Greetings Adland family as you you know i do make these showcases very interesting in my own way and want to share as i have in the past of little known facts of my featured guests homeland.
Wigan
Wigan, a borough of north west England, situated north east of Liverpool , was an important market town in the Middle Ages. Nowadays it is an industrial city in a coal-mining region and has a population of 310,000. If you draw a straight line between Liverpool and Manchester , Wigan will be roughly in the middle.
Wigan is one of the four oldest boroughs in Lancashire, receiving a charter from Henry III in 1246. It is believed to have started life as the Roman garrison town of Coccium. Some of the town's charters are on display in Wigan History Shop, a former Victorian library designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the celebrated architect of Manchester town hall and the Natural History Museum.
• For Foreigners (And Southerners) Wigan Is Situated In Southern Lancashire, The North West Of Englandshire. The Borough Contained 301,417 People At The Time Of The 2001 Census. The Borough Was Formed On 1st April 1974 As It Is Now From 14 Rural & Urban District Councils. It Covers 72.64sq Miles- Making It 9th Largest Metropolitan Borough In The Country.
• Plans First Laid Down In 1888 Are Continuing For The Borough To Take Over Areas Now Under West Lancs District Council, Places Such As Appley Bridge Which Since 1974 Has Been Two Thirds In WMBC And A Third In WLDC.
• Many People Think Of Wigan As A Post Industrial Waste Land, Inhabited Flat Cap Wearing Miners Living In Cramped And Squalid End Terraces, But Only 34% Of The Borough Is Built Up: It Has 22 Conservation Areas, 4 SSSIs, 4 Historic Monuments And Over 600 Listed Buildings. There Are Also Plans To Make The Whole Of The Centre Of The Borough A Regional Park. And The Forestry Commission Has Planted A Forest Just Down The Road From Platt Bridge Behind The 3 Sisters Called Viridor Woods, Named After Viridor Waste Management Who Part Funded The Project, Rumour Has It At The Centre Of This New Forest Is An Old Smallpox Cemetery, So Don't Let Your Dog Dig Too Deep!
• However Given WMBCs Environmental Record (Which Has Recently Won It A Beacon Council Status) A £6.5 Million Road's Being Planned. The A5225 Will Go From The M6/M58 Junction To The Town Centre- It Will Eventually Carry On To Atherleigh Way Joining It At Its Junction With Lovers Lane! It Will Pass Just North Of Platt Bridge As A Duel Carriageway Crossing Liverpool Rd Between Hindley And Platt Bridge. The Original Plan For The M58 Was That It Was To Carry On To The M61 But Instead It Stopped At Wigan The A5225 Will Help Fill This Missing Link And Hopefully Create 10,000 Jobs. Click Here For The A5225 Mini Site.
• Wigan Has More Pubs In One Square Mile Than Any Other Town In The Whole Of The North West Of England.
• If The Referendum Decides We're Having One, Wigan Will Hold The Seat Of The North West Regional Assembly On Dorning Street.
• In 1100 A Charter Of Incorporation Was Granted Making Wigan The The First Borough In Lancashire And One Of The First In All England. In 1246 A Royal Charter Was Granted Making Us A Free Borough, Ranking Wigan Equal To Lancaster, Liverpool & Preston. However, The Boroughs Original Crest Was Only Made In 1922 And Its Current One In 1974.
• Wigan Part Owns The Countries 3rd Largest (And Multi-Award Winning) Airport, Manchester, With 9 Other Boroughs.
• Wigan Started Off Well Over 2000yrs Ago As A Celtic Brigante Tribe Settlement Called Coccion or Cochion (Red Sand). When The Romans Arrived They Set Up Camp Here,Where The Wiend Now Is, And Named Their Fort Coccium After The Celtic Name. Even The Danes Left Their Mark On Wigan And Leigh As They Did Throughout The North, In The Form Of The -gate Street Names, From 'Gata' The Norse For Road. For More Info See Wigan History.
• The Current Name, Wigan Is Of Heavily Debated Origin. It Possibly Comes From An Ancient British (Welsh) Personal Name 'Tref Wigan' (Wigans' Settlement) Or The Saxon Word 'Wiccan' (Witch) Or The Saxon Word 'Wician' (Dwelling) Or The Saxon Name For Vikings 'Wicing'! Despite All These Theories There Isn't Another Wigan Anywhere! Although The Ordnance Survey Does List A Small Collection Of Remote Buildings In North Yorkshire As 'Wiganthorpe'. However The Meaning Of Leigh Is Much Clearer, Coming From The Saxon 'Lea' For Meadow.
• Trencherfield Mill Houses The Worlds Largest Steam Engine- A Unique Twin Tandem Triple Expansion 2500 Horse Power Horizontal Mill Engine. It Was Built In 1907 By Bolton Engineers John And Edward Wood Especially For The Mill.
• One Of The Last Battles Of The Civil War Was Fought In Royalist Wigan At Wigan Lane, On 25th August 1651... 2yrs After The King Had Been Executed. So No Surprises The Royalist's Lost And Their Leader, Thomas Strange (Lord Derby), Lost His Head At Bolton. But It Wasn't All In Vain Cos King Charles II Gave Us A Nice Shiny Sword And The Borough Motto "Ancient And Loyal" For Our Support. Wigan Remained Royalist And Supported The Jacobite Risings, Bonnie Prince Charlie Stayed In The Town Twice.
