It's been a hectic month, and year for that matter and 2008 is quickly coming to an end.

So, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. All the best for 2009.

Next year will see wiganworld go from strength to strength.

Another new version is under way - no more blue links. There won't be red links either. You'll have to wait and see. ;)

Improved news and album sections are also planned as well as a general revamp of other pages.

Other material is also planned but it will take me time to code and publish.

A while ago I mentioned that I may need some help with running the site. If you are a regular and can help with a bit of site moderation from time to time I could do with a little help. I'll post more on this soon but if there were a few of us moderating, it should take no more than several minutes a day or whenever you get a spare minute here and there.

Thank you for all the contributions, there are far too many names to mention in the scope of this blog entry.

Once again, I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

See you soon, Brian.

The wiganworld album is going from strength to strength with over 7,600 photos.

It still remains my favourite part of the site as we get to see your photos, previously unseen on other sites or in books. Please do keep them coming.

I plan a few updates for wiganworld in the future. Improvements to the news section (with a new bit, more on this later) and improvements to the album.

Rather than just dive in and make amends I would really appreciate your comments, feedback and suggestions. What changes do you want?

I've had a few emails already and have taken the notes on board.

e.g. a facility to add photos to your favourites for quick access. To be informed when a particular photo has had a comment. To view your uploaded photos for comments. View most commented, view most / least popular.

Please leave a comment if you can think of something to improve the album section, thank you. And a big thank you must go to Freda Chorlton for suggesting the album section in the first place. Without Freda's suggestion, the wiganworld album section would not exist!

will resume shortly, I hope!

Don't know whether I'm coming or going at the mo... What with work, personal projects, more work and Christmas looming.

Will be making some site changes soon, especially to the news section.

Time for a few updates, its been a while.

A new premium listing has been added to the Wigan Directory

Bullit Recruitment is a local recruitment company, please visit them to learn more.

More local poetry has been added (thanks Sue Ward).

Rev David Long has very kindly submitted a WW1 Memorial Booklet based on the 124 men recorded on St Mary's Memorial Plaque. Feedback is most welcome and David's contact information is on page 2 of the document. The document is in PDF format and is quite large (3.81MB) but is worth the wait. You can view it here.

Finally, someone keeps contacting me threatening legal action (yawn, you know who!) over comments made by some wiganworld members. If this is you, please don't use the "Suggestion Box" as a means to contact me - You need to email me at brian@wiganworld.co.uk, thank you.