PLUS: Testing timesFlats on Worsley Mesnes being demolished in the mid-80s(Image: Wigan World)Hello

At the M.E.N. we have an occasional, but long-running series, about life in the estates, suburbs, villages and neighbourhoods of Greater Manchester. It’s part nostalgia, part social history and part good, old-fashioned real-life local journalism.

I tend to write a lot of these pieces and it’s one of my favourite bits of the job. For our latest feature I went out to Worsley Mesnes, a 1960s council estate on the outskirts of Wigan town centre that’s an interesting snapshot in how attitudes to social housing have changed over the decades.

I spent a day on the estate speaking to locals such as Anne Melling, 80, who told me about the first time she was shown the place that would become her home for the 60 years. “When we first came nothing had been built,” she said.

Thackeray House pictured in 987(Image: Wigan World)

“They were walking me round saying ‘We’re going to be building houses and maisonettes’ – I didn’t even know what a maisonette was!”

The estate included three 16-storey tower blocks named Dryden House, Thackeray House and Masefield House. Surrounding streets were also named after notable literary figures such as Keats, Conrad, Eliot and Blake.

Wigan-raised Stuart Maconie was among the new estate’s first tenants. The author, broadcaster and DJ has written fondly about how he and his childhood friends ‘fought, drank and snogged amongst literary giants’.

“To me, who’d come into a world of coal fires and larders, and houses built in the Edwardian era, my new home was not brutal but clean,” he said. “It was stark, elegant, the future.”

But the honeymoon period didn’t last long. Despite the close-knit community, by the late 70s the tide began to turn against high-rise living and the estate developed a bad reputation.

And, in a situation repeated on post-war estates across the region such as Hulme Crescents, Kennet House in Collyhurst, Fort Ardwick in Manchester and Ashfield Valley and Darn Hill in Rochdale, as the 70s moved into the 80s, the flats fell in disrepair as government priorities changed and local council funding was slashed.

By the end of the 80s hundreds of homes on the estate had been demolished, earning it the unflattering nickname of ‘Beirut’ because half of it looked like it had been bombed. Fast forward to 2025 and the estate is a much different place. Hundreds of private houses have been built where the tower blocks and maisonettes once stood, with yet more in the pipeline.

But despite the changes, Suzanne Wood, manager of St Jude’s Social Club, said the sense of belonging remains. “People who live round here are from round here,” she told me. “Everybody knows everybody, but not in a bad way. It’s nice to have that community.”

Testing timesMap showing the easiest and toughest driving test centres in Greater Manchester. Test centres with a pass rate higher than the national average are coloured green, while those with a rate below the average are coloured red.

There are nine driving test centres in Greater Manchester. But did you know you don’t have to use the one closest to home? And new data shows it can pay to shop around.

Our analysis of the pass rates shows that learner drivers face a huge difference in their chances of success depending on where they take their test.

Bury, for example, is Greater Manchester’s toughest test centre with an overall pass rate is 40 pc. But just six miles along the A58 at Bolton the pass rate is 57 pc, the highest in the region. You can find out the full figures here.

The devil’s in the detailsRed Devils fans have vowed not to let rugby league die in the city(Image: PA)

Salford Red Devils have been on the brink of going under many times. But this week the outcome fans have long dreaded became a reality when the historic rugby club went into liquidation with debts believed to be in the region of £4m.

Here Declan Carey and Neal Keeling examine the end of 152 years of history and ask ‘How did it come to this?’

‘A disaster of project management’The town hall refurb is months behind schedule and millions over budget(Image: Mirrorpix)

As we reported earlier this week, the big Manchester town hall refurb will now cost an extra £95m and take six months longer than expected. And it’s fair to say the news has not gone down well in the council chamber.

The delays and spiralling costs were described as ‘a disaster of project management’, by Coun Richard Kilpatrick said. He added: “It’s public money, it’s borrowing that we have to justify. What can we do to change that process? We cannot be in a position to ask for an increase after increase after increase.”

Underwater unitIt’s a whopper(Image: Jam Press/Fevre Dream Cruising)

The tall tales fishermen tell are the stuff of legend. But there’s video evidence for this monster from the deep.

Spotted lurking in the Bridgewater Canal near Stretford, the enormous carp is so big it was mistaken for a floating log. Estimated at over 2ft long and more than 30lb, it dwarfs your average carp, which usually weigh between 10 and 20lb. James Holt has more here

Weather etc

Weekend forecast: Wet and mild is the order of the weekend, with both Saturday and Sunday seeing prolonged spells of light rain and temperatures around 11-13C.

Roadworks: Temporary traffic lights due to gas main work on Burnage Lane, Burnage in both directions at Lane End Road.