1970: Is WIGAN Becoming TOO MODERN? | Nationwide | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

"It's trendy, it's swinging, it has all the signs of a go-ahead town determined to get on the modern map and to show that this is where it's all happening. And where exactly is this architectural apocalypse, this town of tomorrow? Would you believe, Wigan."
Jack Pizzey reports from Wigan, where folk singer Keith Roberts is mounting a one-man, musical resistance movement, against the urban planners that are determined to modernise his beloved town. Keith mourns the vanishing cobbled streets and the removal of the tramlines, he despairs at the rising concrete jungle and the town's seemingly inexorable move towards trendiness.
Keith takes Jack to the former site of the infamous Wigan Pier, which was likely a coal-loading staithe. Despite being the butt of countless jokes, Keith believes Wigan Pier is a significant feature of the town, and should be preserved. More than anything, Keith fears that the people in charge of redevelopment, in their haste to modernise, might unwittingly take away the character, and the very heart of the town.
Clip taken from Nationwide, originally broadcast on BBC One, Tuesday 22 September, 1970.
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[@MichaelBosley]

"Is WIGAN Becoming TOO MODERN?" - A question that hasn't been uttered since TV went colour.

[@anonUK]

This would have been in colour- but the OB cameras' colour circuits conked out somewhere round Stoke...

[@TinLeadHammer]

​@@anonUKThis is film.

[@Hascienda27]

@@TinLeadHammerthe Beatles filmed in colour 5 years earlier 😂

[@ryanwarren2970]

The announcer is really laying into Wigan. It's like some kind of Monty Python style mockumentary. And those songs are wild. I have gotten better laughs out of this than anything else all week.

[@vaughnshinkus4178]

As an American, all the documentaries on this channel feel like Monty Python mockumentaries.

[@nellyfett2681]

This has been a presentation by the Wigan tourist board.

[@brianmmacu]

The people singing along to the song looked like they were being held hostage

[@heraldeventsandfilms5970]

Those poor b'stards.

[@Pikestnt]

That, at least, hasn’t changed in 54 years. Singalongs at folk clubs still look forced. 😀

[@indigohammer5732]

Like the ones Hamas are holding?

[@Pikestnt]

Well if we’re throwing out random non sequiturs: “So-called BBC” “Brexit” and “Modern comedy isn’t funny”

[@heraldeventsandfilms5970]

Therefore you are attending them. Why?

[@crankjazz]

The postmark for wigan in the 1970s read "Modern Wigan has no peer".

[@sglenny001]

Lol

[@uphollandlatic]

Sorry to be pedantic but it was “..no pier.” This was a three way pun. ‘No pier’ - getting rid of the old image. ‘No peer’ - nowhere better and ‘No peer’ - Wigan’s resident member of the House of Lords, I think Lord Ashton, had recently died.

[@nevittwoods1730]

How can i stay away😄

[@Evemeister12]

The words "wigan" and "modern" in the same sentence is a rare thing.

[@sharefail]

Me looking down on the other watchers of this video looking down on the presenter looking down on wigan looking down on the past

[@nicholasbuttery511]

Home of Britains oldest BMX Shop since 1981 called ALAN`S.

[@linalmeemow]

Spent a fortune in there on records when it was on Mesnes Street - best punk rock record shop in the country!

[@johnmcmahon5670]

Same. It's a shame Alan's doesn't still sell music, but there's a great mainly second hand LP emporium - Static Records - in The Old Courts

[@linalmeemow]

@@johnmcmahon5670 I moved to Leicester in the mid 90s, haven't been to Wigan since...

[@philipmilner9638]

I think in this day and age, would prefer to live in a 19th century built houses, than the modern concrete monstrosities

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

@@PGHEngineer if you’re an engineer, shouldn’t you live aboard a starship?

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

@@PGHEngineer I grew up with TNG, and it formed a solid foundation for my ethics and sociopolitical viewpoints, to this day I’d still describe my political ideology as “Star Trek”. As a nerdy little girl with a very rough childhood, I was really lucky to find a show that provided the positive role models that didn’t exist in my real life. But yes, it does have the side effect that the 21st century is rather disappointing. Not so much the tech side of it, I mean sure I’d love us to be more advanced but it is what it is, more so in the slow pace of ethical and social development. I want us to be the Federation, instead we’re the Ferengi.

[@martinbingham2127]

Wigan became a better town when the reporter left.

[@borealico]

The photograph in this is amazing. Beautiful filming and what a document. How is Wigan today? Was it preserved as it was once on a time?

[@pcalf101]

😂 no it's thoroughly awful. Born and bred there. I try to escape as often as possible.

[@jamesanthony9316]

Crusty folk singer with his protest songs was right. Wigan became just another anonymous Northern town

[@borealico]

@@jamesanthony9316so sad. Same thing happened to lots of small cities in Sweden around 60s and 70s. Yes the folk singer was indeed right.

[@stubamford1405]

I got out of this shite hole 20 yrs ago and have never been back

[@apathyintheuk265]

@@jamesanthony9316 Well, it was destined only to be a museum piece otherwise.

