Skem Mysteries 6: The Conny Pyramid

Posted by David Sudworth on December 18, 2007 4:54 PM

THIS week we’re looking at Skem’s original public art masterpiece.

Many moons ago – long before it was decided our roundabouts needed to be littered with loads of weird conceptual designs to distract us from the road – Skem just had the Conny Pyramid.

From the mid-1980s, kiddies being dragged along for the weekly shop would gaze at in amazement while the more curmudgeonly would only tut and say: “Huh, wonder how much that cost us in taxes!”

Standing 11 metres high outside the old outdoor seating area, it was actually a wooden and concrete homage to the old Skelmersdale Development Corporation logo.

In fact, it was intended as a “parting gift” to Skem as the SDC was wound up in 1984 and was taken over by the Commission for New Towns.

At that point the Concourse was owned by CNT and remained so until sold off to a private company called Ossory Road.

In 1989, the centre was extended and the grand, glass facade was added. The multi-storey car park was also built and because of that, the pyramid went as well. That’s not to say that some weren’t glad to see the back of it.

Just a few years after it was installed, concern was mounting about kiddies climbing up onto the pyramid and potentially hurting themselves. Remember, these were the days before ‘elf and safety was properly invented but nevertheless it led to the old police superintendent for Skem, Barry Williams, saying at the time: “We’re very concerned about this. There’s a very real risk of injury if a child slips.”

Sid Hughes, who had a shop opposite, added: “Someone will either be killed or seriously injured. The pyramid is a waste of money.”

But whatever became of the pyramid? Surely, something which symbolised a major part of Skelmersdale’s history would have been saved?

Unfortunately not, according to the Concourse’s assistant manager, Kath Walters, who has been there since 1974 and remembers the pyramid very well.

She told me: “Trimmers hairdressers was outside then as there was a big square with seating and which included the pyramid. I remember people complaining about it so when the Concourse expanded it was just a case of demolish it.”

So there you have it, another Skem icon disappears from our landscape never to be seen again except in old photos. It’s funny actually, given that even though there were complaints about it at the time, people seem to remember it for all the right reasons.

Then again, as the old saying goes, you never really know what you’ve got until it’s gone...

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Skem Mysteries 5: Estate Names

Posted by David Sudworth on December 18, 2007 4:50 PM

TONGBARN, Birkrig, Elmstead, Tarlswood, Eskdale, Lambourne ... hardly what you’d class as “normal” street names.

But then again, most things to do with Skelmersdale are hardly conventional.

This week, we’re looking at the town’s weird street names and where they come from.

Unlike most other towns, very few of them have any real meaning, especially the newer ones, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t an interesting story behind them.

Before the New Town, Skem was like any other place in that street names corresponded to their surroundings, i.e. Church Road (home to St Paul’s) and Sandy Lane (in honour of the mounds of sands which used to stand where the 1930s semis are today).

Others have a more historical meaning, such as Cardiff Street and Durham Street, named after the places where mine workers came from to work in local pits, while others are named after families (Barnes Road, Birch Street and Rigby Street, which was demolished to make way for the Waverley flats on High Street).

On that last point, it’s worth noting the actual entrance to Waverley is the original Rigby Street, it’s just that the old terraces aren’t there any more.

But with the coming of the New Town, many roads either became old-new hybrids, such as Sherrat Street, Uppingham, or Barnes Road, Whitburn, or in many cases just got rid of altogether (Iddon Road, John Street, Elson Road and Union Street to name a few).

But when the new estates were built, that’s when the fun and games really started. It was the duty of Skelmersdale Urban District Council’s highways committees to give the roads new names.

However, they were under instruction from the General Post Office that all areas had to start with certain letters to make it easier for posties to do their rounds.

Most of the names were simply names of towns in other parts of the country, such as Elmstead (London), Alderley (Cheshire), Wolverton (Milton Keynes), Yewdale (Cumbria) and Lambourne (Essex). It’s rumoured that in many instances, it was just a case of getting out a map and finding a place beginning with a certain letter.

