Wigan "Pier" is a set of quays in an open, wide stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. This is a photo of what used to be warehouses and what is now the Orwell Pub. The most distinctive feature left over from its industrial past are the roofed sections sticking out over the canal with the remnants of hoists, used for loading cargo onto canal boats.
The Orwell section is the most representative of what's left, as I understand it. The section of roofed overhands along the warehouse which is now the ex-museum of the area had wooden walkways build underneath them in the '80s - good for quayside walks, lousy for giving a sense of the purpose of the overhangs.
The view in the other direction. The brick building beyond the bridge is a dead-end for the canal, another site for loading canal boats.
The canal turns a corner here, coming into (or out of?) the open area through a low bridge.
The Trencherfield Mill and a large construction site for new flats lies just beyond it.
The water was beautifully still, the weather clear, and the sun setting as we walked around the compact site.
