Wigan Pier statue vandalised

Published: Thursday, 31 August 2017

THE four statues erected at Wigan Pier to celebrate the town's industrial past have had a history of vandalism, and now another of the sculptures has been attacked.

This time it is 'The Bargee', that gazes over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal that has has its cap and the top of its head removed, Alan Tilbury reports.

WiganPierStatueFour statues

Originally four statues were erected in 2008, around the pier, all representing the town's past in the form of workers that were created by Nottingham-based artist Phil Songhurst at a cost of £36,000.

They have often attracted the attention of vandals with the one of a mill worker being decapitated, another  ending up at the bottom of the canal and the one of 'Pit Brew Lass' being stolen, though she was eventually found and stored.

(http://www.narrowboatworld.com/557-lost-wigan-statue-found).