• Legend Has It King Arthur Came To Wigan To Fend Off A Scot-Pict-Saxon Invasion At A Battle Beside The River Douglas. Evidence For This Was Found In The 18th Century When The Skeletons Of Hundreds Of Horses And Men Where Discovered Near The Douglas. One Archaeologist Even Suggested Wigan May Be The Historical Site Of Camelot!!! As Far As I Know This Has Nowt To Do With The Theme Park Though... Also King Alfred The Great Was Said To Have Buried Treasure Under Castle Hill, Which Is An Old Celtic Burial Mound Near Golborne.
• In't 18th Century Wigan Wur A Popular Spa Town! It Was Also Famed For Its Pewter-Ware And Clocks! Wigan Used To Be Known As "Coalopolis" In The 19th Century
• A New £55 Million 350,000sq.ft. Shopping Centre 'The Grand Arcade' Is Planned To Be Built On The Standishgate-Crompton Street Corner, The Current Site Of Debenhams, Game And The Old Ritz Cinema. It Will House 24 New Shops And The Council Are Hoping To Attract Major Names To Wigan To Rival Cheshire Oaks And The Trafford Centre. It Will Also Have The Borough's Largest Car Park Housing 900 Cars. It Was Originally Planned To Open In 2004. Click Here For More Info. This Will Be Coupled With The Completion Of The Wigan Ring Road From Saddle Junction To Wigan & Leigh College And A Park And Ride Scheme Possibly Using Trains Or Trams.
WIGAN TimeLine
Northern England And Southern Scotland Came Under The Confederated Celtic Kingdom Of Brigantia And Wigan Or As It Was Known Then, Coccion Or Cochion, Was One Of The Brigante Settlements.
AD 79
During The Governorship Of Gnaeus Julius Agricola The Romans Finally Conquer The Brigante By Paying Off Their Queen Cartimandua With Gold & An Uneasy Neutrality. The Romans Settled Down In 'Coccium'.
402
Last Romans Leave Coccium Behind. Wigan Enters The Dark Ages.
430 - 490
With The Romans Gone Brigantia Reforms As Rheged- Wigan Falls Under This New Celtic Kingdom.
535
With The Death Of King Meirchion Rheged Is Split Into North And South Between His Two Sons- Elidyr Llydanwyn (The Stout And Handsome) Takes Over The Southern Half And Wigan With It.
613
South Rheged, One Of The Last Remaining Celtic Kingdoms, Falls To The Bernicians- Angle Invaders Who Settled In Their New Kingdom In North East England. The End Of Celtic Wigan For Good.
633 - 641
King Oswald Of Bernicia Unites The Kingdom With Deira To Form Northumbria. Wigan Is Close To The Northumbrian Border With Mercia.
642
Pagan King Penda Of Mercia Slays Christian King Oswald Of Northumbria At A Battle Between Golborne And Newton, A Place Called Maserfieth- The Origin Of The Name Makerfield? Mercia Capture Wigan.
655
Penda Is Killed At The Battle Of Winwaed. Over The Next 3 Years Northumbria Takes Back The Land It Lost To Mercia- Wigan Included.
825
From The South Wessex Finally Overcome Mercia At The Battle Of Ellandon And Take Charge Of Much Of The Remaining Lands Of Mercia.
867
Northumbria And Wigan With It Fall To The Vikings. The Rest Of Mercia Accepts King Alfred Of Wessex As King Of All English Outside Of The Danelaw.
946
The Danelaw Falls And England Is United As One Kingdom. Wigan Becomes Part Of The Newton Hundred, An Anglo-Saxon Political Division Of Land More Or Less Covering The Current Makerfield Area.
1042 - 1066
A Law Suit Is Taken To The Court Of Edward The Confessor At Some Point Over The Advowson (Appointing A Clergyman To An Empty Post) Of Wigan Parish Church.
1086
Wigan Loosely Mentioned In The Doomsday Book As Part Of The New Norman Barony Of Newton (Or Makerfield). Rectors Became 'Local Lords'.
1100
King Henry I Granted Wigan A Charter Of Incorporation. This Makes Wigan The Oldest Borough In Lancashire.
1168
The County Of Lancashire Is Formed.
1246
A Charter Was Granted By King Henry III To John Mansel The Lord And Rector Of Wigan. This Made The Town A Free And Independent Borough With Its Own Council. (26th August)
1255
Pope Alexander IV Gifts The Kingdom Of Sicily To A 10 Year Old Edmund 'Crouchback' Plantagenet- English Barons Refuse To Help With The Running Costs So He Loses The Crown In 1258. (April)
1258
King Henry III Grants Wigan Another Charter To Hold A Weekly Market And Two Annual 'Fairs' Of Three-Days Duration On The Feast Days Of Ascension And All Saints. (20th April)
1267
Edmund 'Crouchback' Plantagenet Is Made The 1st Earl Of Lancaster.
1291
Pope Nicholas IV Required All Ecclesiastical Livings To Be Valued And The Income Of Wigan Parish Church Was Recorded At Fifty Marks (£33 6s 8d).
1295
Parliamentary Representation Given To The Town Along With 119 Others In England. Two Members Enter Westminster, They Were William Teinterer And Henry Le Bocher.
1295
The Disreputable William Bradshaigh Marries Mabel Le Norreys And Gains Therefore Her Lands In Blackrod And Haigh Hall.
1306
Wiganers Decide Democracy Is Too Much Faffing And Too Costly And So Stop Sending Representatives To Parliament For Over 200 Years Apart From On The Odd Occasion.
