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Flats on Worsley Mesnes being demolished in the mid-80s(Image: Wigan World)Hello<\/p>\nPLUS: Testing timesFlats on Worsley Mesnes being demolished in the mid-80s(Image: Wigan World)Hello<\/p>\n
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\u2019s part nostalgia, part social history and part good, old-fashioned real-life local journalism.<\/p>\n
I tend to write a lot of these pieces and it\u2019s 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<\/a> that\u2019s an interesting snapshot in how attitudes to social housing have changed over the decades.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “They were walking me round saying ‘We’re going to be building houses and maisonettes’ – I didn’t even know what a maisonette was!”<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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’.<\/p>\n “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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n And, in a situation repeated on post-war estates across the region such as Hulme Crescents<\/a>, Kennet House<\/a> in Collyhurst, Fort Ardwick in Manchester and Ashfield Valley<\/a> and Darn Hill<\/a> in Rochdale<\/a>, as the 70s moved into the 80s, the flats fell in disrepair as government priorities changed and local council funding was slashed.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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,\u201d she told me. \u201cEverybody knows everybody, but not in a bad way. It’s nice to have that community.”<\/p>\n Testing times There are nine driving test centres in Greater Manchester. But did you know you don\u2019t have to use the one closest to home? And new data shows it can pay to shop around.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Bury<\/a>, for example, is Greater Manchester\u2019s toughest test centre with an overall pass rate is 40 pc. But just six miles along the A58 at Bolton<\/a> the pass rate is 57 pc, the highest in the region. You can find out the full figures here.<\/a><\/p>\n The devil\u2019s in the details Salford<\/a> 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 \u00a34m.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_k1xquyp6.jpg\")
Thackeray House pictured in 987(Image: Wigan World)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_JT_MEN_28112025_02.jpg\")
Map 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.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Leigh-Leopards-v-Salford-Red-Devils-Betfred-Super-League-Leigh-Sports-Village.jpg\")
Red Devils fans have vowed not to let rugby league die in the city(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
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The town hall refurb is months behind schedule and millions over budget(Image: Mirrorpix)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2_VIDEO-Monster-fish-so-big-it-was-mistaken-for-log-spotted-lurking-in-canal.jpg\")
It’s a whopper(Image: Jam Press\/Fevre Dream Cruising)<\/p>\n