[@chrisbayes2972]

People from Wigan are called Wiganers, they surely should have known that!

[@WhatwouldRoddyPiperdo]

Im in absolute tears this is like an accidental sketch 😂

[@nottinghamsoul7790]

Nice clip of the Casino before the all nighters started in '73

[@Thomas-px2lh]

People from Wigan are called pie eaters.

[@GBPaddling]

Leythers are Lobby Gobblers.

[@andydixon2980]

Richard Ashcroft was to be born the following year and put Wigan on the musical map in 26years.

[@whiteyvegas]

George Formby played golf?

[@andydixon2980]

Oh I forgot about George 'Turned out nice again...hee hee' Formby.@@whiteyvegas

[@robt4390]

Northern Soul and Wigan Casino (largely thanks to amazing rail links) put the town on the map long before t’Verve took liberties with that Rolling Stones orchestral sample (and momentarily became known the world over), thank you very much.

[@bid84]

What is a Wigan?

[@nickmitchell6443]

Such a shame his lyrics are terrible

[@ahassen1236]

From Los Angeles to Liverpool as they say 😊

[@RDJ1997]

Being from Liverpool, I often find myself doing a double take before realising I’m actually not in LA

[@Scottinuk]

I could swear that’s Jarvis Cocker at 2:44 😂

[@richardchadwick4028]

I visited Wigan( Granny and Grandad ) in the 1970s great place .most of those modern buildings looked awful when they were first built ..

[@Hascienda27]

Well, there's A headline you'll never read again

[@user-jr3dx7wl6j]

This reporters delivery is almost comically snide and condescending. Turns the stomach

[@pcalf101]

On reflection it is a little unfair. As all northern and Midlands towns and cities were socioeconomic wastelands, not just poor old Wigan.

[@nevittwoods1730]

& woun't he loov it🎸

[@briangray966]

Now I know where REEVES AND MORTIMER got the influence from for MULLIGAN AND O'HARE

[@spooj]

I read this too quickly and for a second thought it said is Wogan becoming too modern, oh Tel!!!

[@Mr.1.i]

I come from wigan grew up on an estate called norley hall in pemberton it was built in the 1950s its a nice estate with trees along the avenues and fields

[@stuartsaint4581]

Was that song about the Douglas reused for Phoenix Nights?

[@simonhodgetts6530]

It’s close…….but it’s also a generic folk type song! Reminds me, where’s me sneakers……….

[@Hascienda27]

@@simonhodgetts6530send the buggers back 😂

[@ianbrodie8658]

Shame about the Casino.

[@edwardmclaughlin7935]

The presenter sounds like Michael Palin acting like a presenter.

[@matthewbland8765]

Mulligan and O'Hare

[@ozzie-sk9dh]

Did the reporter get out of Wigan alive back to the south? He didn’t deserve to. 😂

[@missmuffet3874]

Agreed. What an absolute @rsewipe he was.

[@jasonayres]

(1:45} That reminds me. I must cut my fingernails tonight.

[@simonhodgetts6530]

And clean them…..maybe he’d been digging spuds that afternoon…….

[@unclejoe7958]

Black, but from what I remember Wigan lads weren’t known for their hygiene. A lot of lads only got wet at Wigan baths. Dirty fingernails were the norm considering most men were working with either metal or coal.

[@stonehengeminstrel]

Wigan Pier may only be a 2 foot jetty sticking out of the canal footpath in reality, but it still remains 2 foot longer than the thousands of towns without one 🤣. It's a case of my 2 foot pier is still bigger than yours! 😊 Oh the irony...

[@themadplotter]

This could be Rotterdam or Liverpool or Wigan or Rome? Cos Wigan is anywhere, anywhere alone….

[@mikey2033]

Is keith still with us?

[@mangore623]

“…it’s swinging…” At the end of a noose. Completely grim place.

[@ukmud6218]

Quite alot of the buildings shown are gone

[@parzivalthewanderer9687]

Ironic that the old walkable housing and cobbled streets, which he calls dreary and ugly, are now the desirable places over the concrete modern places, which have aged into a dreary unkempt mess without color or character.

[@matthewtrow5698]

The guitarist at 1:25 - never knew Jeremy Corbyn was that old! - blimey!

[@sglenny001]

Never knew he could play gigtar

[@FlatDerrick]

You might want to invest in a pair of glasses. They look nothing like each other.

[@josephe3697]

E must av bin a pitmon with is black fingernails!

[@CinemaMusic55]

Look at the state of this so-called folk singer's nails.....and this man was a school teacher!

[@jblogs1000]

this was when wigan was part of lanc,s then was pushed into manchester the worse day for wigan

[@dawnyWestScotland]

Shame there’s always something thrown and dumped in todays waters, usually a supermarket trolley 😢

[@Reknaw155]

My girlfriend is from Wigan, they are funny people, they have a small village mentality, you goto a bar you often see the same people. In Liverpool you'll never see the same people even if you go out everyday. A night out it's a dam sight better than Manchester I would say.

