I once remember walking home from Wigan to Leigh one day when I should have been at Wigan Mining & Technical College but decided to go to the pub in Wigan at the old bus station until closing time at lunchtime then walked home to Leigh to kill time fearful of being asked why I was home so early. I walked it on the road from Wigan to the Dover Lock pub (wasn't called that then) and then picked up the canal to Leigh. Not one of my better decisions as it was getting pretty dark by the time I got to Plank Lane....