Welcome to the lovely town of Wigan in Greater Manchester, north-west of England on Virtualtripping.com.
By Mark on May 14, 2013
Wigan Town Centre
Wigan Market
Wigan Wallstreet Station
A Ride Round Wigan
Firstly i learned about Wigan,when i was a small boy, i found out that this town was a well-known rugby league town, but today, it is more know for being a footballing town, as Wigan Atheltic football club, are in the top division, known as the premier league. But i am not sure for how much longer,as they look like they maybe relegated. Wigan stands on the River Douglas near Preston, Manchester and Liverpool.The town is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. Historically Wigan was a part of Lancashire, it.s history dates back to the time of the Brigantes and the Celtic’s, when they created a territory. Wigan is believed to have been incorporated as a borough in 1246 following the issue of a Charter by King Henry III of England. By the end of the middle ages Wigan had become a borough, joining three other boroughs in lancashire, they were Lancaster, Liverpool and Preston.
This is a picture taken from flickr of “The DW Stadium, 4th August 2009″ Rugby League.
This is a picture taken from flickr of the “DW Stadium North Stand, Wigan Athletic v Tottenham Hotspur, 21 February 2010″.
This is a picture taken from flickr of “Wigan Athletic v Zambia 1978″.
Wigan experience an unbelieveable transformation during the Industrial revolution, where the economy expanded and the population grew, into a major town within the Industry. Although Wigan became well known for manufacturing products like porcelain and also clock making, Wigan has become more known as a mill town and a major coal mining district. The coal mining industry has been around in Wigan since 1450 and at it’s highest point there were around 1,000 pit shafts. Coal mining ceased during the latter part of the 20th century. Wigan is now a town dealing with the light industries. The Pier, is a wharf which is on the Liverpool and Leeds Canal it became famous thanks to the writer Mr George Orwell who wrote a book named, The Road to Wigan Pier. The book was about the life within Wigan and how the people lived and what conditions they lived in during the 1930′s. After the decline of the industries over the years Wigan’s Pier’s collection of warehouses and wharfs has now become a heritage and cultural establishment, being visited daily by tourists.
- Learn about Wigan on Wikipedia:
- Learn about Wigan on Virtualtripping.com
- Learn about Wigan Pier on Wikipedia:
- Learn about Wigan Athletic football club on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Wigan Warriors on Wikipedia:
- Find Wigan on Google Maps:
- Find the English county of Greater Manchester on Google Maps:
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Virtualtripping proudly presents a new classical, theatrical singer, Emma Woolley.
By Mark on May 1, 2013
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, it is my honour to present you with a new singer, this singer is a long term friend of mine, and her dream is to sing live in musicals, theatres and public places. Emma is a wonderful, loving person, with a good heart, who really deserves to do well. Below is a youtube video, where you can listen to a demo of two brilliant songs, they are, Expected song and Heaven help my heart, enjoy.
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Welcome to the history of Korea in Asia on Virtualtripping.com.
By Mark on April 16, 2013
Well with things going on in Korea, I thought I would write a short post about these two troubled sovereign states, North Korea and South Korea. You will find these two countries on the Korean Peninsula, bordered by China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast. They are also separated from Japan towards the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea), and also separated from Taiwan to the south by the East China Sea. So why are there problems over there. Well this is my version, some of you may agree and others won’t. Lets begin, There once was the Three Kingdoms of Korea, these kingdoms were united during the Silla Dynasty (57 BC – 935) under the king known as Munmu of Silla. Then the kingdoms were to end during the year of 935, after falling to the Goryeo Dynasty at the end of the Later Three Kingdoms of Korea era. The Goryeo were a highly cultured state. In the 14th century, they created the Jikji. Sadly, due to an invasion in the 13th century, by the Mongols, the Goryeo Dynasty was dramatically weakened, but the nation was forced to become a tributary state. But once thee was the collapse of the Mongol Empire‘s collapse, there was a lot of political problems and unfortunately the Goryeo people were to be replaced by the Joseon Dynasty in 1388.
