The story of Craig’s bench

Craig was a keen amateur photographer and liked nothing more than to walk around the local area taking photographs. He continued with his hobby even after being diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer and undertaking 18 months of tough treatment. He was still taking photographs just days before he died in June 2019, the day after his 51st birthday. This stretch of the Bridgewater Canal was one of his favourites to photograph. Despite loving the village and its surroundings, Craig wasn’t actually from Moore. He moved here with his wife Linda in 2013. Craig grew up in the Lancashire village of Barrowford and first moved to Warrington in 1993.

After Craig’s death, friends from The Real McCoys, a walking group to which he belonged, wanted to create something permanent in his memory and came up with the idea of a bench on the canal. The canal’s owners, Peel, kindly agreed to this location and the group began raising funds to purchase the bench and pay for its installation. Friends and family contributed and local running clubs, including Run Sandymoor and Widnes Wasps, participated in a virtual 5k race to help boost the coffers.

The bench now provides a tranquil spot for people to “rest a while and enjoy the view”. We hope you enjoy sitting here and taking in some of the sights that Craig loved to photograph.

A small selection of Craig’s local images can be found below. If you’d like to see more of his photos from this area and beyond, please go to www.imagesbycraigmoore.co.uk