Wigan Album
Wigan Pier
6 Comments
Photo: Catherine Bolton
Item #: 12454
A lovely colourful event.
Everybody must be in the Orwell as there's no one around.
Remember the event well, Catherine. I worked on it.
It was in September 1987.
Correction ... September 1983 ...
Thanks for that Mick. The only boat rally in Wigan I could find (google) was the IWA in 1983 and I knew it couldn't be that because the pier restoration wasn't finished then. My photos are so jumbled up I don't know when they were taken unless I can relate them to something significant!
Ah, yes, that figures with my 'googling'.
They must have got their skates on with doing up the pier in time for this huge event! Apparently there were 428 boats and 50,000 people visited. Can that be right?!!!
That's right Cathy. I was involved in the policing of the event, which (I think) was between Friday 16th and Sunday 18th September.
There were boats moored all the way down to Martland Mill on the first day, and up the Bridgewater branch as well. Thousands of people attended.