1314
King Edward II Confirms The 1246 Charter. (7th June)
1315
Rebel Sir Adam Banastre Marched On Wigan On Wednesday 22nd October Plundering And Looting It For Supplies And Did So Again On A Return March To Preston On The 2nd Of November.
1316
William Bradshaigh Gets Caught Up In The Banastre Rebellion And Is Declared As An Outlaw. After A While His Wife Mabel Takes Him For Dead And Remarries To A Welsh Knight Sir Osmond Nevill.
1323
King William II Comes To Wigan Which Was The Centre Of The Banastre Rebellion. He Lodged In Up Holland Priory For A Fortnight And Personally Tried The Offenders.
1324
William Bradshaigh Returns From Hiding To Find His Wife Mabel Has Remarried To The Welsh Knight Whom He Pursues To Newton-In-Makerfield.
1329
King Edward III Grants Wigan Another Charter. (18th October)
1333
Sir William Bradshaigh Is Killed At Newton-In-Makerfield During A Fight. Mabs Founds A Chapel To Put His Body In.
1350
A Charter Grants Wigan The Right To Use A Royal Seal Known As The "King's Recognisance Seal".
1351
• The Sixth Charter Of Wigan Granted By King Edward III.
• Lancashire Is 'Promoted' From Earldom To Dukedom And Gains Palatine (Royal) Powers.
1378
The Seventh Charter Of Wigan Granted By King Richard II.
1399
The Eighth Charter Of Wigan Granted By King Henry IV. A PlattBridger Enterprises Production
1400
The Ninth Charter Of Wigan Granted By King Henry IV. (10th May)
1413
The Tenth Charter Of Wigan Granted By King Henry V.
1519
Thomas Linacre, Founder And First President Of The Royal College Of Physicians, London, Becomes Rector Of Wigan Until 1524.
1547
Wigan MPs Return To Parliament Regularly For The First Time Since 1306.
1552
An Act Is Passed Stipulating That Lancashire Cotton Must Be 22 Yards Long, Three-Quarters Of A Yard Wide And Weigh At Least 30 Pounds A Piece.
1580
• An Earthquake Is Felt In Shevington.
• Francis Sherington Becomes Mayor Of Wigan And Promises To Found A Free Grammar School.
1585
The Eleventh Charter Of Wigan Granted By Queen Elizabeth I. (7th May)
1588
The Byrchall High School Is Founded As Ashton Grammar School In What Is Now Garswood Library By Robert Byrchall.
1590
A Second Earthquake Is Recorded In Shevington.
1603
Grammar School Opens In Standish.
1619
Peter Plat, A Chandler In Millgate, Dug What Was Possibly The First Pit In The Borough, He Is Granted A Licence By The Rector To Drain Water From His Pit Into Millgate.
1628
Local Boy Edmund Arrowsmith Is Hung Drawn And Quartered In A Crackdown On Lancastrian Catholicism, Of Which Wigan Is A Hot Bed. He Was Canonised In 1970. (28th August)
1642
• Lord Derby Clashes With Roundheads (Parliamentarians) At Leigh. (2nd December)
• Roundheads From Manchester Attack Leigh. (24th December)
1643
Roundheads From Bolton Capture Wigan And Sack The Moot Hall. They Are Kept At Bay By Royalist Sharpshooters At The Top Of The Church Tower, Until They Threaten To Blow It Up. (1st April)
1644
• Famous Siege Of Lathom House, The Home Of Thomas Strange - Lord Derby.
• Royalists Under Prince Rupert Besiege And Sack Bolton Before Recapturing Wigan & Liverpool.
1648
Cromwell Himself Leads The Roundheads Into Battle At Standish Against The Duke Of Hamiltons' Men.
1651
Last Battle Of The 2nd Civil War At Wigan Lane. Colonel Robert Lilburne Leads The Roundheads To Victory Against Lord Derbys' Men, Who Escapes The Battlefield. (26th August)
1651
Lord Derby Spends The Night In The Kings Arms Pub In Pennington He Is Captured That Morning Taken to Bolton And Executed For Saving Charles II's Life At The Earlier Battle Of Worcester. (27th August)
1652
The Feudal Rights Of Pennington & Hindley Along With Its People Are Sold For £1,000. (17th March)
1662
The Twelfth Charter Of Wigan Granted By King Charles II, Giving Wigan The Title 'Ancient And Loyal' As "A Special Token Of Our Favour For Its Loyalty To Us". (16th May)
1668
Upholland Grammar School Is Founded- It Is Now Winstanley College.
1670
John Ogilby Famous Traveller Wrote That Wigan Was Noted For Its Ironworks And That Pewter And Pottery Both Flourished.
1679
Roger Bradshaigh Of Haigh Hall (And The Current Wigan MP) Is Made A Baronet.
1685
The Thirteenth Charter Of Wigan Granted By King James II. (25th February)
1690
A Copper Vessel Containing More Than 200 Silver Coins, Ranging From AD 90 To 240, Is Found In Standish Which Would Have Been On The Main Road To Bremetenacum Veteranorum (Ribchester).
1696
Wigan Was The Centre Of The "Lancashire Plot" To Restore Catholic James II.
1714
Act Of Parliament Passed To Make The River Douglas Navigable To The Ribble. Robert Holt Of Crooke Hall Pioneers The Scheme.
