Wigan Album

wigan pier.

Leigh bridge in centre of Leigh. BIcc factory on left hand side,David brown factory on right. Barge is heading to Wigan

Sorry it's Mather Lane bridge

Butts Bridge in Leigh.

There's a Church in the centre right????? looks like 1950s..Wigan pier.

that will be going more than likely to westwood power station ,deff not wigan.seen barges like that one powered tother towed at poolstock many a time.

Garry, the bridge before this is Butts bridge, the one in the distance is Leigh bridge.I would say it was in the 50/60's.I worked at BICC and spent many at a time watching fishing matches from the windows facing the canal.

Wasn't ANTHONY the barge which was once on the bank by Trencherfield Mill?

These barges would'nt be going to a power station, more like a cotton factory or mill. I think its Wigan Pier 1940s.

The barges went to Westwood power stations

Wherever it was taken its a brilliant photo.

The Orwell building to the right, Pottery road to the left.Looking towards Asda/B&Q.

The buildings on both sides of the canal were demolished in the 90's.To the right of the nearest barge is a basin that was used as a boatyard.On the extreme left the large horizontal cylinder was a steam accumulator for the BICC factory boiler house. Worked on it many times

Definitely not Wigan Pier. The buildings on the right are nothing like the 'Orwell building', and the long terrace on the left opens directly onto the cut bank, unlike the houses in Pottery Road, which had walled backyards.
Compare with the pics in the 'Wigan Pier' album in the 'Places' section.
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/showalbum.php?opt=5&offset=0&gallery=Wigan+Pier

Sorry ,it was the old railway bridge that ran through the centre of BICC.It was mid way from Mather Lane and Leigh bridges. I watched it being demolished in the 70's

That's never Wigan Pier. I grew up on Pottery backing onto pier and until I was 23 first thing I saw in a morning when I looked through my bedroom window was the warehouses where the Orwell is, the buildings on this pic are nowt like them. The gables and roof ridges are totaly different for a start and the pier buildings have canopys and loading hoist housings on them, and they've always had them.

Those barges would never fit into a lock...would they???
Wigan Pier I'd say 1940-50.

I have shown this photo to some old workmates and everyone agreed it is in Leigh.The tall building on the right ( David Browns tractors) was known as the Albion Works.

Before David Browns I think it it was Magregors who produced farm implements and machines with the trade name ALBION .

Days when a pint, or two of Walker's beer, and a game of dominoes, especially 5 and 3s, was a man's good night of entertainment. No drugs,nor tablets then, except off the doctor.

Ann - locks and boats are built to different sizes. This looks like a full-length barge (72' x 14') - so it could fit in the conventional broad canal locks of the main northern system. But it couldn't go up the Wigan flight, as they are short locks, made to fit the 'short boats'(58' x 14') of the Yorkshire waterways.
Nor could it go south of Preston Brook on the Trent and Mersey, as the tunnels are too narrow, and, apart from Middlewich 'Big Lock', the locks are narrow (72' x 7'), only able to pass narrow boats.

I think Albert has been dreaming!

Garry..why do you say that..Albert is totally correct...why be so rude.

Garry. I am sure the 50s, especially the early 50s, was an excellent era to live through. I know there was national service, but a lot of lads went to far off places, they would not have got to otherwise. I am meeting a lot who are now in their seventies, and eighties, who now realize, it was something that they are glad to have experienced. It introduced a good portion of discipline. Allowed the mixing,with other lads from different parts of the U.K. I believe people in general were of a more tolerant nature with each other. These are my thoughts on about it. We each have our own opinions.

So the coal on this barge could have come from Astley Green pit. It will pass Bickershaw Colliery on its way to Westwood where more barges will be being loaded. Whoever took the photo did a great job!

The long building on the left was called the north side shed and housed a long cable making machine.During WW2 it made large solid copper cables for degaussing minesweepers.The were made in long continuos lengths and fed through the roof and coiled up in barges waiting on the canal.You can see the where the roof has been modified above the first telegraph pole.It was still there until it was demolished.I have been told that the tall buildings on the right are still there but the rest of the Albion works was demolished