The current bridge was built in 1977 by the Cleveland Bridge Company and although it is known as a 'Swing Bridge' by the locals, it is in fact a 'Bascule Bridge'. The design of the bridge originated in Holland. (Source: Leigh Life)

A really good read on the previous versions of the bridge can be found through the following link to Leigh Life.

Boaters at the Controls

Among all the history and groans from locals (see later) I found something quite simply astonishing in the current atmosphere where perhaps boaters’ interests can sometimes seem to be secondary. This lift road bridge is controlled by the boater! Unmanned with accessible controls. The only restriction is during peak traffic times, which would suit me, who needs that kind of pressure!

There are visitor moorings adjacent to the bridge (1 day) and you will see from the signposts that you can walk or cycle into nearby towns and sights. A private sign on the fence advises of a pub within 5 minutes’ walk. Next to the bridge, for those who may wish to meet up with land-based folks, there are 2 car parks.

Just a thought, wouldn’t it be nice to have a sign advising sailing time?

Troubled Times

In The News

There have been many times when a breakdown of the bridge has occurred, with the usual notifications coming from the Canal and River Trust as well as the regional press.  One such event was reported in the Manchester Evening News, back in May 2021.

Regenerated Area

The fruits of investment and regeneration are now in evidence all around the area: extract from an article…

"The multi-million pound package through the National Coalfields Programme will help prepare the site for the planned construction of 650 new homes, a canal marina with small retail businesses, pubs, restaurants and small offices surrounding the marina at Bickershaw South, Plank Lane."  Further reading available from the Lancashire Telegraph.

I hope you get the chance to use the bridge and enjoy your experience.

Railway Station:

I wonder just how many mooring points are within walking distance of a railway station?

Welcome to Appley Bridge with its railway station with routes to Southport, Wigan and Manchester.

Think of it, access to a major city or a trip to the seaside at Southport.

Things To-Do in Southport…

Beaches, Attractions, Arts & Culture, Walking & Cycling, Parks & Gardens, History & Heritage.

Appley Bridge Pubs etc.,

The Wheatsheaf (Food. Friendly dogs welcome)

The Bridge Inn (From Bridge 42, down the hill for 100yds. Including WiFi.)

The Boat House (Up the hill 100yds and turn right, then 300yds. Reservations and wheelchair access)

There is also a unisex hairdresser, post box and kiddie’s playground in the village.

Note(s) no shops or newsagent near to Bridge 42. Appley Bridge is the bridge over the River Douglas, rebuilt in 1903, close to the Bridge Inn.

Interesting:

At around 8.45pm on Tuesday evening of 13 October 1914, the inhabitants of Appley Bridge (indeed Lancashire and Cheshire too) were treated to a sudden and spectacular illumination of the night sky, caused by a meteorite that was found in a farmer's field in the village the following day. Found just 18 inches below the surface of the field, with the appearance of burnt iron, the small rock weighed almost 33 lb (15 kg). An article in the "Scientific News" (No. 2588, 30 October 1914) stated, "a small fragment which had been detached from the larger mass was put on view in a shop-window at Appley Bridge." In September 2014 a book about the meteorite, by local author Russell Parry, was published ( ISBN 0954953126 ) (Wiki)

I hope you enjoyed interacting again in the Intertidal Zone within the world of canals.

Useful Links:

Community Association

Lock 91

Visit Southport

This edition explores the intertidal zone between history and the 21^st Century Canal system within Wigan. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal reached Wigan from Liverpool in 1781.  2019-1781=238 years ago! Around the same time as General George Washington began the siege known as the Battle of Yorktown, against the British General Lord Charles Cornwallis. Plus, the planet Uranus was discovered by William Herschel. I wonder, what Wiganers were thinking of at the time? This is what George Orwell wrote in his book The Road to Wigan Pier (source: The Orwell Foundation)

GEORGE ORWELL: Well, I am afraid I must tell you that Wigan Pier doesn’t exist. I made a journey specially to see it in 1936, and I couldn’t find it. It did exist once, however, and to judge from the photographs it must have been about twenty feet long.

Wigan is in the middle of the mining areas, and though it’s a very pleasant place in some ways its scenery is not its strong point. The landscape is mostly slag-heaps, looking like the mountains of the moon, and mud and soot and so forth. For some reason, though it’s not worse than fifty other places, Wigan has always been picked on as a symbol of the ugliness of the industrial areas. At one time on one of the little muddy canals that run round the town, there used to be a tumble-down wooden jetty; and by way of a joke someone nicknamed this Wigan Pier. The joke caught on locally, and then the music-hall comedians get hold of it, and they are the ones who have succeeded in keeping Wigan Pier alive as a by-word, long after the place itself had been demolished.

The present-day photo depicts the spot associated with what is left of the pier, where the coal was loaded onto the barges.

Currently there are plans coming to fruition known as the regeneration scheme, being led by developers Steps Places, together with The Old Courts cultural organisation, Wigan County Council and the Canal and River Trust.

With promised highlights of a wedding venue, gin distillery, micro-brewery, food hall and waterside town houses. If you visit soon, scaffolding is in evidence as work is well underway, directly on the opposite bank from the remains of the pier.

Not for me to say, but I propose that Wigan Pier is not a thing, a joke or part of a structure, it is more of an intangible link to the very fabric of the Canals, passed down through the generations of boaters and workers, by author’s and  comedians alike and yes by me now in December 2019.

If you want to see a genuine ‘cross-road’ of canals, or to be able to say “I’ve been to Wigan Pier” and in some small way, become part of the legend, then you must visit. No rush though, it will be there for you for simply ages yet. Maybe re-engineered with Wigan’s pubs and shops, along side their Rugby and Football teams. Examples of engineering from another age, including a working steam engine and, would you believe, an indestructible fan, next to a refurbished mill and a boat yard. All on the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool and the Leigh Branch, leading to the Bridgewater.

The Wigan waterways also have events and cruises. If you want to wander a little further from the Pier itself, you will also find the River Douglas, Wigan’s river, once made navigable (canalised) around 1720 with its own 13 locks! and still tidal, just a few miles downstream, eventually joining the River Ribble.

There are also several cycleways to help you enjoy the environs around Wigan Pier in the here and now, as the sign in the photo suggests and helps with distances and direction.

Facts and points of interest loosely playing to our Intertidal Zone as a metaphor.

Useful Links:
The Orwell Foundation
Leeds & Liverpool Canal
River Douglas Navigation

Last time the Intertidal topic was all about a true intertidal zone in the North West of England, with Canal and River and walk and cycling and an historic Pub! Accessible from the River Mersey and PART of the Sankey Canal and road and Trans Pennine Trail. This time we Go West! That is to say, further west along both the ‘interrupted’ lovely canal and further downstream of the River Mersey.Sankey Canal & Trans Pennine Way:

This time the Inter tidal topic is all about a true inter tidal zone in the North West of England, with Canal and River and walking and cycling and an historic Pub! Accessible from the River Mersey and PART of the Sankey Canal and road and Trans Pennine Trail. I say part of the canal, as unfortunately the canal is not linked end-to-end to the canal network. Arguably the oldest canal, but still suffering from the ravages of earlier 'filling in' and disuse in parts.

to LISTEN to my article please follow this link

Welcome everyone, to my second article, and please remember that I'm not a professional writer, although I have been 'published' before and have had my photos published on the BBC (weather) I'm just a Lancashire lad, more in to having a fireside chat than writing a column or knowing it all!