The Pink Widow's Cottage

Somewhere in deepest darkest Lancashire stands a cottage in a garden that has been overtaken by weeds, nettles and thistles! I am calling it "The Pink Widow's Cottage" as that is what the urbex couple who told me about it called it. It was a stroke of luck that I bumped into them on a previous urbex trip or I'd never have known about this place. I haven't seen it on any of the urbex sites.
After struggling through the jungle of a "garden" and getting attacked by the thorny plants, a few good shoves and I was in through the front door. This was a rare solo visit for me, it being a school day and all . . .

I have no idea of the history of the place but it seems to have been abandoned for some time, judging by the décor and the amount of cobwebs around the place. Trying to guess what the person who lived here was like is a good game to play as you wander around. I shall go with the "widow" theme and say that she was an animal lover as there were large posters of a rabbit and a robin above the fireplace.

Into the front parlour, where there are several different layers of wallpaper peeling off the damp walls.

 There are two armchairs which have definitely seen better days!

 This fireplace reminded me of the one that my grandparents had when they lived in an old cottage. I remember them cleaning it out at night and getting it lit with newspaper on cold winter mornings.

 Some distinctly 1970s wallpaper covering the chintzy pink rose wallpaper underneath.

 The kitchen made my student house kitchen look positively palatial! The units were wonky, filthy and the windowsill was covered in cobwebs. There were pans left on the draining board as if the widow had just popped out to the shops.

Through the kitchen was another small room which contained a washday mangle used wring out wet clothes from the washtub. Again, this reminded me of my grandma as she used to tell me how she helped her mother out on wash days by putting shirts through the mangle in the 1920s and 30s.

There was a very dark and dingy downstairs toilet with this tiny window with a tiled surround. I didn't venture upstairs on this visit as I was alone and the first few steps seemed very fragile - I didn't want the stairs to collapse as I was halfway up with no phone signal! Maybe next time? It is definitely worth a second visit, as although it is tiny, there is plenty of interest to photograph. It was quite a sad explore, thinking of the widow who probably lived here alone and wondering what happened to her - did she die here or end up in a nursing home or hospital?

Wigan Mill

Lancashire was famous for its mills. Now, the very few that haven't been demolished are either rotting or have been converted into fancy apartments. Rylands Mill is one of the unlucky decaying mills.

History - In 1819, Rylands & Sons were established in Wigan, manufacturing ginghams, calicoes and linens. The company quickly grew and by 1823 had opened a warehouse in Manchester, which was followed by a dye and bleaching works in Wigan. Valuable seams of coal were afterwards discovered under these properties, which proved a great source of wealth to the Rylands family.

                                 Old photographs from http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/



From 1847, John Rylands became the sole proprietor of the company after the death of his father and retirement of his brothers. Rylands Mill was built in 1866 and by 1873 the company had become the largest textile manufacturing concern in Britain. Rylands Mill was an important employer for the local population until the demise of the textile industry took its toll nationwide. When the mill closed, it was taken over by a mail order company. In 1985 it became an annexe to Wigan Technical College and was known as the Pagefield Building until its closure in 2007.  Its biggest claim to fame was the fact that the mill was the most expensive around at the time it was built.

The mill is predictably thoroughly trashed. It has a rather fabulous chimney.

There is plenty of evidence of the building's time as a college building. This part of the building must have been quite a feature before it was trashed and set on fire.

Inside the building are the usual supporting columns, debris and peeling paint.

It's quite a large site. Lots of evidence of fire damage in many areas. Pretty much roof-less in many places.

I do like a bit of peeling paint! There's plenty of it here.

I wonder what the future holds for Rylands Mill?

I think this graffiti sums it all up in one word . . . I'm not hopeful that any of it will survive. I do hope that at the very least the wonderful chimney is preserved for posterity. Our proud British heritage and history that developers and councils seem to care nothing for. Sad . . .