hello wigan. too excited to be paying king street a visit tonight.

How have I never been here before?!

Based in a Victorian mill in Chorley, Lancs, Bygone Times is a wonder to behold! 3 warehouses are filled to the brim with ok a lot of tatt, but search hard enough and youll find some true gems. Antiques, vintage clothes/shoes/hats/bags, furniture, jewellery, chests, cameras, and trinkets galore are packed into hundreds of different units. The sense of nostalgia is further highlighted in special side rooms which display war memorabilia, some of which you can buy, and another which encases about 10 old arcade games that you can play on. I popped 20p into an old fortune telling device merely because it looked like the one off of the film Big and I kind of hoped for some magical experience to take place but alas not, although if I wake up tomorrow and have significantly aged well I know then that some crazy shit has gone down. 

Unfortunately I didnt buy anything which is a bit rubbish I know, but some of the vintage items I checked out were a touch on the pricey side and Im not exactly flush at the moment. Also, the clothes werent set out very well so it was tough to route through it all. Thats a pet hate of mine. The particular stall im on about is just crying out for a touch of love and attention from someone actually working on the stall, Id definitely offer my services, a job there would be such fun! But thats the thing with the place i think, if you have a stall youre a kind of ghost owner if you get what I mean. No one actually works on any of the units. You just chose your item and let some guys at the front desk know that you want it. 

Oh and speaking of ghosts, the place is pretty haunted apparently. There are signs all over the shop saying stuff like “now entering a ghost zone” and on entry you can pick up a sheet that tells you where theyve all been spotted and where you can find them, kind of a ghost trail. I did take a sheet, but I did not actively search out any beings. There was one corner which had a sign up saying a certain spirit had been sighted there, and as I went over to look I noticed a ton of knives and axes and shit hanging from the ceiling so I thought fuck that and ran off hahaa.

Overall this place is somewhere you have GOT to visit if youre from the Wigan/Chorley/anywhere in the Lancashire area to be honest, especially if you are into your vintage, nick nacks and antiquey stuff. You can purchase membership which is £2.50 which lets you in for free for life and also entry into Bygone Times sister site Botany Bay. Although, I dont have a membership card but my brother does and I got in for free so Im not entirely sure how the whole thing works so perhaps check. I cant recommend this place anymore to you, its such a fun afternoon and you might just find something you love.

Oh and ps, allow yourself a few hours to trek around the site, it really is surprising how long it takes to search around once youve immersed yourself right in, you wont want to leave any corner unseen and trust me there is a LOT to see. 

:| wow. think this will surpass the time a CCTV Cities episode was based about Wigan. Yep, think im going to have to start denying where im from haha :D 

basically im making an early start on the search for a temp job in wigan for over summer. anyone know of anything? need something may - late september ideally. 

i bargained on going back to matalan again this summer but ive recently found out that the store manager who guaranteed me a job whenever i come home from uni has transferred to a different store. now the dilemma is that the store shes transferred to (st helens) is pretty much equal distance away as the wigan store is from orrell (where i live), so getting there wouldnt be a problem. i think if i went in she may give me a job there. but the thing is, i dont want to work in a different store, i want to work in the one where all my friends are. working in a different store would be really shitty and just odd. ill definitely pop into wigan store when i move back in may and see if there is any way i can get back on there. its worth a shot. 

but i cant count on this so i need to look at other options. if anyone knows of anywhere that would look at taking me on as a temp for 4 months then that would be super! anything around the wigan area would be wicked.

thanks! 

Sunday 13th June, any girls fancy running the Race for Life with me at Haigh hall, Wigan? Will be fun and a really good way to raise some pennys for a really good cause and something that means a lot to me ♥