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A Northen English Town Wigan

By Mark on July 15, 2008

Wigan is a large town in Greater Manchester, It stands on the River Douglas near Preston, Manchester and Liverpool. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre.

wigan
This is an aerial view of Wigan’s town from the sky taken from Google Earth.

Historically Wigan was a part of Lancashire, Wigans history goes 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.

wigan-town-centre
This is a picture taken from panoramio of Wigan’s town centre.

Wigan went on to experience a unbelieveable transformation during the Industrial revolution, where the economy expanded and the population grew, making the town a major player in the Industry. Although Wigan became well known for manufacturing products like porcelain and also clock making, Wigan now 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.

wigan-pier
This is a picture taken at night of Wigan Pier from panoramio.

Wigan 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 life in 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.

wigan-football-stadium
This is a picture of Premier Football Club Wigan Athletic’s stadium taken from panoramio.

Posted in Europe | 4 Comments

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4 Responses to “A Northen English Town Wigan”

  1. Mum
    6:04 pm on July 16th, 2008

    Gosh, Mark! You have brought back childhood memories. I lived in Wigan for most of my childhood. It has changed dramatically since I was there. Most of my old haunts have gone now and it is much more upmarket that it was. I don’t think I ever saw Wigan Pier all the time I was there.

  2. Mark
    8:02 pm on July 16th, 2008

    Oh really, I like investigating into different places, you can find so much history just on your door step. Glad you liked this article i did especially for you.

  3. Nick
    8:07 am on July 18th, 2008

    What a gorgeous town center! Wiganers must be very proud of where they live.

  4. Mark
    2:52 pm on July 18th, 2008

    Yes it appears to be a very nice place to visit and even stay. But the thing with the southerns is that we appear to knock the northern towns supposingly, because we are richer in the south. But the larger cities like Manchester, liverpool, Leeds, Blackburn and Bradford are all pretty simular to london and the smaller northern towns like Wigan, York and Lincoln are absolutely beautiful and we should be proud of every city, town or village in the British Isles.

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    We are two brothers, traveling the world with Google Earth.

    Mark Ramsay, globetrotting from an armchair in England.

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