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Coles Morton Wigan / Wayfarer Narrowboats / Lancashire Narrowboats info


DanH

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Hi Everyone

 

I was recently remembering this fleet and remember walking past them all tied up in their new maroon and cream (white?) livery as part of a school trip to Wigan Pier around 1989.

 

It was the most exciting bit of the day to me... I don't suppose anyone has any old photos of the place or any more information on them and the setup?

 

Thanks

 

Dan

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We hired from Coles Morton Marine at Wigan in 1981. The previous year we had visited Whaley Bridge on a hire boat from Anderton and their boats looked quite good so arranged a hire from their Wigan base. The boat was called Pennine Wanderer. We had more breakdowns in that fortnights hire than all the other 20+ years of hiring, all except one due to poor maintenance. We negotiated a small refund on our return! It was more yellow than cream with brown lining. 

 

The base was on the offside just below the lock, opposite Trencherfield Mill.

43 Gargrave Bottom Lock.jpg

Edited by pearley
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The first photo in from 1986, when they may have been setting up the base. There are a number of boats tied up. The second photo shows the site as it was in 1979, with the covered double slip, and the final one is from 1990, with Kennet tied opposite.

1986 Wigan 1.jpg

1979 Wigan yard 1.jpg

1990 Wigan yard Kennet 797.jpg

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5 minutes ago, pearley said:

We hired from Coles Morton Marine at Wigan in 1981. The previous year we had visited Whaley Bridge on a hire boat from Anderton and their boats looked quite good so arranged a hire from their Wigan base. The boat was called Pennine Wanderer. We had more breakdowns in that fortnights hire than all the other 20+ years of hiring, all except one due to poor maintenance. We negotiated a small refund on our return! It was more yellow than cream with brown lining. 

 

The base was on the offside just below the lock, opposite Trencherfield Mill.

Hi Pete

 

Thanks for the reply.  I had a look on googlemaps yesterday and it made sense why we would have walked past from one Wigan Pier mill to the other.  I seem to remember there were some very old buildings in their yard that look to have been demolished and it looks to be a car park now.

 

I wondered when Coles Morton closed and they became Wayfarer Narrowboats if it was new people, or a sort of ex management thing, they didn't run quite as many?

 

Also, a high number of the boats went to creating Viking Afloat (I think the Coles Morton & Viking Afloat boats were mostly sponsored/owned by others) and I wondered if Viking Afloat's rather unusual burgundy and yellow colour scheme came about as a fairly straightforward change/inspiration from the Coles Morton colours as shown in your photo?!

 

Dan

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5 minutes ago, Pluto said:

The first photo in from 1986, when they may have been setting up the base. There are a number of boats tied up. The second photo shows the site as it was in 1979, with the covered double slip, and the final one is from 1990, with Kennet tied opposite.

1986 Wigan 1.jpg

1979 Wigan yard 1.jpg

1990 Wigan yard Kennet 797.jpg

Aw wow, thanks so much, the last one from 1990 is as I remember it but the fleet was white or light cream on the cabinsides, so they must have changed the side colour quite quickly, they look nicer for it and I guess it was more practical too.... a shame the Blakes page only had one exterior shot and then a lot of layout plans so they didn't have the best spread.

 

Do you know why they closed.  I think 1991 was the last season? 

 

Dan

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The building with the scaffolding is as I recall their offices as being. Pretty sure you went up an external stairway to the actual reception office.

 

Pluto, they were definitely already established there in 1981.

 

There was a problem with the boat when we arrived so we only managed to move two locks to the bottom of flight that first evening. Next morning we didn't get very far before being confronted with this sight. The timber forming the cill had become detached in the lock ahead and a BW man was in the chamber sorting it out. We had hired over the Easter weekend. That weekend we were sat in front of the Castle Inn at Skipton in lovely sunshine. A few days later we woke we a few inches of snow around with the gas line into the boat frozen. Thats what happens if you use Butane rather than Propane!

 

2 Wigan Lk 82.jpg

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1 hour ago, captain birdseye said:

Wayfarer Narrowboats were originally based on the Ashton canal, but the owners were from Wigan, they were in Portland Basin in the mid seventies and eventually had to get out of the basin, I think due to its redevelopment and so they moved to Wigan

And before that ,at Fairfield Junction. 3 or 4 boats, no  on site office or facilities except a BW water point. Must have been a struggle . When at Ashton the business was sold to

Portland Bill *(Worthington) who ran it for a couple of years before selling on.

A starter for ten: name the owner before Portland Bill, is he still around?

*so  named  because he owned the Junction Mill complex at PB.?

