Wigan Favorites

Favorite thing: The Wigan Way is an 8 mile circular route starting from Wigan Pier to Haigh Hall and back to Wigan.
We enjoyed this easy mainly level walk one July on a balmy summer's day.
The most scenic part is throught he Leeds to Liverpool Canal - which although the longest canal in Britain at 127 miles long - its one of the least busy - perhaps because of all the locks that have to be navigated, there were certainly quite a few that we passed on the way to Haigh Hall! Its interesting to see the mix of rural with the industrial too.
In this pic Lock 71, looking towards Wigan, with the church at Scholes prominent in the distance is seen.

Favorite thing: The Leeds and Liverpool canal was completed in 1827 and is 127 miles long with 91 locks and 2 tunnels The canal was instrumental in Wigan's industrial development and heritage - especially for transporting coal and cotton. The canal was prosperous until the railways provided their comptition in the 1850's but it was 1972 before coal traffic finally ceased.

Fondest memory: On the canal tow path behind the Trencherfield Mill is a dry dock and atop is an appropiate weather vane - :-)

Favorite thing: Just before the town centre on Standishgate is this disappointing piece of artork - entitled Warp and Weft. It didn't look anything like I'd expected from the description I'd read about it. Its made of steel and is supposed to take on differnt curves and angles depending upon which way you look at it. Well I suppose at least its a W for Wigan.

Favorite thing: It was a busy Saturday and the centre was crowded with shoppers - fortunately a pedestrianised area.
No evidence anymore of the 1000 or so pitshafts that were once a feature of this old coal mining town!
Two historic thoroughfares cross Wigan town centre; Standishgate and Wallgate with tudor style frontages - but nowhere near as nice as Chester I'm afraid.
All the major shops and arcades can be found here.

Favorite thing: Wigan has more pubs in one square mile than any other North West town! Kings street, just up on the right from Wigan North Western station, is where the entertainment centre of Wigan can be found. Many club and bars here - - many iin former theatres of picture houses like this on the County Playhouse. Just in front of this is another art design. This one is called Footlights and was only installed in 2001 but already in poor shape and needing repair....

Favorite thing: The Rvier Douglas runs through Wigan, as well as the Leeds to Liverpool Canal, and on a section of the River near the aforementioned supermarket a sculpture of a dragon fly can be seen amongst the grrass. Its looks as if it has lost some of its wings however so perhaps you'll spot a real one instead - quite possible in this environment and much better than the sculpture. Notice too here the river gauge in the water - despite the recent rain it seemed fairly low so no danger of flooding.

Favorite thing: Wigan is renowned for its Rugby League club - Wigan Warriors. They have recently moved grounds - with its former home of Central Park now a big chain supermarket. Not wanting to forget its history though a memorial cast bronze rugby ball can be seen in one corner of its car park. Engraved on it are famous players of the club - Tommy Bradshaw, Joe Egan and Jimmy Sullivan.

Favorite thing: At the top of The Wiend is a childrens centre and in front of this is another public art form on display. Simple fun for the kids here in this mosaic maze. Its nice to know that children were involved in the design process of this too.