Monday 2nd September, 2008

"The Road to Wigan Pier" (1937)

Is Wigan Pier a joke?

The answer is "yes" and "no". The "Pier" does exist - in fact there were once several in the Wigan area. Not seaside piers, however, as may be found in nearby Blackpool and Southport, but areas at the end of colliery wagon roads where tippling mechanisms were situated to unload the coal onto boats on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

In 1822, a wagon road, constructed to transport coal from a mine at Smithy Brook in Pemberton, terminated at the canal near the centre of Wigan. It is this pier which gave rise to the legend. Warehouses had existed here since the late 18th century and several more were built later.

The "joke" aspect of the pier was originated by music hall comedians. Various explanations are given for this. Try these sites for more information:

Wikipedia

Wigan Archaeological Society

In 1929, the original tippling mechanism was removed and the area fell into decay. By this time the pier joke had spread to the town of Wigan itself.

Renovation

In 1986, this derelict area was renovated. The tippling mechanism was rebuilt and the restored warehouses embraced new identities. One became the excellent, multi-award winning "The Way We Were" exhibition. Another became a night club, and a third became offices. Another building was a little more controversial. It became a pub and restaurant named "The Orwell at Wigan Pier".

Many Wiganers feel that Orwell, in his book "The Road to Wigan Pier", did the town no favours. Others say that he put Wigan "on the map".

This extract is a good illustration of how Orwell saw Wigan:

"The Road to Wigan Pier" p98

"I remember a winter afternoon in the dreadful environs of Wigan. All around was the lunar landscape of slag-heaps, and to the north, through the passes, as it were, between the mountains of slag, you could see the factory chimneys sending out their plumes of smoke. The canal path was a mixture of cinders and frozen mud, criss-crossed by the imprints of innumerable clogs, and all round, as far as the slagheaps in the distance, stretched the 'flashes' - pools of stagnant water that has seeped into the hollows caused by the subsidence of ancient pits. It was horribly cold. The 'flashes' were covered with ice and the colour of raw umber, the bargemen were muffled to the eyes in sacks, the lock gates wore beards of ice. It seemed a world from which vegetation had been banished; nothing existed except smoke, shale, ice, mud, ashes and foul water."

Not flattering.

George Orwell, (1937), part 2

George Orwell, (1937), part 3

More about the Pier Wikipedia

More about the Pier Wigan Archaeological Society

The Orwell pub and restaurant

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