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You are here: Home > News > Quest To Fnd The Origins Of The Lucky Foot At Mesnes Park

• Quest to fnd the origins of the lucky foot at Mesnes Park

• Date:

  7th April 2008

• Contact:

  Sarah Egerton

• Organisation:

  The Civic Trust

The friends of Green Flag Award-winning Mesnes Park in St Helens are appealing for stories which will lead to the origins of Sir Francis Powell’s lucky foot, which is now becoming an internet phenomenon.

Sir Francis Sharp Powell was a local philanthropist and MP. He is commemorated at Mesnes Park by a bronze sculpture, which is typical of the time from the 1880-1950s. One of Sir Francis’ boots is highly polished due to a tradition in Wigan that when you pass the statue you should rub his foot for luck, although no-one is quite sure why.

This has brought the friends of Mesnes Park to their present day quest in the hope of raising funds to restore the statue to its former glory. They are appealing to all those with stories of this lucky foot to get in touch.

And now local comic Jimmy O’Neill has turned Wigan’s luckiest foot into an internet phenomenon by posting it on YouTube.

He said: “I don’t know where the idea comes from that his foot’s lucky but it’s a special place for me. It reminds me of walking though the park with my mum as a child. I think it’s a special place for a lot of Wigan people.”

If you have any pictures or special memories of the statue then please e-mail or call Wigan 01942 506261.