Personally, I think the money spent on the bridge would have been better spent on making the kiln into a pub/restaurant that would have celebrated the history /heritage of St. Helens glass industry.

And that would have got us across the Linkway nice and safely

Thats a nice thought Rogues however the people paying for the development felt it was more important for the shoppers to reach the Tesco`s safely rather than playing Frogger for real on Linkway East , and it doesnt bear thinking the crowds at the Pelican crossing at KFC when a few thousand Rugby fans try and cross the road at the same time , face it Money is tight we would all love to preserve some of our Heritage but where are the millions to fix the kiln coming from ? , (and it will take millions its falling down now!)

I don't think it could/will ever be 'fixed' and especially not to a social venue. It's listed I think.

Fair enough. I started my professional life in the glass industry ( Forsters / Rockware) and am grateful for the fantastic grounding it gave me. It also made me appreciate the rivalry between our fan bases (although living in Billinge I had a good idea ) I could tell lots of stories about those days back in the 1960's and the fantastic characters who worked in the glassworks.

As a "glassman" I was really hoping that something could have been done with that kiln, even as a Wiganer, and there were quite a lot of us in that industry.

I left in 1972 by the way.

Enjoy Christmas and New Year because we don't know what 2012 will bring. The last few months has been difficult for Rogues & co. but we're still fighting.

An image of Wigans Rugby Ground

My dad worked in Fosters/Rockware all his life, shame when they closed it donw, I remember still going to the kids Xmas party at what is now the Rockware pub , used to be the social cliub, ahh memories , it would have been nice but like I said the money it would take and also English Heritage sticking their oar in would make it almost impossible I think

I also started my professional career in the glass container industry (Ravenhead) in the '60's before moving on to bigger and better things in flat glass (Pilkington).
Over the years many historically important kilns / furnaces etc in St Helens have been demolished - the world's 1st Float Unit for example.
We have to move with the times and replace the old with newer and better technology.
We can't save everything.

in my young days i remember Kiln Lane was the lane named after anything like that,was there a kiln on the lane at sometime in the deep past?.They usually name things after churches/monuments/famous names et all.

Rogues,my mother worked at Fosters/rockware during your time,think she worked on a m/c called a lear (wrong spelling)Alice Heaton,think her chargehand was a guy called Billy Carrol,also molly brown and another lady named brown worked on her shift.I also remember the christmas parties at the club,memories eh,