This month's instalment of the Frugal Film Project almost didn't happen and I'm not going to come up with some BS excuse here either. Horrible weather plus a spot of lockdown cabin fever saw my mojo pack a suitcase and bugger off to Cancun without so much as a by your leave! We all have this from time to time and it's not the first time I have felt totally uninterested in getting out with my camera. However, an opportunity presented itself with my appointment for my first vaccination jab in the ongoing fight against Covid-19 at our local sports and leisure centre here in Wigan. On the appointed day I loaded a roll of Fomapan 200 into my Olympus 35RC, packed my 35RC into my bag and headed out to see what I could photograph.
I arrived early for my vaccination and have to say our local National Health Service here in Wigan have got a great system set out to get everyone seen to quickly and with as little fuss as possible. I didn't have long to wait for my jab and then had to sit in a waiting area for 15 minutes just in case any side effects reared up, which thankfully didn't happen for me. I was in and out in less than half an hour. One thing they do make clear is photography or filming is not allowed so my camera stayed in my bag to respect everyones privacy.
Once back out in the first reasonably dry day for three weeks I took the opportunity to have a little wander around our sporting facilities here in Wigan. Robin Park was once an open cast mine that was filled in many years ago and, after being left to settle for the customary couple of decades, sports facilities were built on the site. These included an athletcs track with a stand for a couple of thousand seats where Wigan Harriers athletics club held meets through the summer months and had many of the towns kids involved in activities through the sumer holidays. There were also lots of football and rugby pitches and tennis courts.
Towards the end of the 20th century plans were drawn to revamp the site to build brand new facilities and a retail park. After much consultation in the town both of the towns professional sports teams Wigan Athletic Football Club and Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club, both owned at the time by Dave Whelan, moved to a brand new stadium on the site to play their home fixtures. Also built was a brand new Athletics Stadium, a Sports and Leisure Centre and the Retail Park.
I have attended Wigan Warriors matches at the stadium and it is a fine facility built to an all seater design and plenty of access for disabled fans. It has a capacity of 25,000 and to watch Wigan Warriors play against the Sydney Roosters for the title of Rugby League World Club Champions in a near capacity crowd was a highlight of 2019 despite the fact my beloved Wigan lost the match. Seeing some of the worlds greatest players from the UK and Australia going head to head was an amazing spectacle.
The Athetics Stadium is now Wigan Warriors training facility where the youth and womens teams play their home games and our athletes can also continue using the facilities to follow the footsteps of Jenny Meadows, 800m and 4x400m Bronze medalist in the 2009 World Athletics Championships.
The retail park looked like it had been abandoned as I walked through it on my home. With lockdown still enforced most shops are closed and people have been doing most of their shopping online. It's normally a very busy place, but we are not living in normal times. Covid-19 has changed our society completely and it's a little hard to predict how long it will be until we can return to some semblance of normalcy. With the vaccination program well under way, late summer and early autumn look like they are going to be the time when we can return to the lives we had before the pandemic.
Here's a few images of my walk around Robin Park. I didn't finish my roll that day so finished it a couple of days later around the local farm roads where I live. I have put several of those photographs not featured here in an album on Flickr that you can see by visiting the link below. Please check in each month to see how my progress is going as I will be putting all my best and favourite images there so you can see them in full resolution. I hope you enjoy them.
Frugal Film Project '21
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