Only a few New Town names have a historical link, and they include Windrows, which is named after a farm which stood on School Lane.

Some however came from nowhere, like Birkrig, a name which prompted one councillor to stand up at the meeting where it was being discussed to proclaim it sounded like something from the Third Reich!

It’s interesting to note that an abortive attempt was made in 1968 to get the old street names changed to fit in with the area.

At one point, in November that year, the plight of residents in Berry Street, Martins Lane, Nixons Lane and Spencers Lane came up before the urban district council.

Moves were afoot to scrap these names and it caused a massive uproar.

Joe Cadwell, a well-known Old Skem councillor, told the meeting: “These people have good reason to object. The streets were named to represent links with the past and with the growth of the town it is a good thing to retain some of its history.”

As we now know, that plan was ditched and thankfully Skem and Up Holland’s links with the past were preserved.

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Skem mysteries 4: Location, Location, Location

Posted by David Sudworth on December 18, 2007 4:44 PM

WHEN I first visited Skem, I noticed a row of terraces which completely baffled me.

These weren’t just any old houses, they were on a massive industrial estate and as such looked out-of-place.

“Why are they there?” I asked my friend.

“Oh, they were built for local employees so they could get to work quicker,” came the reply.

That was 10 years ago and I, like most people, assume that was the reason. But It’s never seemed plausible to me and, after a little detective work, I’ve found out the real reason.

In fact the homes on Glebe Road pre-date the industrial estate and the New Town. They were built many years before when the road was still part of Wigan Road.

Nowadays, Wigan Road ends just after Slack Farm at the junction with Windrows because planners needed to build Marie Curie Island.

But if you study the old maps, you will see that Glebe Road is in fact the old Wigan Road with the same contours and – as you now know – same houses. The local pub for people would have been either the Fox & Goose or the Tawd Bridge, both of which have now gone.

From their back rooms they would have had unspoilt views of the Beacon and to the front of them would have been farm houses.

So why were the homes never demolished? After all, Valentine’s Farm, which had stood oppositethe terraces, was demolished to make way for the Royal Mail sorting offices.

One theory is the land quite simply wasn’t needed. In November 1968, the Advertiser revealed that Gillibrands was being extended by 53 acres and the houses were in the area which was needed.

But with other land being readily available, it was deemed appropriate to use that first rather (incidentally, the original plan had been to extended Stanley but the shallow mine workings up there meant that the land was, at that time, deemed unsuitable).

However, the Glebe Road scenario is not unique in Skelmersdale.

Webster’s Farmhouse, a beautiful building built in 1682, today stands perched on the edge of Stanley Industrial Estate. Again, it’s undergone a change of address as it used to be part of Berry Street, Stormy Corner, but after redevelopment it was reclassified as Spa Lane.

But what’s even more amazing is that at one point it looked as if this grand old building didn’t have a future.

A report by Skelmersdale Development Corporation said that it would be “unlikely to be worthwhile adapting for a community use or other use within the industrial area.”

And the government’s recommendations were even less enthusiastic: “Purely of local interest which should be retained if possible.” In other words, if you decide to bulldoze, we won’t mind.

Thankfully, that never happened and it continues to be a magnificent site as you come back into Skem from Lathom.

Over on Pimbo, there’s the old Balcony Farm, now called Lancashire Manor Hotel.

However, with this there was enthusiasm right from the outset that it must be retained. Indeed, the Corporation was, unlike with most other things, prepared to work around the existing structure.

Its report said: “It need not be affected by the new development. It is hoped that the house and possibly other buildings can be developed into a social club or restaurant of some kind.”

However, it isn’t just the industrial estates where there are sharp contrasts between the old and new. Anyone who lives on Acregate, Little Digmoor, will know the old cottage on the edge of the estate.

According to Skelmersdale Heritage Society, in the 1930s it was occupied by a Harry Fleetwood who was the local postman. At that time the cottage stood at the end of a row of others which was at that time part of Back Lane.

