Wigan
Template:GBmap Wigan is a large town in the North West of England, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, lying in the historic county of Lancashire. It is the largest town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, with a population of 89,876 (2004 estimate). Other neighbouring towns are Chorley, St Helens, Bolton and Warrington and it is roughly equidistantly placed between the cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.
Wigan is twinned with Angers in France.
History
Origins
The first people reported to have settled in the Wigan area were the Brigantes. The Romans took over "Chochion", as it was then known, in around 79 AD during one of many wars with the Celts and renamed the settlement “Coccium”. The Romans left some time in the 5th century.
By the time of the Middle Ages, Wigan had become a constituent manor of the Barony of Makerfield, and received its Royal Charter from King Henry III in 1246 when it was made into a Borough in its own right. Its new status as a Royal Borough is reflected in the insignia of the town Coat of Arms.
The earliest incorporation of the Town is actually mentioned in the report of the Norry King of Arms in 1613, that "The Towne and Bourrough of Wiggin was antiently incorporated by the most noble Kinge, Kinge Hen, the first, in the first year of his raygne," i.e. the year 1100. If so, this would make the borough the oldest in Lancashire, and one of the oldest in the country.
How the town got its name is mysterious, although we know that it was named after 1086 (it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book). Some suggest the name is old Welsh Gwigan, meaning settlement whilst others attribute the name to Saxon English or Viking. Some sources cite Wigan as deriving from Old English wig / wiga 'warrior' (not meaning the same as modern English wig!) or wicga 'insect', but this is as yet unverified
Due to its loyalty to the crown during the civil war, the town was bestowed by royal decree with the motto "Ancient and Loyal" which remains the oldest such motto, in the English language.
Industry
Wigan was once important for coal mining and cotton textile production. The Leeds-Liverpool canal was used extensively to transport local produce. In 1818 William Woods introduced the first power looms to the Wigan cotton mills. These mills swiftly became infamous for their dangerous and unbearable conditions, low pay and use of child labour. After the 1914-18 war there was a boom followed by a slump from which Wigan's textile industry did not recover. The last working cotton mill, the May mill, closed in 1980. The novel Rose by Martin Cruz Smith is centered around the Victorian era coal mining in Wigan.
The town has enjoyed a complex relationship with this association. Sometimes embracing it, the Orwellian link has provided the area with a modest tourist base over the years. However, most regard the insinuation that Wigan is in fact no better now than it was as the Victorian era slum with objection and frank hostility. A recent TV documentary about Orwell visited Wigan, and made a comparison to less-affluent areas such as Platt Bridge, commenting that not much had changed. This was met with widespread local disapproval.
Local government
Wigan was one of the few industrial towns of the 19th century to already be a borough. It was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, and was one of the boroughs to be granted the status of county borough by the Local Government Act 1888. Pemberton, previously an independent urban district was annexed to the borough in 1904.
Culture
Music
Wigan has been well known for its popular music since the days of George Formby Snr and George Formby Jnr. It was the birthplace of The Eight Lancashire Lads a dancing troupe who gave a young Charlie Chaplin his professional debut. One of the troupe was a John Willie Jackson, The "John Willie" who George Formby would often refer to in his songs.
Local bands that gained wider repute include The Railway Children, Witness, The Tansads, Limahl of Kajagoogoo and (more recently) Starsailor. More recently, The Verve were one of the most important British rock groups of the 1990s, finding success in the UK and abroad (even touring on the USA's famous Lollapalooza alternative rock festival). Lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft comes from the Wigan district of Billinge, and the rest of the band hailed from the nearby town of Up Holland.
The Wigan Casino was, from 1973, the location for Wigan's weekly Northern Soul all-nighters, until it was demolished in 1983 after a mysterious fire gutted it. Wigan remains a centre of popular music for young people in the Lancashire area, with the annual Haigh Hall music festival and a number of alternative pubs/clubs in the town centre.
The town also has a music collective which exists to promote the scene and help out local musicians and bands. They host weekly gigs at The Tavern and also host various other activities such as the annual Haigh Hall music festival, recording sessions and gig advice for young musicians.
It is sometimes rumoured that Paul Simon wrote "Homeward Bound" in a Wigan train station.