1715
Following The Uprising In Preston, Jacobite Prisoners Were Marched Through Wigan On The Way To London For Trial. A Few Were Tried In Wigan, And Five Were Publicly Executed In The Market Place.
1720
Sir Roger Bradshaigh And Earl Barrymore, The Current Wigan MPs, Built A New Town Hall In The Market Place.
1723
Pennington Hall Ancestral Home Of The Bradshaighs Is Mortgaged For £1,200. (5th October)
1726
The Warrington To Wigan Turnpike Trust Was Set Up By Act Of Parliament.
1727
Canal Constructed Parallel To River Douglas To Transport Coal. This Later Became Part Of The Leeds And Liverpool Canal.
1742
Douglas Navigation Completed To Miry Lane Wigan.
1745
The Young Pretender - Bonnie Prince Charlie - Retreating From Manchester Stayed The Night In Wigan, At Walmesley House In Bishopgate.
1767
The Leeds And Liverpool Canal Was Projected At A Cost Of £260,000.
1770
Work Started On The Leeds And Liverpool Canal. A PlattBridger Enterprises Production
1771
Stage Coach Service Commenced From Wigan To Preston And Warrington.
1777
The Wigan To Liverpool Section Of The Leeds And Liverpool Canal Is Opened.
1783
The Fustian Tax On Cloth Manufacturing Repealed- The Whole Region Celebrates. (16th May)
1787
With No Heirs, Haigh Hall Changes Hands From The Bradshaighs To The Lindsay's (Earls Of Crawford And Balcarres).
1788
Haigh Ironworks Foundry, The Maker Of The Laxey Wheel On The Isle Of Man, Is Founded Itself By The 6th Earl Of Crawford And Balcarres, His Brother Robert Lindsay And James Corbett.
1795
The Bridgewater Canal Is Extended From Worsley To Leigh.
1796
The Wigan Dispensary Is Founded And This Gradually Develops Into The Infirmary.
1800
A Bad Winter Brings Famine And Riotin To The Streets Of Wigan.
1801
Wigan Borough Census Population 10,989.
1811
Wigan Borough Census Population 14,060.
1812
Luddites From Atherton Attack A New Mill In Westhoughton Smashing The Power Looms And Burning The Factory. Four People, One A Boy Of 14, Were Charged And Hanged At Lancaster.
1819
• Unspecified Rioting In Wigan Over Something Or Other.
• A Spur Of The Leeds Liverpool Canal Opens From Wigan To Leigh- Joining With The Bridgewater Canal.
1821
Wigan Borough Census Population 17,716.
1822
Two Roman Urns Containing Bones Were Found During Excavations For The Foundations Of The Wigan Gas Works.
1827
Work Begins On Building The Current Haigh Hall Using Stone From Parbold Quarry.
1827
The Worlds First Railway Death Occurs Just Outside Lowton When Liverpudlian MP William Huskisson Is Mown Down By George Stevensons 'The Rocket'. (15th September)
1828
The Worlds First Public Railway Between Leigh And Bolton Opens. (15th September)
1830
The First Miners Union- The Colliers Union Forms.
1831
• Wigan Borough Census Population 20,774.
• Wigan Members Of The Colliers Union Strike For Higher Pay.
1832
• The Fourteenth Charter Of Wigan Is Granted By King William IV. (16th February)
• Wigan Gets Its First Railway Line And Railway Station- Wigan North Western. (3rd September)
1835
Wigan Is Included In The Municipal Corporation Act And Becomes A Municipal Borough. (September 9th)
1836
The Fifteenth Charter Of Wigan Is Granted By King William IV. (10th June)
1837
A Number Of Various Bronze Roman Coins Are Discovered Near The Town Centre.
1838
The North Union Railway Between Wigan And Preston Fully Opens. This Now Forms Part Of The West Coast Mainline. (April 25)
1839
More Luddite Rioting, This Time In Leigh. It Occurred At The Old Site Of The Leigh Obelisk.
1840
Construction Of The Current Haigh Hall Finish.
1841
Wigan Borough Census Population 25,517.
1846
Restoration Of Wigan Parish Church Uncovers An Old Roman Alter Beneath The High Alter, Workmen Use It As Part Of The Tower Wall.
1848
• Wigan Parish Church Reopens After Restoration Work. (7th January)
• The Liverpool, Wigan And Bury Railway Line Fully Opens. (28th November)
1849
Wigan Parish Church Was Completely Rebuilt In The Original Style, Except For The Tower And Walmesley Chapel.
1850
A Rare Roman Coin Featuring Emperor Vitellius Is Found In The Mesnes- Known As 'The Glutton' For His Immense Greed He Only Ruled For A Few Months In AD 69- 10yrs Before Romans Arrived At Wigan.
1851
Wigan Borough Census Population 31,941.
1852
Riots In Scholes Largely Involving The Irish Element In The Population Severely Tax The Forces Of Law And Order.
1853
• Wigan Observer Established. Until Now The Only Local Paper Was The Wigan Times. (1st January)
• Wigan Is Given Its Own Health District Under The Public Health Act. (10th June)
1855
• Wigan To Southport Railway Line Opened. (9th April)
• Wigan Council Takes Over Wigan Water Works. (22nd June)
1856
• Wigan Cemetery Opened. (1st September)
• Lower Ince Cemetery Opened.
1857
The Wigan School Of Mining Opens.
1861
Wigan Borough Census Population 37,658.