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4 minutes ago, billh said:

And before that ,at Fairfield Junction. 3 or 4 boats, no  on site office or facilities except a BW water point. Must have been a struggle . When at Ashton the business was sold to

Portland Bill *(Worthington) who ran it for a couple of years before selling on.

A starter for ten: name the owner before Portland Bill, is he still around?

*so  named  because he owned the Junction Mill complex at PB.?

Tony and Jane Shilladay if my memory serves me right

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From Pluto's 1990 photo here are the boats identified in the photo.  It looks like 1983 was the first year as Wayfarer (so Coles Morton must have closed in 1982?) and a Blakes brochure extract from 1988 & 1990 ....

Wigan boat names.JPG

Wayfarer 1988.jpg

Blakes 1990.jpg

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54 minutes ago, billh said:

And before that ,at Fairfield Junction. 3 or 4 boats, no  on site office or facilities except a BW water point. Must have been a struggle . When at Ashton the business was sold to

Portland Bill *(Worthington) who ran it for a couple of years before selling on.

A starter for ten: name the owner before Portland Bill, is he still around?

*so  named  because he owned the Junction Mill complex at PB.?

When on the Ashton they had three boats, I can remember them arriving. Two were ex Bijou line one called Topaz and I think the other was Jade but I may be wrong. They also had a Springer but I can't remember it's name. 

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10 minutes ago, captain birdseye said:

When on the Ashton they had three boats, I can remember them arriving. Two were ex Bijou line one called Topaz and I think the other was Jade but I may be wrong. They also had a Springer but I can't remember it's name. 

Here they are... courtesy of Hoseasons 1979 brochure.  It looks to be called Byron....

Keats 1979.jpg

Byron 1979.jpg

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Was part of a gang who hired twice from Coles Morton, March 1980 and July 1981. Absolutely trouble free both times, in the same boat, called Winterburn (chosen because of the trad stern, but a perfectly presentable boat). First time we went to Tarleton on the Rufford branch - long before the Ribble Link - and then up to the summit tunnel and back; second time the Cheshire Ring, including surprising the staff at the other Coles Morton base in Whaley Bridge.

 

This taken at the water point at bridge 32A (Burscough)

 

P1040316.JPG.f195f0b2777ee8a813f665fc65de5dbe.JPG

 

 

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I can confirm much of the above. We hired Haigh Hall from Coles Morton at Wigan in 1981 or 82 (I've got the brochure and photos packed away and will dig them out and confirm the year when I get the chance). I think they'd started there in 1980.  81 and 82 were years of a bad recession so they were struggling to get boats rented out -they were so desperate they advertised two weeks for the price of one. We had a great couple of weeks - we went from Wigan round the Cheshire Ring and up the Caldon. The boat was very nice and we had no problems.

The company went bankrupt soon after. Many of the boats were owned by a Scandinavian company so they just took their boats and opened the base at Worcester which I think had been Tolladine (one of the companies bought out by Black Prince). Another interesting fact - many of the boats built by Coles Morton -including the Wigan boats -were only 6'6" wide, as this was the width of a standard piece of steel and they were cheaper to build that way.

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6 minutes ago, John Brightley said:

Just found this online, from the London Gazette. It shows that Coles Morton Wigan went under in May 82. So we must have hired with them in Aug 81. I think the other parts of Coles Morton (at Whaley Bridge) carried on for longer.....

Amazed at the information of the forum, and after almost 40 years

 

Thanks everyone

 

Dan

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1 hour ago, Richard Carter said:

Was part of a gang who hired twice from Coles Morton, March 1980 and July 1981. Absolutely trouble free both times, in the same boat, called Winterburn (chosen because of the trad stern, but a perfectly presentable boat). First time we went to Tarleton on the Rufford branch - long before the Ribble Link - and then up to the summit tunnel and back; second time the Cheshire Ring, including surprising the staff at the other Coles Morton base in Whaley Bridge.

 

This taken at the water point at bridge 32A (Burscough)...

She did stay at Wigan for a while with Wayfarer, but I remember her as Windwillow from the Wharfage Boat Co in Lymm, where they made her into a sort of semi-trad, which was probably more popular/easier with an 8 berth.

 

Here she is from the Hoseasons 1989 brochure, and I think that is also her internal picture shown

 

Dan

hoseasons 1989.jpg

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22 minutes ago, DanH said:

She did stay at Wigan for a while with Wayfarer, but I remember her as Windwillow from the Wharfage Boat Co in Lymm, where they made her into a sort of semi-trad, which was probably more popular/easier with an 8 berth.

