On Saturday 10 November, Marian was in Galway for the weekend, and Brad, Sue and I had tickets to the Great Britain versus Kiwis rugby league test match at Wigan. I was excited to be visiting Wigan, having watched their famous league side on TV in the early 90's. I also had imagined Wigan to be a quintessential "Northern" town, so it was a chance to get a feel for the Lancashire heartland of north-western England.
We started the afternoon off with lunch at the Boar's Head Inn, in Standish, just north of Wigan. This is reputedly one of the oldest pubs in England, dating back to the 1200's. Just to think, these old beams were holding the roof up when Moa were roaming New Zealand. The landlord and landlady knew a colleague of mine from Christchurch, Kieron, who is from Standish, so it was good to chat to them and pass on Kieron's regards.
Brad and I enjoying some of the local bitters in the Boar's Head
After a fine roast at the Boar's Head, we drove into Wigan itself. I was curious to see Wigan Pier, as Wigan is nowhere near the coast, and seemed a funny place to have a pier. As it turned out, Wigan Pier is a bit underwhelming in reality. Wigan Pier is on the canal linking Leeds and Liverpool, and was originally a jetty to load coal from a nearby colliery into barges. Nowadays it is a boardwalk along the canal, with a museum and pub.
The pier became famous when George Orwell published "The Road to Wigan Pier" in 1937. It is a study of living conditions in the industrial north of England in the thirties. In order to report on working class life in the bleak industrial heartlands, Orwell spent the period from 31 January to 30 March 1936 living in Barnsley, Sheffield and Wigan researching the book.
The Orwell at Wigan Pier is a pub, utilising a converted Victorian cotton warehouse.
Me in front of Wigan Pier and the Orwell Pub
Trencherfield Mill, a former cotton mill across the road from Wigan Pier - converted into apartments. After a promising start,the Kiwis were well beaten, 28-22, to complete a 3-0 series whitewash to Great Britain. Still, the locals were friendly and didn't give us too much stick.