Transport
Rail
There are two main rail stations in Wigan. These are located virtually across the street from each other in Wallgate, on the southern fringe of the town centre.
- Wigan North Western is on the electrified north-south West Coast Main Line.
Virgin Trains provides express trains to London Euston, Birmingham, Lancaster, Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Northern Rail has trains to Preston and Blackpool and a regular local service along the line to St Helens and Liverpool Lime Street.
- Wigan Wallgate serves lines running east and west from Wigan.
Northern Rail provides trains to Southport and Kirkby (with connections to Liverpool Central and the Merseyrail system). A frequent local service also operates to Bolton and Manchester (Victoria and Piccadilly), with most trains from Wigan continuing through to other destinations such as Manchester Airport, Stockport, Oldham and Rochdale.
In addition to the two town centre stations, there are stations served by local trains at Bryn, Pemberton, Orrell, Gathurst, Appley Bridge, Ince and Hindley.
Buses
of local buses serves Wigan and district, co-ordinated by Greater Manchester PTE and departing from a bus station in the town centre.
Since deregulation and privatisation of the bus industry in the 1980s and 90s, a number of different companies have operated in Wigan, some big, some small.
At present the two larger national operators are:-
- First Manchester, which operates routes generally to the north-east, east and south-east of the town, including buses to Leigh, Bolton and Manchester.
- Arriva, which operates north and west of Wigan to Preston, Skelmersdale, Southport and St Helens.
Smaller locally-based bus companies also provide local services around the area.
Labour Clubs
Wigan has long been a heartland of the National Union of Labour Clubs, having at one time thirty Labour Clubs in the town. In recent years this has reduced to about twenty. The NULSC has also used Haigh Hall for an annual festival.
Sport
Wigan's main sports teams are Wigan Athletic(football)and Wigan Warriors(rugby league). The two teams now share the JJB Stadium.
Wigan Athletic were elected to the Football League only in 1978 and had little success for many years, but they have recently gained promotion to the F.A. Premier League and the 2005/06 season was their first ever in the top flight. The team was in the top half of the table for the entire season, finishing tenth, and made it to the League Cup Final in February 2006.
As Wigan RLFC, the "Warriors" in the eighties and nineties were England's leading Rugby League team. Recent changes to the structure and organisation of the game have diluted their dominance yet they are making a major comeback after being at the foot of super league's table for most of this season. It is now likely that they will make the top 6.
Wigan is one of relatively few towns in the UK to have an international-standard swimming pool in the town centre. The pool itself having been built to exact Olympic standards, but has never been used for official Olympic sanctioned competition. The resident swimming club, Wigan Wasps, which has now changed its name to Wigan BEST[1] has produced Olympic standard swimmers, including medal winner June Croft.
Famous residents
- Andrew Farrell, former Great Britain Rugby League captain and Wigan Warriors captain
- Billy Boston, Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee.
- Kay Burley, TV Newscaster
- Alan Bamford, artist
- George Stubbs, artist
- Gerrard Winstanley, founder of the 17th century Diggers
- Mrs Hemans, poet
- Edward Entwistle, engineer and the world's first passenger train driver
- George Formby, comedian
- Lawrence Isherwood, artist
- Limahl, AKA Chris Hamill, pop singer
- Michael Marks, founder of Marks & Spencer.
- Frank Randle, comedian
- Ted Ray, comedian
- John Rylands, philanthropist
- Leslie Cannon, trade union leader
- Joe Gormley, trade union leader
- Wallace and Gromit, fictional inventors [2]
- Dave Whelan, businessman and owner of the Wigan Warriors, Wigan Athletic and JJB Sports
- Sir Ian McKellen, Hollywood actor
- Roy Kinnear, Comedy actor
- Stuart Maconie, Journalist/Broadcaster
- Davinia Taylor, actress
- Davey Boy Smith, professional wrestler. Held various World Wrestling Federation championships
- Richard Ashcroft, solo artist and lead singer of the 1990's Brit pop group The Verve.
Business connections to the town include JJB Sports, Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, and Pataks.
Michael Marks (of Marks & Spencer) was a Smallware dealer at 152 Great George Street before starting in business with Thomas Spencer.
The extraordinary (Thomas) Beecham family and the Lindsay art connoisseurs are connected with the town, as is John Charnley’s famous hip replacement department.