Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
abandoned in 1862 and the separate canal section was taken over by the Leeds & Liverpool
Canal. Finally, most of the 5km of what had become the Walton Summit Branch was used as
the route of the M61 in 1970, leaving just a 300m spur in water. During all this, spa water
was found at Whittle Springs, always good for producing travelling customers.
Chorley has had its Flat Iron market since 1498, named after the weights used to hold down
its cloth. The town itself was
ceorl leah
, Old English peasants' clearing. It had its market
chartered in the 1250s and has become known for Chorley cakes, flat pastry buns filled with
dried fruit, a recipe possibly dating back to the Crusades. The most prominent son was Sir
Henry Tate, who moved to Liverpool in 1832 to set up his sugar company, also becoming a
patron of the arts.
The former coal and textile town of Adlington is the home of Adlington carnival in August.
Beyond the White Bear Marina, the largest on the canal, and the Bridge Inn, the Red House
Aqueduct takes the canal from Lancashire to Greater Manchester as it crosses the River
Douglas. This has already picked up water from several reservoirs including Anglezarke and
Rivington.
The canal retains its level as the River Douglas drops away steadily, resulting in ever-
more extensive views to the south-west of the canal. The prospect has not gone unnoticed
and Haigh Country Park, edged with willows, is set around a pre-Tudor mansion rebuilt in
1830-1849. The park has a golf course, mini zoo, model village, 381mm gauge steam rail-
way, tropical house, formal gardens, nature and geological trails and 1km
2
of woodlands,
largely planted to give work to unemployed cotton workers in the 1860s during the American
Civil War.
The 23 locks of the Wigan Flight drop the canal 65m in the better part of 3km, over 5 hours
to work a boat through the locks. The Kirklees Hall Inn and Commercial Inn come quickly
but the rest of the flight is dry in that sense.
The A573 crosses near the bottom of the flight, followed by the Manchester to Wigan rail-
way and then the West Coast Main Line. Ince-in-Makerfield is named after the Welsh
ynys
,
island, British Celtic
macer
, masonry ruins, and Old English
feld
, countryside. A gleaming
Girobank building was formerly Wigan power station, the last business to transport coal on
the canal. Beyond it is the Leigh Branch. The section from here to Newburgh was originally
built as a branch to the Douglas Navigation from the southern route to Liverpool. The River
Douglas crosses here and is followed by the canal.
To the Romans, the town was Coccium although Wigan is from the Saxon for rowan trees
near a church. It was incorporated by Henry I in 1100 and received its charter in 1246 from
Henry III. King Arthur was reputed to have carried out exploits in Wigan. Cromwell pursued
the Royalists through the streets in the Civil War. In 1651, the Earl of Derby was defeated
in the Battle of Wigan Lane and killed; the mayor is still preceded when out and about by a
sword of 1660, given by Charles II for the town's loyalty.
