Canal & River
Some reference material on both the Canal and the River.
Routes
Route of both the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and the River Douglas with Wigan and district.
A good reference guide when accessing the other documents within this section.
The Douglas Navigation
A very interesting document on the history of the River Douglas.
Thanks to Mike Clarke for his permission
Parbold to Wigan
Excerpt from Tony Robinson's -Walking through history, covers the journey from Parbold to Wigan.
Interviews with Mike Clarke, Crooke Villagers and John Marrow.
The Lost Canal
An interesting article by Andy Screen
Extract from L&L Canal Society (Spring 2001)
Provided by Ken Scally
The Importance of the Douglas Navigation on the Development of Wigan
An article, from PastForward magazine by Dr Stephen Craig Smith, son of the old Headmaster at Thomas Linacre School.
Some good images of masted vessels that worked the river.
The-Importance-of-the-Douglas-Navigation-Development-of-Wigan
Couple of Maps
A couple of useful and intersting maps from a book by Mike Clarke celebrating 200 years of the L&L Canal
West Lancashire Dry Docks
History & Restoration from one of members Neil Linford
History and restoration of two historically significant dry docks on the Leeds & Liverpool canal that were under threat from years of neglect.
This is an ongoing project involving the Canal and River Trust and local community groups to recover and preserve the features for future generations.
I am the the Archivist for the group - if you have any further information that you can share on the history of the docks and their employees / activities / customers, or if you have any queries on the projects please contact me via drydock@virginmedia.com
Origins of the Parbold & Lathom Dock Sites
Maps of Parbold Dock through time
Old Photos of Parbold Boat Building
Decline, Resurrection and second decline of the Parbold Site
Restoration Pictures of Parbold Dock
Lathom Dock old and recent photos of the dock
Article by William Froggatt - Heritage Adviser - Canals & River Trust
Exchequer of Pleas 1838 - Case of THICKNESSE v LANCASTER CANAL COMPANY.
This is the story of the conflict between the Lancaster Canal Company and the early tramway - essential over the economics of transporting coal. The tramway developed by Thicknesse being eventually replaced by the New Springs Branch.
It is an explanation of the apparently redundant leg of the Canal at Top Lock - a section that was built just to force the building of a bridge & incur cost for the railway.
Canal Boat Records - Wigan
Lists produced by Professor Timothy Peters on behalf of the Waterways Archives and Wigan Council Archives Service.