Once we had recovered our strength we went off into town to find the local Weatherspoon's 'Moon on the water'. Fish Friday, so why not. Plus three very nice beers to wash it down. Surprisingly I was feeling no pain on the way back to the boat, or this morning actually.
Trencherfield Mill was built in 1907 as a cotton spinning Mill. It was driven by a 2500HP triple expansion, 4 cylinder steam engine that was saved when the mill closed in 1968 and is still in steam occasionally. Wigan Council bought the mill in 1983 and it was redeveloped using lots of European and Lottery money to mixed use with apartments, commercial spaces and it seems some sort of an art and museum establishment.
These three heads are by Andy Hazell and were erected on the side of the mill in 1999. The top one is Carton Head, then Jar Head and Tin Head. When first installed the heads opened up too. I'm not sure if they still do.
In the courtyard of the mill are several large machines that were used in the industrial processes. This one is actually a fan for ventilating a mine in St. Helens. It was made in 1910 by Walker Bros. of Wigan and was driven by a rope and pulley system from a horizontal cross compound steam engine.
These canal houses are near our moorings and have lovely chimney pots and overlooked by the mill.
We are just passing under Pottery Road Bridge with the Orwell pub dead ahead.. Not the horse rope rollers still in place.
Once turned through the bridge it seems that the Wigan Pier Regeneration project hasn't really been sustained as the Orwell pub was closed and the museum in the old warehouse is still closed and the building deteriorating badly. When you see the use of very similar buildings in Burnley and Balckburn it is a shame that something similar can't be done.
This is the much talked of Wigan Pier after 1937 anyway and George Orwell's 'Road to Wigan Pier'. It was just a coal tippler to load boats. I wish they would change or remove the figure as I find it quite scary and not quite the image they should be instilling.
As we approached Crooke we passed 'Ambush'. At 72' she wopuld have been a handful on this canal when she was built in 1933 at Yarwood's Northwich. She worked for Ainscough's and then was carrying coal to the power station at Wigan. She was being fully restored in 2011 and is on the historic ships register.
Even with out some sun the trees on this section look glorious. I expect in a week or two they will be simply specatular. Last time we were this way it was a read hot summer, and I didn't run the engine for a week with the solar panels at full stretch.
One of those places where the canal is crossed by a road and a railway. The road is the M6 in this case and it is almost above Dean Lock.
I must say that I hope that the winter stoppages are including this lock at Appley. It was extremely difficult working through this one. This is actually one of the two redundant locks that has been replaced by one newer one before anybody think I am serious.
Our first fishing match of the year, and the last now I reckon. Some of them really keep you guessing until the last minute to see if they are going to lift their pole or not. I try to watch them on the run in to make sure they turn their heads. That ploy is fine for isolated fishermen but in a long line of them it is impossible. I have therefore developed an alternative scheme. I look at there hands to see if they have them in the 'lift position', that is one slightly behind the body on the pole and one further ahead. So far it has been infallible, but if you use it and fall foul, please don't come back to me, develop your own signs!
As we approached Parbold you get the best view of the old wind mill. It was built in 1794 but became redundant in the 1800's. It has been the gallery for James Bartholomew since 1997 and is full of his artwork and prints. He does great seascapes and it is always worth a stop for a look, and as we needed milk that was all the excuse we needed. For artworks they are not that expensive really. We settled on some cards this time round, but Helen has been dropping hints about a couple of the prints she saw.
Talking of Helen it was pleasing to pass this boat today. She is not quite as big as the Leeds-Liverpool but my love for her is! (May get me out of trouble one day soon, I hope).
There is a picnic area close to Bridge 35 and there used to be rubbish bins there. As we have collected quite alot of rubbish from lock areas it would be a good place to drop it off. It was still there so we are now lighter. I love this seating area that is of fish eating each others tails, all made out of stone.
We were soon on our way again and as we approached the swing bridge just before the Burscough Junction we thought we had better moor up and assess the situation. Past the junction there were a couple of spaces on the permanent moorings there. We chatted to one of the boat owners that lives there and found that nobody was staying there. We moved up and secured knowing that we are on rings, rather on pins
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