Wigan Album

Can't believe how good these old series of newspaper photos are.
I think Wigan Pier is having another makeover.
The photo captures everything, the building, the old vehicles, the boat and canal.

An old friend of mine had one of these converted lifeboats , his gran bought it for him as a birthday gift in around 1977 . I think she paid around £900 for the thing .
He and his girlfriend lived on it for a couple of years on the canal at Heath Charnock , before moving down to St. Helens road bridge in Leigh and living on it there for another few years . The vessel was named ‘ Inheritance ‘ and there’s a picture of it sailing through New Springs somewhere on this site .
At some point he purchased a terraced house in Smiths lane just up from The Tamar , and Inheritance became temporarily forgotten about until she finally sank at her moorings in Leigh due to months of neglect and water ingress .

Item 29729 Ozy
Sad end

Not necessarily …

I’m not entirely certain how it ended ultimately Dave , as my mate Keith told me years ago that British Waterways , or whatever they called themselves back then , were threatening him with a costly salvage bill if he didn’t get it shifted pronto , as it had been lying on the bottom for the best part of a year or more .

As luck would have it , only a day or two after he’d received his final notice , there was a knock on his front door , and there stood a bloke with a fistful of twenties offering to buy the vessel from him where she lay .

As you’re probably aware , wooden working boats were often sunk deliberately back in the day , in order to preserve their timber .

So I don’t know where she ended up .
She may even still be afloat somewhere … although I do seriously doubt it .