Wigan Pier is the name given today to the area around the canal at the bottom of the Wigan flight of locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The original pier at Wigan was a coal loading staithe, probably a wooden jetty, where wagons from a nearby colliery were unloaded into barges. The name was brought to popular attention by George Formby Senior in the Music Halls of the early twentieth century. It was given more serous acclaim with the publication in 1937 of George Orwells book The Road to Wigan Pier. The original wooden pier is believed to have been demolished in 1929, with the iron from the tippler being sold as scrap. Because of the more recent pride in the areas heritage, a replica tippler has been erected at the original location. In the 1980s, the canal warehouses were restored and put into use as a museum, exhibition hall and pub. The nearby Trencher field Mill was incorporated into the Wigan Pier Experience, with a waterbus linking it to the main site.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 20:34:18 +0000
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