[@rymacreeks2k07]

Wigan got cooked so bad here LMAOOO

[@mikeatcora]

A snapshot of Wigan that's slowly being destroyed by small minded planners with big ideas. There's a lot of this film that has buildings that are still there, the cooling towers were demolished in 1989, the Grand hotel is still there (Buddy Holly stayed there whilst touring). The place still has lots to offer and is always worth a visit, best if the sun is shining to see the parks etc. There are no functioning mills, all posh flats now for the better off.

[@sarahyoung3033]

I'm from Skelmersdale and would go on weekends and it was awful. I recently took my fiancé there and he was shocked. Hardly any shops, smells so bad and not worth going

[@tinyplanet_360]

This coming from someone from skem 😂😂😂

[@sensemaya1]

Skem is worse.

[@linalmeemow]

Ah, Skem - when Britain is given an enema, Skem's where they stick the tube...

[@Delicious_J]

Frig off your from Skem hahahaha

[@sarahyoung3033]

I really don't care. Skelmersdale is an awful place. I admit it

[@marine4lyfe85]

Like putting a beauty spot on the face of a plain woman..lol

[@anth5122]

The town has since been demolished

[@jmorris023]

Is it insane to move to Wigan?

[@evertonshorts9376]

The folk club is still going...

[@dukedepommefrite]

That dudes dirty fingernails 🤮

[@rymacreeks2k07]

manky

[@cunkmusic8748]

Wigan.... Where the m6 is cobbled..

[@avus-kw2f213]

I love old shitty buildings

[@TheGinglymus]

It's funny all this romanticism towards the Victorian industrial revolution, which was modern and a past that was very harsh to most people. Post war development was actually to give everyone something in a contemporary way.

[@bengaliinplatforms1268]

And it did nothing but destroy it. Name one community that actually improved after these projects? Giving everyone something is not good for the soul of an Englishman, it's the path to his demise. Better sanitation and public housing doesn't mean the death of beauty. And these creeps would tear down one beautiful building after another for their own narcissism, not for the people that went in them.

[@da90sReAlvloc]

Wasn't the wrestler dynamite kid. From Wigan

[@bobclover4634]

Yes, him and The British Bulldog both came from Wigan.

[@GBPaddling]

Golborne.

[@nationaltwin]

@@GBPaddling Isn't Golborne in Wigan?

[@GBPaddling]

@@nationaltwin Yes, so is Leigh, but they're not happy about that either.

[@nationaltwin]

@@GBPaddling Fair enough

[@tsr207]

The BBC seems to enjoy putting these patronising reports on line with the presenter mocking the locals. Cant really find fault with the decision makers of the time as they had really seen poverty and must have been desperate to improve the town.

[@csr7080]

This is something often forgotten now. Those soulless big concrete or brick housing estates? Yeah they're not beautiful nor very inspiring, and probably weren't when they were new, but there was so much really really *really* bad quality housing that I'm sure a lot of people were exceedingly happy to move out of. Same goes for the typical Russian (Soviet) "commie block" btw. Yeah it's awful in many ways, but back when they went and built thousands of them everywhere all over the Soviet Union, a lot of people were living in huts or old army barracks. It was extremely bad. A shared commie block flat was great in comparison, as much as it sounds awful from today's perspective.

[@scotmorley8526]

I'm putting nothing in my mouth from Wigan

[@NoosaHeads]

The photography was superb, but the singer was as bad as I've ever heard in my life.

[@BadgerBotherer1]

I thought he was quite good. Certainly better than today's corporate, manufactured, pap pop.

[@richardkrispell7904]

Dreary grey Wigan, can it get any worse… then someone starts singing nasal folk songs to cheer the locals up. Hilarious.

[@mc-yt2rc]

how did the human race survive the 70's look???

[@KittyKat-vb1nd]

😂😂😂

[@jamesbomd3503]

FUNNY FROM 1935 TO 1942 THE HIGEST PAID MOVIE STAR IN THE WORLD CAME FROM WIGAN GUESS WHO ?

[@ekurisona663]

what awful reportage 🤮

[@user-jn2gc8fk6q]

Wigan is and always will be a dump with useless rugby and football team's 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@linalmeemow]

They know how to use apostrophes though - I'm assuming you're a semi-literate Saints fan? The irony of your comment given Wigan were crowned world club champions just a couple of days later is delicious.

[@user-jn2gc8fk6q]

@linalmeemow no, I am not a Saints fan is being picky over an apostrophe the best your intelligence can do. I did work in Wigan for eight years. What a dump

[@linalmeemow]

@@user-jn2gc8fk6q I could also pick on the rest of your dreadful grammar and punctuation if you like? What about the world club championship win then, or would commenting on how wrong you got that show your lack of intelligence?

[@heiltd1286]

No apostrophe 's' in plurals in English. This is basic grammar not rocket science. The plural of 'TEAM' is 'TEAMS' not 'TEAM'S'.

[@user-jn2gc8fk6q]

@heiltd1286 Do the letters 4.Q mean anything to you? Nobody bothers with the English lessons except morons from Wigan