Sandy Lane in the 1960s

By Mark Boardman

Nowadays, if you want to buy something, it’s as easy as a couple of clicks online. The days when you had to venture to multiple shops to get everything you needed are long gone. However, once upon a time, if you needed something in Skelmersdale, there was only one place to go… Sandy Lane. As part of our mission to preserve the history of the town, Skelmersdale Heritage Society tasked us with finding a photo of every building that once stood on the ‘t’ lone’ (as the locals once called it).

It was quite the task with so many shops and businesses to cover. A toy shop, butchers, grocers, hairdressers, clothes shops, pubs, bakeries even a Co-Operative Store (located where Sandy Lane Shopping Centre now is) that was so large it occupied two floors on with two sites selling everything from groceries to furniture!

The clock that adorned the side of the Co-Op building was the local meeting point for the young people of the town, and back in the 1930s and 40s, it was the tradition that they would ‘parade’ up and down the Lane on a Sunday night in the hope of catching the eye of a member of the opposite sex. In the 1960s, there was no shortage of places for them to congregate either with several Chip Shops and the famous Noreen’s Milk Bar (with its very own Jukebox!)

The result of Skelmersdale Heritage Society’s research is the postcard-sized book ‘Sandy Lane in the 60s’. Featuring over fifty photos, anyone, young or old, can take a stroll up the lane and see how it looked sixty years ago.

‘Sandy Lane in the 60s’ is available from Skelmersdale Heritage Society for £6.50. For more information, email SkelmersdaleHeritage@gmail.com