Over the next 200 years, there was relative peace during the Joseon era. They created the Korean alphabet Hangul by King Sejong the Great, during the 14th century and there was a rise in influence of Confucianism in the country. Towards the end of the dynasty, Korea’s isolationist policy earned it the Western nickname the “Hermit kingdom“. Then in the late part of the 19th century, the country was to become an object of the colonial designs of Japan. In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan and remained a colony until the end of World War II in August 1945. Unfortunately for Korea, in 1945 the colony was to be split into two nations, one occupied by the Soviet Union and the other occupied by the United States, this was after an agreement with the surrender of Japanese forces in Korea. So the Soviet troops were to occupy the north of the 38th parallel, while U.S. troops took surrender south of it. This decision was to go on a create a problem in Korea, Why? well the allied armies were to end up causing the division of Korea by the two superpowers, this was because the two nations could not agree on the terms of Korean independence. This was to lead to the Cold War, when the rival nations were to establish governments sympathetic to their own ideologies, leading to Korea’s division into two political entities: North Korea and South Korea.
Today we have North Korea, which has become officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is a single-party state and has a centrally planned industrial economy. On the other hand we have South Korea, again officially as the Republic of Korea, which is a multi-party state with a capitalist market economy, with membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Group of Twenty. So it appears that these two countries, have been under pressure to succeed, under the reign of the Soviet Union, today Russia and the reign of the United states of America. So are these threats by the north, really against the south or is it more to do with the United States of America. The answer is quite likely to be the latter. South Korea are NO threat to North Korea really, it is just that the regime in the north of korea, have had enough of the U.S.A telling them what and what not to do. Yes they are a regime, but if left alone, I believe they would not be much of a threat. Also I believe that the new leader Kim Jong-un is just trying to prove that because he is young, he is easy to walkover, he is saying I am not easy to walkover and wants to prove this not just to his nation, but to the rest of the world. I do not believe there will be a war, but pressure will always be around this part of the world.
- Learn about Korea on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the history of Korea on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the history of North Korea on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the history of South Korea on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the division of Korea on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Korean reunification on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Korean Peninsula on Wikipedia:
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Welcome to Dōngguǎn, this is a large industrial city in the central of Guangdong province, People’s Republic of China on virtualtripping.com.
By Mark on March 16, 2013
Dongguan Live: 1.Dongguan Tour
DongGuan
Dongguan Ghost Mall Haunts China\’s Property Boom
Dongguan Old Street
Welcome to Dōngguǎn, this is a large industrial city in the central of Guangdong province, in the, People’s Republic of China. This is a important place for the Chinese as it is an industrial city, you can find Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta, it borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, also Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the south, and the Pearl River to the west. Dongguan has become known as ”China’s sex capital”, there is an area which includes prostitutes, brothels, massage parlours, nightclubs, sex hotels, sauna centres and karaoke bars. Due to this they say there is an estimate of contribution of 20 to 30 per cent of the total output of the city’s service industry, employing between 500,000 and 800,000 people. I have learned that the city holds the world’s largest, though mostly empty, shopping mall, known as New South China Mall. The administration of Dongguan, have considered especially progressive in seeking foreign direct investment. There are three neighbouring municipalities of Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Shenzhen which have now become home to over 25 million residents, and this goes on to show a large proportion of Pearl River Delta Region‘s population. The city of Dongguan was ranked behind only Shenzhen, Shanghai and Suzhou in exports among Chinese cities, with $65.54 billion in shipments.
If you were to head towards the urban centre of Dongguan, this is 50 km away from that of Guangzhou to its north, 90 km away from Shenzhen to its south, and 47 nautical miles or 87 kilometres away from Hong Kong. It is also 48 nautical miles or 89 kilometres from the small country Macau by waterway. And for people travelling by road or waterway, Dongguan is a must-pass-by locality from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. This is a very crowded city and area in china, and the total area of Dongguan, 27% is water, 25% forest land, and 13% ploughed land, while 35% of its land area has been fully developed. So it appears that they are trying to keep it natural around this area, but when you see that 35% is now developed, it makes me wonder how long it will be before, that percentage increases out of control.