 

Here she is from the Hoseasons 1989 brochure, and I think that is also her internal picture shown

 

Dan

 

That's fascinating, thanks Dan - 1981 was my last year as a hirer (until 2014), so I didn't take any interest in what happened to Winterburn, or any of the others we'd hired.

 

I can confirm the inside view is indeed (ex-)Winterburn, I took almost exactly that view (in through the front doors) in 1980. Too late to photograph the slide today, I'll do that tomorrow.

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16 hours ago, Richard Carter said:

Was part of a gang who hired twice from Coles Morton, March 1980 and July 1981. Absolutely trouble free both times, in the same boat, called Winterburn (chosen because of the trad stern, but a perfectly presentable boat). First time we went to Tarleton on the Rufford branch - long before the Ribble Link - and then up to the summit tunnel and back; second time the Cheshire Ring, including surprising the staff at the other Coles Morton base in Whaley Bridge.

 

This taken at the water point at bridge 32A (Burscough)

 

P1040316.JPG.f195f0b2777ee8a813f665fc65de5dbe.JPG

 

 

I think Geoff Wheat was delivering household coal with Irwell at this time, with Lune available for camping.

 

At the time the hire fleet finished at Wigan, it was suggested that hirers wanting to get to Skipton did not like having to do Wigan flight as it took too much time off their holiday.

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1 hour ago, Pluto said:

I think Geoff Wheat was delivering household coal with Irwell at this time, with Lune available for camping.

 

At the time the hire fleet finished at Wigan, it was suggested that hirers wanting to get to Skipton did not like having to do Wigan flight as it took too much time off their holiday.

I guess we were more adventurous. We were sat outside that pub in Skipton (see above) planning on turning round as there was a stoppage just beyond when the table next to us remarked that the canal was now open. So we emptied out glasses and set off hot foot for Bingley. Arrived after the lock keeper had gone but the flight wasn't locked then so down we went. I made a right cockup in and we ended up sat on the bottom of of one of the chambers. 

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22 hours ago, DanH said:

She did stay at Wigan for a while with Wayfarer, but I remember her as Windwillow from the Wharfage Boat Co in Lymm, where they made her into a sort of semi-trad, which was probably more popular/easier with an 8 berth.

 

Here she is from the Hoseasons 1989 brochure, and I think that is also her internal picture shown

 

Dan

 

Here's that interior shot of Winterburn I took in April 1980. The sunlit fellow in the galley is an occasional poster on this forum (apologies for the combination of rubbish image and massive file, my camera is having problems).

 

Winterburn was the only hireboat we formed any sort of attachment to, and the only one we hired twice ... can understand the semi-trad conversion for hire, though. Was semi-trad a thing yet in 1980?

 

P1040317.JPG.440a9e1e18146cf3ae3a19eaddf7df71.JPG

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7 hours ago, Pluto said:

I think Geoff Wheat was delivering household coal with Irwell at this time, with Lune available for camping.

 

At the time the hire fleet finished at Wigan, it was suggested that hirers wanting to get to Skipton did not like having to do Wigan flight as it took too much time off their holiday.

I was hoping someone might pick up on Lune. I didn't seem to have as much interest then as I would now, so only this one photo. The text on the wooden board is legible on my original slide, but I'd need to get the projector out to read it fully. I think it just says (not surprisingly) Northern Counties Carriers Ltd and a phone no. below

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19 minutes ago, Richard Carter said:

Here's that interior shot of Winterburn I took in April 1980. The sunlit fellow in the galley is an occasional poster on this forum (apologies for the combination of rubbish image and massive file, my camera is having problems).

 

Winterburn was the only hireboat we formed any sort of attachment to, and the only one we hired twice ... can understand the semi-trad conversion for hire, though. Was semi-trad a thing yet in 1980?

Aw wow, cheers Richard

 

I went up in the loft & just have one photo of her, in October 1992 (last month of hire) tied up at Wharfage's yard.  That bright green just made an appearance for one season I think (fortunately!)

 

Dan

 

 

Windwillow Oct1992.jpg

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12 minutes ago, DanH said:

Aw wow, cheers Richard

 

I went up in the loft & just have one photo of her, in October 1992 (last month of hire) tied up at Wharfage's yard.  That bright green just made an appearance for one season I think (fortunately!)

 

Dan

 

You're welcome! I could get a better image if I project it first, rather than being an idle sod and just photographing the slide hand-held ...

 

Somehow the Coles Morton paint scheme was much more characterful and memorable than the rather tired red/green combo in the latter years. I get the feeling CMM were really trying, at a time when there were endless run-of-the-mill hireboats around, a pity it didn't work out for them.

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