Wigan Pier

One of the most iconic images of the town of Wigan has to be Wigan Pier with all its industrial history and heritage.

The barges have long left the waters of the Leeds Liverpool canal, but the warehouses and mills remain there as a reminder of the years gone by.

This set of images was taken a while ago, now, before the latest attempt at regeneration of the area, which seems to have stalled after a strong start.

In the first photo, you can see the Pier placed on the cobbled towpath (the pier is not the original one, but it does give you an idea of what life might have been like back then). The old warehouses opposite were ready to take on the cargo that the barges delivered on their way from the docks in Liverpool.

Cotton mills were a very prominent feature of the landscape of Wigan and other Lancashire towns, and Trencherfield Mill remains a very fine example of that.

Over the years, the warehouses have been used for many things, including a museum, but they were then left empty and decaying for quite a long time, hence the trees growing out of the gutters and rooflines.

The buildings are clearly historic and quite spectacular in their own right, but the thing that always draws my attention is the cobbled towpath - Pottery Road bridge being a fine example of it. Wonderful stuff!