1865
Wigan Coal And Iron Company Founded. (1st July)
1867
Town Council Meets In The New Borough Court. (18th December)
1868
Moot Hall, Wigan's Old Town Hall, Is Demolished.
1870
Foundation Stone Of The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary Laid. (26th December)
1871
Wigan Borough Census Population 39,110.
1872
• Coop's Clothing Factory Opened In Dorning Street.
• Wigan Rugby League Football Club Formed, Plays Its First Game At Folley Field.
1873
The Prince Of Wales Opened The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary. (4th June)
1874
Wigan Council Decide To Take Over The Gas Works, It Is Bought By Them The Next Year.
1876
The Public Libraries Act Is Adopted In Wigan. (27th October)
1877
• The New Market Hall Was Opened By The Mayor Alderman Mayhew.
• Wigan Free Library Is Presented To The Town By Thomas Taylor. (16th October)
1878
• Wigan Free Library Is Opened By Mayor Alderman Mayhew. (6th May)
• The Mesnes Park Was Opened By The High Sheriff Of Lancashire N. Eckersley, Esq. (6th August)
1880
Wigan First Steam Tram Comes Into Service That July.
1881
• Wigan Borough Census Population 48,192.
• Public Baths And Wash-Houses Acts Adopted By Wigan Council. (2nd February)
1882
Wigan Public Baths Opened By Mayor Hopwood. (29th May)
1884
A Time Capsule Is Buried Under The Wigan Drill Hall. (21st June)
1887
Wigan's Mayoral Garments Are Changed From Purple Cloth To Scarlet Silk A Sign Of Wigan's Growing Wealth And Importance. (8th November)
1888
• Parliament Announces Wigan Would Become A County Borough. (8th June)
• Wigan Announces Its Plans For A "Greater Wigan" To Take In All Out Lying Districts. (3rd October)
1889
• Wigan Becomes A County Borough. (1st April)
• Wigan's New Sanatorium Is Opened. (10th October)
1890
Wigan Philharmonic Society Formed. (25th September)
1892
Wigan Central Train Station Opens. The River Douglas Was Diverted To Accommodate It.
1893
• A Soup Kitchen Is Opened In Leigh To Feed Starving Miners.
• The Wigan Corporation Act Is Given Royal Assent And Wigan Corporation Comes Into Being.
1894
William Santus And Wife Ellen Start Making Home-Made Mint Balls In Their Acton Street Home.
1895
Leigh Rugby League Football Club Forms.
1897
Victoria Park In Ashton-In-Makebelieve Is Opened. (24th July)
1898
The Prince Of Wales (Soon To Become King Edward VII) Visits Wigan. (18th May)
1899
Leigh Receives A Charter From Queen Victoria Making It A Municipal Borough Like Wigan- Before This Leigh Was England's Largest UDC. (2nd August)
1900
• Foundation Stone Of Wigan's Electric Light And Power Station Laid. (4th January)
• Wigan's Electric Light And Power Station Is Switched On & Begins Powering Wigan. (19th December)
1901
• Wigan Borough Census Population 89,152.
• Wigan's First Narrow Gauge Electric Trams Come Into Service. (25th January)
1902
• Leigh Gets Its First Electric Trams. (28th September)
• Wigan Corporation Buys The Wigan & District Tramways Undertaking. (30th September)
1904
• Pemberton District Added To The Wigan Borough. (21st April)
• Wigan's First Standard Gauge Electric Trams Come Into Service. (24th July)
1904
• Last Steam Tram Ran On The Orrell Section Of The Wigan Tramlines. (26th September)
1904
• Buffalo Bill And His Wild West Show Arrive To Perform Near Leigh, 700 Performers Some Of Which Actually Fought At Custers Last Stand In 1876 Entertain 10,000 Spectators. (8th October)
1905
Extensive Mining Subsidence Creates Pennington Flash.
1906
Ashton's Carnegie Library Opens.
1907
Pemberton's Carnegie Library Opens.
1908
At About 5pm The Maypole Colliery Disaster In Abram Kills 76 Miners When Gases Explode With Such Violence Buildings At The Pit Head Are Levelled, It Is Felt Across The Borough. (18th August)
1909
Wigan's First Motorised Fire Engine Comes Into Service. (12th August)
1910
• The Earl Of Derby Unveils The Statue Of Sir Francis Sharp Powell In Mesnes Park. (19th November)
• One Of Coal Mining's Biggest Ever Disasters 350 Men Die In Pretoria Pit Near Atherton. (21st December)
1911
Wigan's Parish Grounds Are Opened To The Public For The First Time.
1912
• 31,932 Miners Recorded Working In Wigan.
• Wigan Miners Join A Lancastrian Strike Against Pay Cuts. (1st March)
1913
Their Majesties King George & Queen Mary Visit Wigan And Surrounding Towns. (10th July)
1917
A Workshop For The Blind Is Opened In Wigan.
1918
A Zeppelin Drops 27 Bombs On Wigan. (12th April)
1921
The Prince Of Wales (Soon To Become King Edward VIII) Visits Wigan. (8th July)
1922
• A New Coat Of Arms Granted To Wigan.
• Wigan YMCA Opened By HRH Princess Helena Victoria. (5th December)
1923
Wigan's Last Narrow Gauge Tram Runs To Aspull. (15th June)
1925
Trolley Bus Service Begins, Taking People To Martland Mill. (7th May)
1926
• 137 Silver Roman Coins Are Discovered In Boars Head.
