developing cerebral palsy and the one-year-old’s dad and mum Ed and Nan Jennings said they have “faced mountains to help him” with Nan giving up work indefinitely to take care of him.

The Standish couple had established a crowd-funding page in the hope of raising enough money for Patrick to undergo stem cell treatment.

The owner of a Wigan company walked free from court after defrauding landlords of thousands of pounds.

Linda Murray, also known as Linda Vella, was the sole director of property management company Let Me Lettings Ltd, on Winstanley Road, Orrell, which assisted landlords with managing their tenancies.

Bolton Crown Court heard it is a legal requirement for tenants’ deposits to be put in a secure tenancy deposit scheme. But Murray committed fraud by telling landlords she had put deposits into a scheme when she had not done so. The court heard about the impact her actions had on the landlords in moving victim impact statements.

Pub chain chief Tony Callaghan revealed he had ditched plans for a major new “city bar,” function rooms and offices in Wigan’s old general post office – because it “didn’t make sense” while Wigan’s hospitality scene continues to struggle.

He had talked of bringing back afternoon dinner dances, having a large bar and food area, renting out other parts to restaurateurs and also creating offices.

But even though the plans were hatched in the depths of a pandemic when it was hoped that things would recover to pre-Covid times, he says that such a rebound has failed to materialise.

However he has had better news to report more recently with town centre apartment plans, news that Harry’s Bar is to get an overhaul (reclaiming its old name of The Clarence Hotel) while the Cross Keys in Ashton is soon to re-open after an 11-year absence.

February

The inquest was held into the sudden and tragic death of 49-year-old former Wigan Warrior Paul Stevens.

The doting dad’s loved ones told Bolton Coroner’s Court that they had no concerns for him in the days before his death.

It emerged that he had been struggling for work of late, was short of money and was facing eviction from his home when he took his own life.

His sister Karen Bradshaw said: “Everybody loved him. He was a lot of fun. He was such a joy to be around.”

Wigan Warriors claimed a record-equalling fifth World Club Challenge with a 16-12 win over NRL’s Penrith Panthers as a sold-out DW Stadium were treated to a game that will live long in the memory.

Despite spending the majority of the game inside their own half, three chances was enough for three tries for the reigning Super League champions with scores through Abbas Miski, Kruise Leeming, and Jake Wardle.

The win saw Wigan with five titles alongside NRL’s Sydney Roosters and was the first piece of silverware in what would be stunningly unprecedented season for the cherry and whites.

Much loved Wigan star of the screen and stage Pam Shaw died after a short illness.

The Ince 81-year-old was a legend of the North West’s club circuit as a singer in a career that began in the 1960s.

But she was perhaps better known as an actress who landed cameo roles in countless films and TV programmes over the years.

She had parts in Coronation Street, Shameless, All Creatures Great and Small, Eric and Ernie, Scarborough and Alien Autopsy. All this brought her into contact with numerous big showbiz names, whether it be Peter Kay, Ant and Dec or Victoria Wood.

March

A masterplan to boost links between Wigan and its neighbour Bolton while creating 16,527 new homes over the next 17 years was approved.

Wigan Council gave the thumbs-up to Greater Manchester’s final Places for Everyone (PfE) draft which sets out strategic employment, residential and transport infrastructure targets across nine of the city region’s boroughs from 2022 to 2039.

A key part is the Wigan-Bolton Growth Corridor as a “regionally significant area of economic and residential development.”

This includes the potential finally to complete the link road between Junction 25 of the M6 and Junction 5 of the M61 at Westhoughton, with congestion between Wigan and Bolton seen as one of the major obstacles to growth in the north of Greater Manchester. Rail and bus links will also be improved.

A major company announced it was bringing films back to Wigan following a £3.5m makeover of the town’s abandoned and one and only remaining cinema.

Film lovers had been having to travel further afield to see the latest blockbusters after the Empire multiplex suddenly shut down at Robin Park in July last year after the chain running it hit a financial crisis.

However, top movies were promised there again after Omniplex Cinema Group, one of the UK and Ireland’s largest silver screen chains, announced its ambitious plans to re-open and rebrand the 11-screen Wigan facility after acquiring the space.

And in further good news it was announced that Wigan town centre will get a Hilton hotel as part of the huge Galleries redevelopment.

Wigan Council, in collaboration with its development partner Cityheart, signed a franchise agreement with the international chain for a Hampton by Hilton branded 144-bedroom, 5,800m sq hotel, as part of the £135m redevelopment of the former shopping centre.

Designed by JM Architects, the hotel will be a six-storey building located off Market Street and will be managed and operated by Leaf Hospitality.

April

The most awful tragedy of the year took place in April when fire tore through the home of the Mason family on Warrington Road, Goose Green.

There were six occupants caught up in the disaster and five of them escaped relatively unscathed. But then it was realised that four-year-old Ethan Mason was still trapped inside and his father Barry bravely went back through the smoke and flames to rescue him.

