New Brighton man reflects on a lifetime in lost Merseyside industry
Former Wine Merchant Peter Wiggins aged 90, at his home in New Brighton(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Now in his 90’s, Peter Wiggins had spent his earlier years working as an area manager for some of Liverpool’s biggest businesses. Having grown up in the south of England and moving to Liverpool as a young adult, it was aged 29 in 1964 that Peter began his career working in what was then one of city’s most profitable industries.
Over the course of his career, Peter helped distribute the vast array of alcoholic produce from some of the biggest wine and alcohol merchants in the north of England.
Looking back to the very first days of his career, Peter, 90, recalls: “I started in 1964 at Baty’s which was stationed on 37 to 41 North John Street. And I left this particular firm and went to another one in Warrington called Greenall’s.”
Peter still remembers his time there with fond memories, with his New Brighton apartment full of artefacts and memorabilia from his decades spent in the industry(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
While he later transitioned away from working for the two companies, he still remembers his time there with fond memories, with his New Brighton apartment full of artefacts and memorabilia from his decades spent in the industry.
Looking back at his collection of memorabilia, he picked up a decades-old wine brochure that detailed all of Baty’s wine listings for that year.
He said: “Baty’s produced them every year for the customers, obviously it has additions and maybe increase in prices.”
Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it dated back even further than when he first began working for the company, adding: “That one is from 1897, I think it was. That is when they were in Red Cross Street, that is where Liverpool One is now.”
Old wine list from Thomas Baty & Sons(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
As Peter mentions how the former Baty’s location has since made way for vast modernisations of Liverpool’s city centre over the years, he reflected on just how much the city has changed over the decades.
He said: “When I was in Liverpool there were at least eight wine merchants, because they had all the shipping trade in Liverpool until Southampton pinched it, they took it.”
“A lot of the businesses went bust and closed down, they were all over Liverpool. There were ship stores and then wine merchants.”
Peter Wiggins had spent his earlier years working as an area manager for some of Liverpool’s biggest businesses(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Thomas Batys Wine Merchants were originally founded by Thomas Baty, from High Hesketh, Cumberland in 1820.
In an article published by the Liverpool Daily Post on March 23, 1970, they documented the companies many different incarnations : “The business grew mainly in the direction of imported fine wines supplying ships which used the port and doing an export trade with West Africa.”
“In 1913, the firm moved to Oriel Close off Water Street on demolition of the building in Red Cross Street and there they occupied premises, adjoining the famous Oriel Restaurant.”