Wigan Album

I've commented before about the Pepper Mill that for many years thee used to be a large sailing boat at the side of the building. did this boat ever get launched ?

Carolaen – I don’t know if the boat – it was a big catamaran – ever saw water, but I remember it being removed from the Pepper Mill yard to go for its final fitting out, in North Wales, I think.
I was the Scholes bobby at the time, and was involved in the traffic control to get it out of the yard on a low loader.
Both the boat owner and a senior police officer assured me a route for the journey had been worked out avoiding low bridges, narrow roads, tricky corners, and any other obstacles.
They both ended up with egg on their faces when thelow loader took a couple of traffic sign poles out, as it turned into Warrington Lane, only fifty yards into the journey

Mick. Thanks for this info. Does anyone know the story about this boat. The thing was it seemed to me to be there for years, although as I have mentioned before I did leave wigan in 1970 , but visited parents regularly after that.

Carolaen - I seem to remember it first appearing at the Pepper Mill all around 1979 or 1980.
It would have been all around the mid 1980s when it was moved - certainly before 1987.

Mick. Thanks for comments. Shows how the mind plays tricks i must be remembering the boat from seeing it on visits to Mum and Dad in the 70s' /80s and yet I thought it had been around in the 1960's ! On a separate point this is another of those photos which is a reminder of the very many skilled engineering jobs that used to exist in Wigan and replaced by Lidls etc. I have nothing against retail workers BTW my son in law is a Tescos slave, but I do find it sad that many of the jobs that existed in places like here, Water Heyes (were I worked as a summer job) etc have probably all been replaced by products from places like China.

When did Darlington St Gas Works close.