Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

Do you know i never realised they were of Italian extraction back then -they were all "dead lanky" the way they spoke -it was only when i moved here that I made the connection...

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

There was a chap who was gaffer at the sports center called bacigalupo in the 80's.

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

Just looked up this surname on Internet - it's from the South of Italy in origin and means literally "to kiss a wolf" which apparently equates to a person of "dubious integrity"....

(Baciare il lupo - is to kiss a wolf in Italian-" bacigare" is the dialect in the south for to kiss...hence : Baciga - lupo, kiss the wolf, possible connections to the "Malavita" -Mafia and such?).

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

Pronunciation -in English we say "Bassygaluppo" in Italian it's actually:

"Ba -chee-ga-lou -po" they obviously adopted the more English pronunciation to fit in.:D

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

Very interesting ... thanks for the info.

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

My (italian)mother in law's name was Scavo, which means 'dig', so the name could have derived from gravediggers.

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

Or even gold diggers Margaret;)

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

hi, my wifes grandad was joseph bacigalupo, from the accrington area. He had 6 brothers i think. His son was William Baxendale (changed name 1945, have papers) who married Pat Pusey in Ormskirk. My wifes parents. I think that makes her your distant cousin? And alos our 3 children. We live in old skelmersdale. Contact me if you want/have further details. Thanks
Oh, and all the family was from Geona, and Joes father, Bathmolew baciagalupo, walked over the alps with his wife, kids and 1 of his brothers to get to england. famous family story.

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

Hi,please see my other reply on this thread re my wifes grandad, Joseph Bacigalupo. Think you must be related to her in some way. Please contact me if you have any more info. Thanks

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

is he still cleaning windows:)

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

Nah hes oer 80 now, does a bit of collecting,his lad does the windows, was talking to him just before christmas.

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

Quite a few Italians worked on the afternoon shift in the development tunnels at Huncoat Pit,very helpfull if you required a lift moving machinery underground.I remember just one name which was Adam.
When they got off the Huncoat bus Bottom of Little Blackburn Rd they were all dressed to kill and away they went around the pubs, this would be 9.00 in the evening and you could not tell they had just done 7 hours in the pit.
Very good workers earning top money,always looking after there boss.

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

I remember Adam very well. We worked together for quite a while about 1964/65. We used to do the drilling into the rockface up the rise on nightshift ready for the shot Firer in the morning. he was a very fiery man and it didnt take much to upset him. He always wanted to fight someone. Never me though for some reason. Most fights took place behind the Baths after work. On one occasion it went too far. I think it was with a guy called Tommy Thorpe he was on development. Adam was may I say, A well known Ladies man. Also remember working with a Polish/Ukraine/German/Russian guy called Merlin. He lived down Clayton on the main road before the turning to bottom end. You could tell his house from the multi coloured bricks on the front. Other names spring to mind. Jack the pole, Black Bob, Herman the German and so on.Great Memories.

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

At Hapton Valley I worked with Marto Lepri, an Iti who lived in Ossie. Great sense of humour. Liked to catch rats with his hands. He died in the Hapton Valley explosion
c1960.

Re: Accrington's 'Little Italy?'
 

was later in 60s surely Bob?:confused:Seem to recall just before i left school which was early 63.