More Visitors to the Sankey - 1
Assocation for Industrial Archaeology Conference 2007

Each year the A.I.A. organises a conference consisting of a week of visits and lectures around a base somewhere in Britain, attended by delegates from all over of the country. Last year's event took place in the Isle of Man where delegates were spoiled for choice with the vast range of industrial features surviving, many of them still in full working order, including road vehicles, railways, tramways and waterwheels.

The 2007 Conference was based at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. Delegates attended a series of evening lectures on the area's industrial past with day time follow-up visits.

Your Hon Sec attended on one of the evenings to give a presentation on the Sankey Canal which seemed to be quite well received. He then stayed on to see the second lecture of the evening which detailed the development of aircraft manufacture in the Preston area from its early days of glue, canvas and wire to the front line fighter of today.

The next day the group split into two sections, one to visit the Sankey, and the other to look into the aircraft industry. Fortunately advanced warning had been given and it was known that more than 60 delegates had chosen to visit the Sankey, so a single guide was obviously insufficient. Dave Smallshaw of our Executive Committee member stepped in to act as guide on the second coach so the visit went ahead as planned.

The visitors day began with a visit to The World of Glass where they had lunch. Immediately afterwards the coaches left for Spike Island, the plan being to visit as many points along the canal as time allowed, finishing up back in St. Helens for the guides to collect their cars.

At Widnes the delegates saw the locks, the railway dock, rudder from a sailing flat and various remnants of the salt and chemical industry, all good industrial archaeology. They were keen to see the Barmere since she was similar in size to the vessels which had used the canal, then they spent some time in the Visitor Centre viewing the current exhibition.

They then moved on to Fidlers Ferry where river, canal and railway run alongside each other. Here they saw the remaining lock (the other was lost when the Warrington to Widnes railway was built), the power station pump house, the boat marina and the remains of the slipway where concrete boats were built. Manfully ignoring the inviting open door of the Ferry Inn, the delegates returned to the coaches and sped off to next stopping point, the location of the crossing of Sankey Brook and the Sankey Canal at Dallam. Only part of the sluice mechanism remains but with a bit of imagination the original layout of the two waterways could be visualised. They then moved to the site of Hulme Lock where its unique structure became a talking point but with no conclusion other than that assumed by SCARS, that the massive timber uprights let into the lock walls were there to stabilise the lock walls in what was all made up ground. At the site of the Lock Cottage, another of our mysteries was also discussed - how the well managed to hold water at a higher level than the water table alongside it and how did the water get into it in the first place. Despite the wealth of knowledge and experience amongst those present, no answers were forthcoming.

A short walk up the in-filled canal brought them to Winwick Dry Dock and Maintenance Yard. The cameras snapped with a vengeance as buildings and yard were enthusiastically inspected.

Unfortunately at this point it was decided to curtail the tour since they had to be back at Preston to spruce up for their evening meal and to prepare for evening lectures. Still, everyone had received a set of Tow Path leaflets so that, should they wish, they could revisit the canal in the future and see the parts they had missed.

Both guides were thanked profusely by the delegates for organising the event, but SCARS' main object had already been achieved, the name of the Sankey would be carried nationwide as the delegates returned to their homes to discuss their conference, lectures and visits.

Peter Keen

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