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Adlington - Boatman's Arms

Name: The Boatman's Arms

Address: Aberdeen, Blackrod/Adlington


I have included the Boatman's Arms in this blog, as whilst it's officially in Blackrod it is only just over the border from Adlington and the canal and railway played such an important role in the local history.
Today it is a private residence as shown the photos on this blog.  I don't know when the business closed at this time.
The Boatman's Arms was placed between the Leeds-Liverpool canal and the railway line in an area (hamlet) known as Aberdeen that also had a farm, cottage and bridge (over the canal).

Listed landlords at the beer house were Pierce Broomhead (1860's-90), Nancy Broomhead (1890-94) and Roger Biggins (1898-1921). 

1871 Census


1881 Census
Long time landlord at the Boatman's Arms Pierce Broomhead died in 1890, as the burial record from St David's below records.  Interestingly, his residence at the time was recorded as Adlington and as his widow Nancy was still at the beer house a year later it goes to show how close to the border the property was.

Burial: 17 Apr 1890 St David, Haigh, Lancashire, England
Pearse Bromhead -
    Age: 72 yrs.
    Abode: Adlington
    Buried by: Alick. Chas. Leech, Asst. Crte.
    Register: Burials 1881 - 1892, Page 233, Entry 1859
    Source: Original register at Wigan Archives

1891 Census
Nancy's burial four years later at St David's recorded her abode as Blackrod.

Burial: 7 Sep 1894 St David, Haigh, Lancashire, England
Nancy Broomhead -
    Age: 71 years
    Abode: Blackrod
    Buried by: J Gilbertson Assistnt Curate
    Register: Burials 1892 - 1902, Page 45, Entry 360
    Source: Original register at Wigan Archives

Lancashire Evening Post 26 October 1898

1901 Census
Geocaching Website
At the cache site you will see a house poking through the trees which is adjacent to the canal. This house was once the Boatman's Arms pub. Many a thirsty barge worker must have stopped here for a quick pint. What a great little stop it must have been. In 1902 the landlord of the Boatman's was a Mr Roger Biggins. He was an important member of the community and his family had their own pew at St Katharine's church in Blackrod. What is rather ironic is that his son John despite living in a pub was a member of "Blackrod Church of England Temperance Society". Members of this club had to sign a certificate which stated, "I hereby agree to GOD's help to abstain from all intoxicating drinks and beverages"!

1911 Census
1921 Census Roger Biggins

5 comments:

  1. Interesting blog: thank you. Do you happen to know why Scotland seems to be associated with Blackrod? (Nearby, if I remember correctly, there's Scot Lane, Scotsman's Pack pub, Aberdeen and Little Scotland.) Any information very welcome.(I'm trying to find out more about ancestors with the (Scottish) names of Walls and Hutchinson in the Blackrod area.)

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    1. The Scottish dug a part of the canal round that way

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  2. I'm afraid I have no information linking it to Scotland but I wonder if there was an influx of Scottish workers at one stage who settled in Little Scotland in a similar way to Irish immigrants who moved to the Standish Street area of Chorley, which was known as Little Ireland. If you look on https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp299-303 it makes reference to the Lord of Crawford and Balcarres as being lord over one of the Blackrod areas, Balcarres being in Scotland so it may derive from his period of ownership.

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  3. Pierse Broomhead is my 3rd Great Grandfather. This is very interesting to read. Thank you

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  4. My parents (Harry and Stella charnock) bought this building in the 1960s when you could look from the cellar up through the building and see the sky. Bill Burton (who lived on Arley Lane) recommended they buy it. They renovated it and negotiated access rights with the farm. The old bar was still in place (my parents repaired the copper top) and a fantastic domed cellar with a stream running through it to keep cool. I grew up playing on the rubble of the demolished cottages alongside the canal. William Charnock

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