But the Advertiser archives confirm that when it came to building the ring road (Digmoor Road) they saw no reason to demolish it as it wasn’t in the path of the proposed route, hence its existence to this day.

Similarly, take a trip down Barnes Road in Old Skem and you’ll see a row of beautiful old houses sitting right next to the Whitburn flats. The same goes for Witham Road and so on.

I guess this all proves that even though Skem is now a New Town, you’re never too far from a link with its past...

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Skem Mysteries 3: Town with no shortcuts

Posted by David Sudworth on December 18, 2007 4:38 PM

THERE’S certain words you’ll never hear in Skem, such as “traffic jam” or “red light”.

After all, the unique way the town was planned ensures that cars are able to flow freely, something our neighbours in Ormskirk and Wigan can only dream of.

But there’s also another word which you’ll never hear in Skem ... and that’s “shortcut”.

Yep, for all the benefits of our gridlock-free town, there’s still some parts where, quite frankly, it’s quicker to walk.

I touched on this last week in the article about the Sandy Lane staircase ensuring a 10-yard walk turns into a one-mile car journey.

To prove this isn’t just a one-off, I conducted a little test this week by picking five random points across town to see whether it was quicker to walk.

The results were astounding, and proved my theory that if you want to get anywhere quick in Skem you’re better off with Shanks’s pony.

And the burning question is – what was the reasoning behind it?

Like most Skem quirks, I traced it back to the 1960s and Skelmersdale Development Corporation.

At that time, there was a big push to keep traffic and people as far apart as possible. Fatalities in places such as Liverpool meant that people coming into the New Town would see this as an attraction.

The creation of the main outer roads; Stannanought, Houghtons, Glenburn, Neverstitch, and Railway, coupled with the smaller, more local carriageways such as Digmoor Road, Northway, South and Tanhouse Road, meant these routes had no houses on them but were far enough away from the estates they served.

It wasn’t so much of a problem in Digmoor, Tanhouse, Birch Green and Ashurst, which were rural pastures prior to the 60s, but in Old Skem and Holland Moor, it meant blocking some roads off and in some cases curtailing them,

Those affected included Field Street, Old Skem, which banned traffic completely, and Spencers Lane in Tawd Bridge, which was actually cut in half with the rest of the road being given over for the then new Abbeystead development.

But more than 40 years on, haven’t people got used to it yet? Well, locals maybe but even now there’s some who couldn’t tell you how to get from one end of Tanhouse to the other. Also, there’s now more and more people visiting Skem who are utterly baffled by the road system.

But surely it’s safer?

Not so, says Margaret Highton, from Cornbrook, a passionate campaigner for road safety: “I think it gives people a false sense of security. Also, you’ve got people walking along the roads. It upsets me when I see school kids do it because they walk in groups, not single file and it’s dangerous.

“But then again there’s no footpaths. I walk along the roads when visiting my daughter in Tanhouse because I won’t go in the subways. I take a chance and hop onto the grass verge when cars come along. Subways aren’t the safest places to go because they flood and they’re dark.”

It makes you wonder whether the 1960s ideals are really compatible with 2007 and the need to cut fuel consumption.

Perhaps one day in light of that we’ll get a more direct road system. Until then, prepare to be driven around the bend – literally!

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Skem Mysteries 2: Sandy Lane staircase

Posted by David Sudworth on December 18, 2007 4:29 PM

PICTURE the scene – it’s 1970 and the great and good charged with transforming Skelmersdale from a tiny village to thriving New Town are sat around a large table.

Thick cigarette smoke clings to the air, slowly turning the oak panelled walls nicotine yellow. The clink of tea cups and saucers, not to mention the ensuing slurps, only serve to add to the din, which started some minutes earlier when the assortment of men in pinstripe suits and perfectly trimmed moustaches where asked: “So gentlemen, how do we improve Sandy Lane to ensure it continues being a thriving business centre for years to come.”

After around 10 minutes of furrowed brows and stroking of chins, one of them pipes up: “I know, let’s stick a staircase in the middle of it.”

