Wigan Mint Balls' super-fan nearly choked to death on one as a toddler

Bob Hilton, who was born and brought up in Edale Road, Leigh, eats at least three or four of the world famous Wigan-made sweets each day and partly puts his liking for them down to the fact they “nearly did for me” all those years ago.

He has now been declared Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls’ biggest fan and been awarded free sweets for life, after the company that makes them appealed for nominations online.

Bob regularly orders 2kg jars online from William Santus and Co Ltd in Dorning Street and says they have helped him get through a year of self-isolating due to Covid-19, and to get over a heart attack in 1997.

Bob, who was born just a few miles from the Toffee Works factory in Wigan where Uncle Joe’s have been made since 1919, said: “My earliest memory was lying on the couch with a towel under me when I was about two, having my backside slapped by my uncle, Jim Oddie, until the Uncle Joe’s Mint Ball I was choking on came out.

“I always looked on him as my life-saver after that, but nearly choking didn’t stop me from picking up the offending sweet and putting it straight back in my mouth and eating it.

“The sweets have always had a very special place in my life ever since, even though they nearly did for me.

“During the war when we had to use our six-berth Anderson air raid shelter hot water bottles and Uncle Joe’s were essential comforts.

“We had large family gatherings at grandma’s, in Gordon Street on Rugby League match days, round the corner from Hilton Park, where Leigh played. My joy was always the half-time Uncle Joe’s. They are the only sweets that I can remember, at every stage of my life. They never failed to excite me and bring such peace. What a joy to bring to my years of retirement and isolation.

“I love the flavour and rolling them around in my mouth and they are just a lovely sweet.

“When I was little our pocket money was only a ha’penny a week so Uncle Joe’s were a very special treat.

“I now have three or four every day and they help keep me going. I had a heart attack in 1997 and thought that was the end of me, but obviously not, and Uncle Joe’s have helped me get through lockdown and self-isolation.”

Bob moved away from Leigh as he grew older and was headteacher at a secondary school in Newcastle-under-Lyme before moving to a village near Matlock, where he retired. His wife, Audrey, died 16 years ago.

John Winnard MBE and Antony Winnard, Uncle Joe’s Joint Managing Directors, said Bob was named the sweets’ biggest fan after an online appeal for nominations.

They said: “Bob’s devotion to our sweets and news of how they have helped him cope with self-isolation due to Covid is a wonderful story and we are delighted that he still loves them now he is in his 90s.”

The Wigan Observer and Wigan Post are more reliant than ever on your taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. For unlimited access to Wigan news and information online, you can subscribe at www.wigantoday.net/subscriptions