• Wiganers Are Amongst The 1st To Break The General Strike Earning The Name Humble Pie Eaters.
1927
Total Eclipse Of Sun Visible In Wigan And Across Lancashire. (27th June)
1928
Wigan Miners Get Their First Paid Holiday. (1st August)
1929
Wigan's Electoral Role Includes Women For The First Time. (1st May)
1930
• The Original Wigan Pier Oft A Music Hall Joke Is Demolished. Nowadays Its Replacement Is Supporting The Wiganese Economy.
1930
• Wigan's First Electric Traffic Signals At The Standishgate & Mesnes St Junction. (23rd July)
• Wigan's First Petrol Omnibus Service, Takes People To Ashton-In-Makebelieve. (1st December)
1931
The Last Electric Tram Ran Along The Standish And Orrell Sections Of The Wigan Tramline. (28th March)
1932
• Wigan Athletic Formed.
• The Prince Of Wales Visits Wigan And Opens Two Clubs For The Unemployed. (23rd November)
1933
The Mayor Opens Wigan's Automatic Telephone Exchange.
1934
• Wigan Beats Warrington 32-19 In A Rugby Match At Shelbourne Park, Dublin. (17th May)
• HM King George V Opens The East Lancashire Road Which Runs To The South Of Wigan. (18th July)
1935
• The 30mph Speed Limit Is Implemented In Wigan. (12th March)
• The First Belisha Beacon Crossing Installed In Wigan. (4th July)
1936
Shops On Standishgate Suddenly Collapse From Extensive Subsidence. (10th August)
1937
Wigan Cattle Market Is Opened (26th April)
1938
• Their Majesties King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Visit Wigan And Surrounding Towns. (20th May)
• Newton-In-Makerfield UDC Decides To Change Its Name To Newton-Le-Willows. (20th December)
1939
Newton-In-Makerfield Becomes Newton-Le-Willows, (Previously The Name Of Old East Newton Centred On The High Street), To Avoid Confusion With Nearby Ashton-In-Makerfield.
1940
• Wigan Suffers Its Heaviest Snow Falls Ever Recorded On The 27th January.
• The 27th Earl Of Crawford And Balcarres Dies Without An Heir To Haigh Hall. (8th March)
1941
HRH The Duchess Of Kent Visits Wigan. (24th April)
1942
Wigan's First British Restaurant Opened. (12th January)
1944
• Wigan's Home Guard Disbanded. (3rd December)
• Wigan Shook By An Earthquake. (30th December)
1945
Their Majesties King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Visit Wigan To See Pagefield Ironworks. (7th March)
1945
In The Open Land Between Abram & Platt Bridge A Chasm Opens Beneath Dolly The Train And Its Driver Ludovic Berry, Plunging Them Both To The Bottom Of An Old Shaft Where They Still Remain. (30th April)
1946
• Wigan's 700th Mayor Is Elected. (9th November)
• Nationalised Coal Board (NCB) Comes Into Power- Beginning Of The End For Coal Mining In Wigan.
1947
Wigan Corporation Bought Haigh Hall And Plantations From The Earl Of Crawford And Balcarres For £18,000. (11th March)
1948
H.J. Heinz Arrives In Wigan And Starts Production In A Rented Factory At Standish
1949
Boars Head Railway Station On The Wigan To Preston Line Is Closed. (31st January)
1950
• George Orwell (Real Name Eric Blair) The Author Of 'The Road To Wigan Pier' Dies. (21st January)
• Douglas Bank Colliery Is Closed Down By The NCB. (31st December)
1952
Wigan's Mobile Library Comes Into Service Carrying 2500 Books. (29th September)
1954
Queen Elizabeth And Prince "Shoot The Buggers" Philip Visit Wigan And Open The John McCurdy Hall.
1955
The Ministry Of Housing & Local Government Calls For Wide Spread Slum Clearances Many Houses Including The One George Orwell Lodged In Will Be Knocked Down In Wigan.
1956
• The Mayor Opens Wigan's New £46,000 Water Works.
• Wigan Hippodrome (King Street) Is Gutted By Fire And Closed, It Is Soon Demolished. (21st April)
1957
Police From The Lancashire Constabulary Catch Their First Speeders In Wigan Using A Radar Gun And Are Fined A Whopping £2.
1959
• The Queen Mum Opens H.J. Heinz's New £7,000,000 Factory At Kitt Green. (21st May)
• Maypole Colliery In Abram And Victoria Colliery In Standish Are Shut Down By The NCB. (30th May)
1960
Mesnes Colliery Is Closed Down By The NCB.
1962
Wigan Junction Colliery Near Bickershaw Is Closed Down By The NCB. (May)
1963
Dr Beeching Urges The Closure Of A Number Of Railway Stations & Lines Around Wigan. (29th March)
1964
• Wigan Central Station Closed.
• Roman Catholic Churches In Gods Country Read Mass In English For The First Time. (29th November)
1966
• Wigan's £800,000 International Olympic Swimming Pool Is Opened On The Old Pavilion Site.
• NCB Closes Summersales Colliery, Winstanley, Which At 54ft Deep Has Lancashire's Shallowest Shaft.
1968
Kathleen Winstanley- Miss Wigan Goes On To Win The Miss UK Award In Blackpool, Judges Include Tommy Cooper And Englebert Humperdinck.
1970
Astley Green Colliery Is Closed Down, Local Officials Manage To Convince The NCB To Spare The Pit Head And Engine House- Containing The Largest Steam Winding Engine Ever Installed In England.
