This has been a busy week for me. The last few shops in The Galleries and around Wigan Outdoor Market have all been closing down to make way for the demolition and redevelopment of the Market Quarter of Wigan town centre. I have written about the pending redevelopment a few times over the last few months, but this week has seen it all start happening for real. It doesn't make me feel good at all, but I knew I had to go and get some photo's of the place before access gets blocked and the demolition crew goes in. I loaded a roll of Kentmere 100 into my Olympus 35RC and headed into town.
I have seen The Galleries and Wigan Outdoor Market change from a bustling, thriving shopping destination to a ghost town over the last 15 years. Before the Financial Crisis in 2008 the place was packed, all the shops were occupied and there was plenty of footfall as folk travelled to Wigan to do their shopping.
A succession of changes of ownership began the slow decline of The Galleries which had won an award for best shopping mall in Britain in the 1990's. Rising rents and business rates ensured the shops slowly started to close and it wasn't long before Market Gate became empty and was boarded up. Ironically this is the only area of The Galleries that will survive demolition as it is where the Market Hall will relocate to before that too is demolished.
"Managed Decline" is the best explanation for what has happened to this once thriving hub of commerce. A new owner would put forth plans to redevelop the area and promise to rejuvenate it only for those plans to fall by the wayside and more new owners came along doing exactly the same thing.
Now it's finally being rejuvenated, it is not as a shopping mall. Apartments and housing are being built on the site along with a Bowling Alley and Cinema. This wouldn't be so bad but we already have a bowling alley and cinema on a retail park just outside the town centre. This is not making me feel confident the full plans will come to fruition.
It didn't take me long to shoot a roll of Kentmere 100 in my Olympus 35RC. I felt I had to work quickly in case someone shouted "everyone out!" and locked the gates without so much as a "by your leave..." I was also using my 35RC in full manual mode and not bothering with the automatic aperture priority that has served me so well in the past. The Olympus 35RC uses a battery to run the auto feature and light meter, but can be used manually should the battery die. It's a very handy thing to know with this little pocket powerhouse should you need it.
Kentmere 100 is the "Film of the Month" for March chosen by the good folks at the Embrace The Grain Podcast, check it out using the link below. It's a great choice too as Spring has been making its presence felt here in Wigan with a few sunny days appearing and providing great conditions for me to start to use my stash of Kentmere 100 and Ilford FP4 I bought from Analogue Wonderland. There's a link for this fine retailer of all things Film related below.
Kentmere 100 is a great medium speed B&W film aimed at those of us who aren't blessed with a lot of disposable income. Whilst it isn't as high a quality as FP4, it gets the job done and has enough exposure latitude to forgive the odd stop or two over or under exposed. I develped my roll in Kodak HC-110 dilution B for 6 minutes, dunked it in Ilfostop for one minute, Ilford Rapid Fixer for 5 minutes and let it sit in photoflo whilst I tidied up before I hung it to dry. Seeing freshly developed film never gets old.
Here's a few of my photo's of The Galleries and Outdoor Market. It has endured a slow and agonising death over the years and I hope my photo's have given you a glimpse of the life of this part of Wigan. I have put them and more in an album on my Flickr account you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Embrace The Grain
Kentmere 100 - Olympus 35RC
Analogue Wonderland
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