The supreme act of courage cost Barry his life and while Ethan was saved, he too succumbed to his injuries two days later.

Relatives set up a Gofundme page both to help pay for the funeral costs and also to help surviving family members because they lost all their belongings in the fire.

We met the man behind one of the biggest regeneration projects in Wigan history who was aiming to make his home town one of the top places in the North West where people want to work, live and play.

John Heaton revealed that the Eckersley Mills redevelopment near Wigan Pier was to be known as The Cotton Works, incorporating high class hospitality, accommodation and working environments.

Wigan Today was given an exclusive tour of the first of what will be 11 phases of the multi-million-pound masterplan: grade II listed Mill One. Anyone within miles of the town will have seen the work going on there in recent months as a new roof is put on the Victorian landmark. Working on phase one is now nearing completion.

Siblings made it a fugitive double for Wigan after winning the latest series of the Channel Four reality show Hunted by the skin of their teeth.

Jaxon and Nicola Feeley from Ashton-in-Makerfield took a two-thirds share of the show’s £100,000 prize by avoiding a crack team of surveillance experts for three weeks and then at the end sprinting up a brutal 1,500ft mountainside to a Lake District tarn and the helicopter extraction point with two hunters in hot pursuit.

It was the second time a Wigan pairing has won the popular show, Daniel Ryder and Hayley Morrison having performed the same feat in 2020.

May

Two of Wigan borough’s MPs announced they would not be seeking re-election when Britain went to the polls on July 4.

Hours after a rain-drenched Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the shock announcement of a general election when most people expected an autumn vote, Yvonne Fovargue, who had represented Makerfield since 2010, confirmed that she would be retiring from front line politics at the same time.

And soon afterwards James Grundy, who became the first ever Conservative MP for Leigh in 2019, told staff that he too will not be re-standing either.

Both of their seats would subsequently be claimed by Labour: Makerfield choosing Josh Simons, and former MP Jo Platt returning to the Commons after taking the new Leigh and Atherton constituency.

We exclusively revealed that plans for a multi-storey car park at Wigan Infirmary were set to be re-submitted.

Planning permission was originally granted in 2020 to transform Freckleton Street car park into a three-and-a-half-storey structure with 611 spaces.

However plans were scrapped two years later due to the rising costs of building materials.

The new proposals, which have since been approved, were for a more modest 356 spaces with 64 of those specifically reserved for staff on the ground floor. To counter-balance the smaller plan, a decision was taken to continue using the Mesnes Park Terrace car park in the town centre for staff.

A grieving Wigan 26-year-old who had lost two siblings to suspected suicides in the previous seven months, announced that he was organising a major fund-raiser in aid of charities which help people with mental health issues.

Jordan Swain, who admits that he has had his own mental health battles while serving in the army, wanted to raise the profile of organisations that can support people harbouring suicidal thoughts and also raise money for them.

It came after the death of his 25-year-old foster brother David Ball in October and then his foster sister Zoe Winstanley last month, a week before her 22nd birthday. Both, tragically, were found hanged and leave young children behind.

And so on August 17 Jordan and several friends from the 1st battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment took part in a run/walk from Southport to Wigan. And just to make things more fun, they did it while wearing nothing but very small pairs of pants, aka “budgy smugglers!” They raised thousands of pounds for charity.

June

A Wigan-based talent agent accused of “scamming” dozens of aspiring actors and families with young children appeared to have disappeared without trace.

Archie Purnell, who also goes under the name of Jamie Fisher, has operated a number of acting schools and casting agencies - such as Bodhi Talent, Luna Kids Screen Acting School, Luna Casting, and most recently Wigan TV & Film Acting School, based in Ormskirk Road.

But his furious alleged victims said they had been left out of pocket after being scammed out of thousands of pounds by the alleged fraudster.

They also accuse Purnell of having lied about having cancer, using multiple charity logos without their permission, stating half of money made would go to charity and then it never did.

Residents on a Wigan street were living in fear as shots were repeatedly fired at their cars, homes and even at a child.

There have been multiple incidents in recent weeks of pellets, possibly from a BB gun, being fired on Eldon Gardens and Richmond Road in Bryn.

Initially vehicles and property were targeted, but a four-year-old girl was also hit by a pellet and other people reported near misses.

The sniper attacks eventually stopped but no-one was ever arrested.

Bevan French gave a half-back performance the late Rob Burrow would have been proud of as Wigan Warriors beat Warrington Wolves at Wembley to win the Challenge Cup.

Man-of-the-match French made the first of Wigan's three tries for Zach Eckersley, before scoring a brilliant second as the Warriors extended their dominion over the Wire in big finals.

It meant that Matt Peet’s team held all four major honours in the League Leaders' Shield, the Super League title, the World Club Challenge and this record-extending 21st Challenge Cup triumph too.