1972
The Last Regular Canal Traffic On The Leeds Liverpool Canal, From Plank Lane Colliery To Westwood Power Station, Ends.
1973
Wigan Central Station Demolished.
1974
Wigan County Borough Abolished, Wigan And Leigh Boroughs Merge To Form Wigan MBC Part Of The New Metropolitan County Of Greater Manchester. (1st April)
1977
Windy Arbour Colliery Near Winstanley Is Closed Down By The NCB.
1978
• Wigan Athletic Admitted Into The National Football League.
• Bispham Hall, Built Around 1560 For The Family Of The Same Name, Is Gutted By Fire.
1979
• Ten Men Are Killed In An Explosion At Golborne Colliery.
• The Three Sisters Recreational Area, Stretching From Bryn To Bryn Gates Is Opened.
1980
The Legendary And Internationally Renowned Wigan Casino Club Closes.
1982
Excavations In The Wiend Discover The Remains Of An Old Wooden Roman Building Most Probably A Warehouse.
1983
Wigan Hospice Opens Its Doors.
1984
The Wigan Branch Of Woolies Closes- Town Centre Trade Will Never Manage To Recover.
1986
• HM The Queen Opened Wigan Pier.
• Greater Manchester Is Abolished Granting Wigan MBC Further Powers. (1st April)
1988
Wigan Officially Twinned With Angers In France.
1989
• Westwood Power Station Demolished.
• The NCB Close Down Golborne Colliery.
1991
Princess Diana Officially Opened The Galleries Shopping Centre.
1992
• The History Shop On Library Street Opens. (11th May)
• Wigan's Last Colliery In Bickershaw Closes Down.
1993
Wigan Athletic Are Relegated For The First Time Ever From Division Two To Division Three.
1994
• With No More Collieries Left To Close Down The NCB (National Coal Board) Disbands.
• Wigan Rugby League Club Win The RL Challenge Cup For The Seventh Year In Succession.
1995
Harry Bostock Finds A Stone Age Skull In Up Holland. (29th July)
1997
Wigan Athletic Are Promoted To Nationwide Division Two.
1999
The Warriors Legendary Home Ground, Central Park, Is Sold Off And Is Knocked Down To Make Way For A New Tesco Hypermarket.
2003
Wigan Athletic Are Promoted To Nationwide Division One For The First Time. (19th April)
• In 1628 A Local-Lad Was Convicted Of Trying To Convert Protestants To Roman Catholicism, And Was Hung Drawn And Quartered At Lancaster Castle. Someone Took His Hand Back To His Mum Who Gave It To St Oswald's Church In Ashton-In-Makebelieve. The Now Somewhat Greeny Brown 'Holy Hand Of St Edmund Arrowsmith' Is Still On Display There, In A Glass Case.
Famous Wigan food products include Heinz baked beans, Pataks Indian foods, Potters herbal remedies, Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, and De Roma ice cream.
Other well known Wigan firms include Girobank, the Tote, JJB Sports, US glass fibre manufacturers PPG, and carpet firm Milliken. Wigan is also the home of the North West Tourist Board and the Tidy Britain Group.
Once the centre of the Lancashire coalfield - in the late 1800s there were 1,000 pit shafts within five miles of the town centre - Wigan no longer has any collieries. The last pit, Bickershaw, closed in 1992.
Wigan was a key battle ground during the Civil War in the 17th century, and Cromwell's troops passed through the town twice. The town stayed loyal to the king, and was later rewarded with a ceremonial sword. Until local government reorganisation its motto was 'Ancient and Loyal'.
The Verve, whose split was announced recently became Wigan's most famous musical export since ... George Formby! The band were all from the Wigan area and met while at Winstanley College, a sixth form centre on the outskirts of town.
Other notable Wigan bands include the Railway Children and folk-rockers the Tansads. Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra is known the world over, while Andy Prior - dubbed the new Sinatra - owes his success to his formative years with WYJO. Nearby Leigh - part of the borough of Wigan - is the birthplace of Georgie Fame.
In the 1960s and 70s, Wigan Casino was the spiritual home of 'Northern Soul' music, attracting thousands to its famous all-nighters. The casino burnt down in the early 1980s. In the 90s the town gained a reputation as a centre for jazz and now hosts an international jazz festival every summer.
Well-known Wigan-born figures include entertainers George Formby, Roy Kinnear, Ted Ray and Frank Randle; miners' leader Joe Gormley; and former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Sir James Anderton. Actor Sir Ian McKellen grew up in the town in a house opposite Mesnes Park.
Contemporary Wiganers of note include Kay Burley of Sky News; DJ, journalist and TV film critic Stuart Maconie; former Hollyoaks actress Davinia Murphy (who played Jude Cuningham), and Coronation Street's Georgia Taylor (Toyah Battersby) and Eva Pope (barmaid Tanya Pooley). Local MP Ian McCartney is currently a high flier in Tony Blair's New Labour government as Trade Minister.
Wigan Rugby League FC are the UK's top club side. In 1990/91 they won all the major trophies, and hold the record for the number of successive cup and league wins. In soccer, Wigan Athletic have moved into a new 25,000 seat stadium at the town's Robin Park, which they share with the Wigan Warriors rugby club. It has been paid for by...
Wigan Athletic's multi-millionaire chairman Dave Whelan, the boss of JJB Sports, whose phenomenally successful chain of sportswear stores is one of the UK's retailing success stories.
