Buildings of Interest

Description

"The former Temperance Billiard Hall was built in 1911 for sports equipment manufacturer E J Riley Ltd. The company had opened its first billiard hall a year earlier at Ardwick, capitalising on a “billiards boom” which Riley's had cleverly orchestrated by sponsoring a UK tour by star-player George Gray.

The Ashton hall was still operating in March 1960 when the firm successfully applied for renewal of consent to display its neon “Billiards Snooker” sign on the exterior (Wigan Archives ref. UD Ash/A/A1/83). By the following February, however, the building had been acquired by the Park Lane Friendly Co-operative Society and was being converted for use as a food hall and furnishings department (UD Ash/A/A1/84).

It has since been used for a variety of retail purposes."

Text and images by the Makerfield Rambler