Wednesday 2nd July. Change of plan this month as John Johnson, who we had planned for this meeting can’t make it. In is place, at short notice, an old friend, Jack Smith has agreed to give us a talk on Horwich Loco Work. Jack served his time there and has fond memories of the place. He was also involved in a campaign to turn the site into a conservation area. This massive factory complex, built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co., started producing steam engines in 1887 and continued right up to the end of the era of steam in the mid 1950s. Famous names in the world of team engine design, such as Sir Nigel Gresley, also learned their trade there. Sure to be a great talk.

Wednesday 4th June. For a change this month we are having a guided tour of St Wilfred’s Church in  Standish.  Joe Bazeley, the treasurer, has agreed to take us around this grade one list building (the only one in the Wigan Borough). Built in the 16th century, it replaces earlier churches built on the same spot. It is inextricably link to the Standish family who built chantries on the site and supplied many of the church rectors.

Wednesday 7th May. This month we have our very own Patrick Maloney who has volunteered to give us a talk on Roman Coins which is a particular passion of his. Patrick was voted in as our new chairman at our AGM in February but has been doing the job since summer last year when Eric stepped down. I think every body agrees he has been doing a great job and I sure his talk will be just as good.

Wednesday 2nd April. This month we have Sam Rowe who is the Community Archaeology Project Officer for the National Museums Liverpool. He will be telling us about his on-going project entitled Rainford Roots. Over the last few years volunteers have been working with the Merseyside Archaeological Society and National Museums Liverpool on researching and excavating garden sites in Rainford village. Recent investigations have uncovered post medieval industrial material associated with the manufacture of clay tobacco pipes and pottery in the village from the 16th century onwards. Finds have included pottery from 16th-20th century in date, 17th century clay tobacco pipe bowls stamped with maker’s marks, locally produced bricks and tiles, and local glass. It will be very interesting to see the finds from this project as it resonates quite closely with our own Wigan Hall project.

Wednesday 5th March. At short notice, Boyd Harris from Chorley Arch Soc has kindly offered to give a presentation on the History of Withnell Fold, a Lancashire Village and Paper Mill. The village and paper mill were built on a green-field site in 1843 and the owner and builder,Thomas Blinkhorn Parke, kept detailed diaries about the mill & village. They give a first hand account of rural and industrial life from the mid 1840s.

Wednesday 5th February. This month it’s our AGM and we will be hoping to install a new chairman.   Our acting chairman, Patrick Maloney, has been doing a sterling job since Eric Walter stepped down in September. He has also volunteered to carry on in the post and I’m sure he will continue his good work.  After the formalities, there will be a presentation summarising the project work we have been carrying out over the past year. This includes the research and site surveying of both the Kirkless and Pingot sites. We hope to be doing further work on these sites and this will be explained in the presentation.

Wednesday 4th December. This month we have Richard Sivill, a local historian, who will be giving us a talk on the Kirkless Hall Coal & Cannel Company which developed into the Ironworks eventually becoming the huge Wigan Coal and Iron Company. This will be really helpful to us as we continue our investigations on this site. In October I reported on our progress (see Newsletter 167) and hopefully, when the vegetation dies down, we will be able to return to continue our survey.

Wednesday 6th November. Norman Redhead from the GMAAS has agreed (at short notice) to give us an update on the Roman Archaeology of Greater Manchester. It’s 5 years ago since Norman came last to tell us about the archaeology of Roman Manchester. Since then there has been a number of significant discoveries include the Roman Altar found in excavations on Great Jackson Street in Manchester.  Norman will also be able to tell us about the section of Roman road recently uncovered in Eccles. This is the Manchester to Wigan road and the new section was discovered not far from the section we helped to uncover in Ellesmere Park in 2005 (see Newsletter 85)

Wednesday 2nd October. This month we have Paul Kenyon from the Latham Park Trust who will be giving us a talk on The History of Latham from Pre-Historic times to Present. This will include recent finds from the Bronze-age site at Duttons Farm and the Latham House site were the famous siege took place in the Civil War.

Wednesday 4th September. No meeting in August – our next meeting, in September, will be a talk by Derek Winstanley on the The Daglish/Clarke Railway. In the 18th century wagonways were built to take coal from the many coalfields around Wigan down to the River Douglas. This particular one was used to transport coal from the Winstanley estate, through Orrell, down to the river at Crooke. But to do this Clarke had to build a stone viaduct at the Pingot to carry the railway over the valley, the first of its type in the world. This year also celebrates 200 years since Daglish built his famous “Yorkshire Horse” to run on the railway – this early steam locomotive predated Stephen’s Rocket by more than a decade. Derek is a local historian who now lives in America but is still passionate about the history of Wigan and therefore it promises to be a great talk.