Old Wigan sayings and long forgotten words needed : Wed Jun 01, 2022 12:07 pm  

I am the author of six novels all set in the fictional town of Ashurst which is located somewhere near to Ashton, Billinge and Earlestown. All have a strong rugby league background and are inspired by the old saying about work that "They could write a book about this place. It would be a best seller." I am now about to start on another. At the age of 82 it is not a bad way to spend time as you never get out of breath or over excited doing it!. It is also a good way to spend time and particularly if you are fairly old or know someone who has a tale to tell about their own life and times. One of my story lines will be about a couple of OAPs from Wigan and a couple from St Helens who meet up on holiday in Spain in 2016. Among their conversations are about what life was like in the past and about the good natured rivalry between people from the two towns. I have plenty material from St Helens but less from Wigan. What I want are some old Wigan words, sayings and stories, humorous ones preferably. You can either post them here or if they are long, send them to me at wgeofflee@gmail.com. Also if anybody has not read any of my novels yet, One Winter, Two Seasons and Three Good Years are available from London League Publications. Visit them at http://www.llpshop.co.uk. Click on Books and then Fiction for more information. Among those who have enjoyed reading them are Tony Collins, Ray French, Dave Hadfield, Tony Hannan, Mike Stephenson and even Stan Barstow, who just like me once worked as a draughtsman.

I am the author of six novels all set in the fictional town of Ashurst which is located somewhere near to Ashton, Billinge and Earlestown. All have a strong rugby league background and are inspired by the old saying about work that "They could write a book about this place. It would be a best seller." I am now about to start on another. At the age of 82 it is not a bad way to spend time as you never get out of breath or over excited doing it!. It is also a good way to spend time and particularly if you are fairly old or know someone who has a tale to tell about their own life and times. One of my story lines will be about a couple of OAPs from Wigan and a couple from St Helens who meet up on holiday in Spain in 2016. Among their conversations are about what life was like in the past and about the good natured rivalry between people from the two towns. I have plenty material from St Helens but less from Wigan. What I want are some old Wigan words, sayings and stories, humorous ones preferably. You can either post them here or if they are long, send them to me at wgeofflee@gmail.com. Also if anybody has not read any of my novels yet, One Winter, Two Seasons and Three Good Years are available from London League Publications. Visit them at http://www.llpshop.co.uk. Click on Books and then Fiction for more information. Among those who have enjoyed reading them are Tony Collins, Ray French, Dave Hadfield, Tony Hannan, Mike Stephenson and even Stan Barstow, who just like me once worked as a draughtsman.

Re: Old Wigan sayings and long forgotten words needed : Wed Jun 01, 2022 1:54 pm  

glee wrote: I am the author of six novels all set in the fictional town of Ashurst which is located somewhere near to Ashton, Billinge and Earlestown. All have a strong rugby league background and are inspired by the old saying about work that "They could write a book about this place. It would be a best seller." I am now about to start on another. At the age of 82 it is not a bad way to spend time as you never get out of breath or over excited doing it!. It is also a good way to spend time and particularly if you are fairly old or know someone who has a tale to tell about their own life and times. One of my story lines will be about a couple of OAPs from Wigan and a couple from St Helens who meet up on holiday in Spain in 2016. Among their conversations are about what life was like in the past and about the good natured rivalry between people from the two towns. I have plenty material from St Helens but less from Wigan. What I want are some old Wigan words, sayings and stories, humorous ones preferably. You can either post them here or if they are long, send them to me at wgeofflee@gmail.com. Also if anybody has not read any of my novels yet, One Winter, Two Seasons and Three Good Years are available from London League Publications. Visit them at http://www.llpshop.co.uk. Click on Books and then Fiction for more information. Among those who have enjoyed reading them are Tony Collins, Ray French, Dave Hadfield, Tony Hannan, Mike Stephenson and even Stan Barstow, who just like me once worked as a draughtsman. this website has some, just need to hover over them for the translation https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/dialect2.php

glee wrote: I am the author of six novels all set in the fictional town of Ashurst which is located somewhere near to Ashton, Billinge and Earlestown. All have a strong rugby league background and are inspired by the old saying about work that "They could write a book about this place. It would be a best seller." I am now about to start on another. At the age of 82 it is not a bad way to spend time as you never get out of breath or over excited doing it!. It is also a good way to spend time and particularly if you are fairly old or know someone who has a tale to tell about their own life and times. One of my story lines will be about a couple of OAPs from Wigan and a couple from St Helens who meet up on holiday in Spain in 2016. Among their conversations are about what life was like in the past and about the good natured rivalry between people from the two towns. I have plenty material from St Helens but less from Wigan. What I want are some old Wigan words, sayings and stories, humorous ones preferably. You can either post them here or if they are long, send them to me at wgeofflee@gmail.com. Also if anybody has not read any of my novels yet, One Winter, Two Seasons and Three Good Years are available from London League Publications. Visit them at http://www.llpshop.co.uk. Click on Books and then Fiction for more information. Among those who have enjoyed reading them are Tony Collins, Ray French, Dave Hadfield, Tony Hannan, Mike Stephenson and even Stan Barstow, who just like me once worked as a draughtsman. this website has some, just need to hover over them for the translation https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/dialect2.php

Re: Old Wigan sayings and long forgotten words needed : Wed Jun 01, 2022 4:02 pm  

I presume you’ve read “The Billingers”. May be some ideas in there copyright permitting.

Re: Old Wigan sayings and long forgotten words needed : Wed Jun 01, 2022 4:11 pm  

The pieman wrote: this website has some, just need to hover over them for the translation https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/dialect2.php I showed that site to some work colleagues many many years ago and was asked to recite some of them. I must admit i did struggle. Having said that, my dad's cousin was a true Wiganer and, in my near 40 years of knowing him, i understood probably about 10% of what he said

The pieman wrote: this website has some, just need to hover over them for the translation https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/dialect2.php I showed that site to some work colleagues many many years ago and was asked to recite some of them. I must admit i did struggle. Having said that, my dad's cousin was a true Wiganer and, in my near 40 years of knowing him, i understood probably about 10% of what he said

Re: Old Wigan sayings and long forgotten words needed : Wed Jun 08, 2022 6:55 am  

[Gareth] wrote:

I showed that site to some work colleagues many many years ago and was asked to recite some of them. I must admit i did struggle. Having said that, my dad's cousin was a true Wiganer and, in my near 40 years of knowing him, i understood probably about 10% of what he said

i've used it a few times in work. Initially wasnt too bad as the teams i worked with were mainly locals (Leigh, Wigan, St Helens, Warrington, Widnes), so they sort of got some of it, and had worked with me for a few years

more recently i changed jobs and work with colleagues from all over the country. Now that was far more interesting and quite funny as they tried to grasp the whole sentence in one word concept , plus i then had to explain what some of it meant

I am very similar with my Uncle, ex builder and broad as they come. Speaks so fast and loud, and my kids have got no chance with him. They often look at me with a lost face, as they genuinely have no clue what he has said