A treasure trove of Wigan social history: retired photographer’s very special book

A former Wigan Observer photographer who has dedicated much of his retirement to cataloguing his beloved town’s recent history in pictures has produced his biggest book yet.

Years ago Frank Orrell was given permission by the paper to trawl through the tens of thousands of negatives in its archives of pictures taken in the pre-digital era and has since then produced a series of tomes concentrating on different decades or subject areas.

But the latest - Wigan in the 1960s (A press photography record of Wigan and district from 1964 to 1969) is his most ambitious yet.

It runs to more than 600 pages and contains no fewer than 1,862 black and white images of news and sporting events, many of which haven’t seen the light of day since first published six decades ago.

The Shevington 77-year-old, who clocked up 42 years with the Wigan Post and Chroncile and Wigamn Observer until retiring in 2009, said that the book had been a labour of love.

He added: “This is my 10th book and it is by far the biggest yet and it has taken a heck of a long time to put it together, but I hope people will agree that it is worth it.

“When I retired I was allowed to go through many boxes of old negatives which were just sitting there gathering dust.

“It seemed such as shame that no-one could revisit these pictures. Folk love looking at old pictures, whether to see long lost loved ones, themselves in earlier days or places they know looking very different in the past.

“The pictures this time are all from the 1960s. Unlike the ones in the previous books, I didn’t take these. Most of them didn’t have picture credits next to them but I have tried to acknowledge, in the front of the book, as many photographers who would have taken them as I can remember.

“It’s an absolute treasure trove of pictures featuring everything from sporting fixtures, to walking days, to local characters and street scenes.

“Many of these photographs have never been republished. The reason the book doesn’t cover all the 1960s is because the negatives didn’t go back that far. There were some which didn’t dates on, so some of them may go back to pre-1964, and some didn’t have much detail on the captions so I have had to be quite generalised on occasions.”

But in some instances, Frank has written in a lot of details about particular still, such as the pictures that were taken when, in 1967, Granada Television transformed Ince Moss into the Somme battlefield as it brought Dr Phyllis Bentley’s Inheritance book trilogy to life.

Other favourites including the mother of the famous track cyclist Baybutt brothers waterskiing on Wrightington fishing ponds, the legend of Skull House in Appley Bridge, and a picture of the Wigan Athletic washerwoman pegging out their kits.

The book retails for £32. Frank says that he is not making any money on it but wants it out there because it is an “important piece of Wigan social history.”

It is available to buy at Shevington Library. Alternatively visit his Facebook page @frankorrellphotography or email [email protected]