If you are interested in china’s history, this area of the country, started having people around 5,000 years. But it does appear that Dongguan’s emergence as a true city is a recent phenonomenon. Back in 1839, the First Opium War, was within this area of china, there were large quantities of seized opium burned in the local town of Humen. And several of the major battles of the war were fought here. And when the Second World War, took place, the city was to serve as the base for guerilla resistance against the Japanese occupation. I would say this is a very interesting place to visit and learn about the Chinese culture.
- Learn about Dōngguǎn on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Dongguan Leopards on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Guangdong Southern Tigers on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the New South China Mall on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Larwa FC on Wikipedia:
- Find Guangdong on Google Maps:
- Find Dongguan city on Google Maps:
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Welcome to the large market town of Huddersfield in the Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England on Virtualtripping.com.
By Mark on March 15, 2013
Roger Davies: Huddersfield Town (Official Video)
Evening out in Huddersfield
Welcome to Huddersfield Open Market
Huddersfield Giants 2011 Highlights
Leicester City 1-2 Huddersfield Town | Goals and Highlights | The FA Cup 4th
This is a picture taken from flickr of Huddersfield Railway Station.
This is a picture taken from flickr of Huddersfield Railway Station.
This is a picture taken from flickr of a former british prime minister Harold Wilson Statue, Huddersfield.
Welcome to Huddersfield, this is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. I don’t know that much about huddersfield, but i do know that this town is famous for it’s sports. For example there is a Football League Championship side, known as Huddersfield Town F.C., who were founded in 1908. Also the town is very well known for it’s rugby league team, the Huddersfield Giants, who were founded in 1895, they play in the European Super League. So where is huddersfield, it is halfway between the cities of Leeds and Manchester. And lies 190 miles or 310 km) north of London, and 10.3 miles or 16.6 km south of Bradford, the nearest city. The town lies near the confluence of the River Colne and the River Holme. It lies within the historic county boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, according to the 2001 Census huddersfield has become the 10th largest town in the UK and with a total resident population of 146,234. There is a large urban area in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, as well as the administrative centre of the borough. Like alot of northern towns in the u.k, huddersfield was no different and played a major role in the Industrial Revolution, was the birthplace of rugby league and birthplace of the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.
This is a picture taken from flickr of Huddersfield Town football stadium.
This is a picture taken from flickr of the Huddersfield Giants rugby league stadium in Huddersfield.
This is a picture taken from flickr of Kirklees College – under way, being built.
Education is very important in huddersfield and this is shown by being the town which is home to the University of Huddersfield and the sixth form colleges Greenhead College, Kirklees College and Huddersfield New College. And on top of that, it has become known for it’s Victorian architecture. Especially the Huddersfield railway station, which is a Grade I listed building. The station in St George’s Square was renovated at a cost of £1 million and subsequently won the Europa Nostra award for European architecture. Huddersfield has the Pack Horse Centre, this is a shopping centre, which has been pedestrianised and constructed over a cobblestone street, Pack Horse Yard, renamed Pack Horse Walk. There is also Beaumont Park, which is about 2 miles south of the town. There is the The Lawrence Batley Theatre, opened in 1994, there are many pubs, restaurants and night clubs, one of which, Tokyo, occupies the former Huddersfield County Court, a 19th century Grade II listed building. The oldest pub is the Parish (formerly the Fleece Inn), the pub has been trading since 1720. So you will find plenty to see and do in Huddersfield.
This is a picture taken from flickr of Fitzwilliam Street: view to the football stadium in Huddersfield.
This is a picture taken from flickr of University of Huddersfield.
This is a picture taken from flickr of the river colne, Huddersfield.
- Learn about Huddersfield on Wikipedia:
- Learn about Castle Hill on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Huddersfield Rams Aussie Rules on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Huddersfield Ben dog on Wikipedia:
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Nick Ramsay, exploring the world from a zabuton in Japan.
