George’s Journey

In early May four primary schools in Wigan worked with musicians from Manchester Camerata and the Canal and River Trust in a joint song writing and history project
celebrating ‘George’s Journey’. George,one of the last remaining wooden horse-drawn ‘short’ boats from the Leeds and Liverpool canal, is once again travelling along the Leeds & Liverpool Canalthanks to Lottery funding, retracing journeys she would have taken during her working life. Throughout two days of workshops pupils learned about life on the canal and worked alongside a composer and musician from Manchester Camerata to compose their own songs and percussion soundscape piece. The children created songs about the family who lived on George, their daily routine working on the canal and the journeys they undertook. Last week schools performed the music they composed on board George to an audience of family and friends at Trencherfield Mill in the glorious sunshine – who knew Wigan was so famous for its good weather!