Excited applause all round and the man slumps back in his chair with a wide grin on his face and chomps on his cigar. He knows his place in history is secured. Thoughts of maybe an OBE spring to mind, perhaps even Freeman of the Borough status.

Okay, so that might all not be exactly as it happened but it matters not because the decision (whoever made it) was to be the most calamitous and hated in the town’s long history.

Today, all we see is a large, bright yellow metal staircase plonked in the middle of Sandy Lane, something which effectively cuts the lane in two.

To drive from Gerald Bickerstaffe’s butchers to the health centre car park as the crow flies is impossible. Instead of a trip of a few hundred yards, it involves a mile journey taking in now fewer than four different roads – Witham Road, Railway Road, Westgate and High Street.

Down the years people have asked the same question: “Why?”

Back in November 1970, Lancs County County made a recommendation to close the lane to Skem and Holland Council.

The reason was, essentially, to get traffic using the newly-built ring road and, moreover, to keep pedestrians and traffic as far apart as possible. But that suggestion, however well intentioned, went down like a lead balloon even at the time.

Cllr Phil Bond, who died around seven years ago but was Labour leader at the time, told the Advertiser: “ It is not for Development Corporation to come onto the estates in Old Skem and alter the layout of roads.

"We keep harking back to 1962 when the former general manager of the Corporation, George Watson, said that there would be little interference with Old Skem and it was intended to leave it as a contrast between the old and the new. This promise is now being ignored.”

Indeed. And judging from our archives there were more closures planned which never came to fruition.

But others did, most notably the closure of the junction of Clayton Street/School Lane and Field Street/School Lane.

Some other roads, such as Daniels Lane, Wigan Road, Mill Lane, Fir Tree Close and Berry Street were turned into cul-de-sacs.

But whereas the furore surrounding all these has died down over the years, the Sandy Lane debate still rages to this day, particularly among the Old Skemmers who remember it as it was.

So I wondered whether the council would ever consider doing away with the staircase and reopen it to through traffic for the first time in almost 40 years.

But a spokeswoman for West Lancs said it is not as straightforward as it seems: “The staircase in question is actually a stepped ramp.

“This provides access for people with prams to the first floor which, aside from offices, also houses the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, hairdressers and a beauty salon.

“Without the ramp these people would be unable to gain access to the first floor and so its removal is not something the council would consider at the present time.”

So it looks like the people of Skem are stuck with it for the moment. But you know what they say, never say never...

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Skem Mysteries 1: Whalleys Roundabout

Posted by David Sudworth on December 6, 2007 10:15 AM

By DAVID SUDWORTH

IT’S got to be the most pointless roundabout in Skelmersdale.

Stuck on its own with just fields surrounding it and two unfinished junctions blocked off by heavy boulders, Whalleys traffic island has left many a driver scratching their heads down the years.

So last week, after taking my 16th wrong turning down there this year, I decided to find out once and for all why it was ever built in the first place.

Surprisingly, my investigations found it was actually part of what was meant to be a small self-contained community containing houses, shops, a play area, meeting room, pub and even garage!

But like most big ideas of the 1970s, it never came to fruition.

The details are revealed in a little-known full colour plan published by Skelmersdale Development Corporation back in 1975.

The illustration, which is part of Skelmersdale Library’s brilliant public archives section on the first floor, also shows that the hospital was planned for where the Great Bear factory was eventually built on Stanley Industrial Estate.

So what happened to the Whalleys plan?

It appears the 1975 document was only really an aspirational plan.

The idea was that the roads infrastructure should be built to serve any future development ... if they ever came to fruition.

Nearby Dalton Park is a classic example, with the homes built many years after the service road.

So with that in mind, will the Whalleys roundabout ever serve a useful purpose? English Partnerships, the successors to Skem Development Corporation, is certainly not ruling it out.

A spokesman told me: “The land around the roundabout is owned by us and does have an allocation for housing.

“ But there are greenfield constraints on this, basically meaning that any brownfield sites in the area would be given priority and is subject to the local authority and regional housing board’s priorities.”

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