Literary links include George Orwell, whose unflattering portrait of the town at the height of the depression in the 1930s, The Road to Wigan Pier, angered many, and American thriller writer Martin Cruz Smith, whose 1996 novel Rose was set in Victorian Wigan.
For a town with an industrial image, Wigan's countryside is a constant source of amazement to visitors. The borough has three country parks (including Haigh), more Sites of Special Scientific Interest than anywhere else in the region, and a wealth of wildlife and rare plants.
Wigan Pier, once a musical hall joke, has been restored as one of the UK's top heritage attractions, winning 15 national tourism awards for its portrait of local life at the turn of the century.
The name is thought to have first been used by George Formby Senior, a popular local entertainer in his own right. It described not a seaside pier but a small jetty, projecting over the side of the Leeds-Liverpool canal, which was used for tipping coal from railway trucks into barges.
Thomas Beecham first manufactured his famous pills in Wigan. Marks and Spencer was born in Wigan when Michael Marks joined forces with Thomas Spencer in 1894. For three years the town was the firm's headquarters.
In 1698 travel writer Celia Fiennes described Wigan as a 'pretty market town built of stone and brick.' Almost three hundred years later the American travel writer Bill Bryson wrote: "Such is Wigan's perennially poor reputation that I was truly astounded to find it has a handsome and well-maintained town centre".
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Wigan is twinned with the French city of Angers, in the Loire Valley. The two councils exchange 'ambassadresses' every year.
Wigan Metropolitan Borough is the 9th largest Metropolitan district in the country covering 77 square miles. In population terms the Borough is the 12th biggest in the country at around 310,000. Wigan itself has around 90,000 residents.
Wigan is the most westerly borough in the county of Greater Manchester, lying halfway between Liverpool and Manchester - although most residents still think of themselves as Lancastrians.
Haigh Hall is the ancestral home of the Lindsay family, Earls of Crawford and Balcarres. The present hall was built between 1827 and 1840.
Haigh woodlands were laid out in the 1860s, giving work to unemployed Wiganers during the cotton famine caused by the American civil war. In 1947 the hall and its grounds were bought by the then Wigan Corporation and it is now run by Wigan Council's leisure services department.
Wigan has one of the country's most famous swimming clubs - the Wigan Wasps - responsible for training scores of top swimmers, like former Olympic medallist June Croft.
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And finally.... what's the link between an old-style red telephone box and Wigan's war memorial in the grounds of the Parish Church? The answer is that they were both designed by the same architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (who was also responsible for Liverpool Cathedral).
Lancashire Dialect
In 1987, proud Lancastrian E. Foote had the following to say about the Lancashire dialect..........
As little as twenty years ago one could have written about the Lancashire dialect as it actually existed, now it is more accurate to use the past tense because the dialect has all but vanished. True, the accent remains, but that is a different thing. An accent is merely a way of pronouncing words; a dialect is a distinct variation of language itself, with its roots in the past, fashioned out of local character, customs, habits and industry. Birmingham has not got a dialect, nor has Liverpool, nor has London; they all have accents of their own and little else. But Lancashire speech is a real dialect, rich in historical connections.
The words listed below which were in daily use by a majority of Lancashire people until a short while ago indicate just how old our dialect is:-
Brid (bird) - Anglo-Saxon
Clough (wooded vale) - Middle English
Deg (to sprinkle) - Icelandic
Fain (glad) - Anglo-Saxon
Flit (to move) - Middle English
Lake (to play) - Anglo-Saxon
Mun (must) - Icelandic
Thrutch (to push) - Anglo-Saxon
It is astonishing that so many words should have remained in regular use in one district from Anglo-Saxon times. In the whole of standard English only one word has retained the Anglo-Saxon method of forming the plural and that is 'ox' with its plural 'oxen'. In Lancashire we have two others: 'een' (eyes) and 'shoon' (shoes).
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WIRRAL BOROUGH
Wirral Metropolitan Borough has a population of about 311,235 (2004 estimate) in an area of 60 square miles (155 km²). It faces Liverpool over the River Mersey to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and the River Dee to the west. To the south it borders the borough of Ellesmere Port and Neston, in Cheshire.
Major towns and villages in the borough include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, Heswall, Hoylake, and the model village of Port Sunlight.
Set between the rivers Dee and Mersey, the Wirral Peninsula flows into Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea, and is blessed with stunning natural splendour and a rich heritage. Each year there are major events such as the International Guitar Festival, Wirral's Food & Drink Festival, and one of the largest 'FREE' events in the country, the Wirral Show. A wonderfully diverse and uniquely charming destination, Wirral has impressive heritage, unspoilt coastline, rural walks, quality sports and a rich nightlife - something for everyone to enjoy.
Wirral's Heritage
At the end of the twelfth Century, Birchen Head Priory stood on a lonely headland of birch trees, facing open countryside and surrounded by the Mersey. It was from here that the Benedictine Monks who operated the first Mersey ferry in 1330 were granted a passage to Liverpool by a charter from Edward III.
Today, the Priory stands in the heart of Birkenhead, sympathetically restored to preserve its medieval mystery, bearing witness to Wirral's 800 year heritage of industrial, cultural and social development.
The original ferry service, now famous throughout the world, put Wirral on the map as part of the King's highway, yet for centuries the peninsula remained a cluster of smallholdings and hamlets. It wasn't until the 1820s that steam-powered boats improved communication and opened up Wirral's Mersey coast for industrialisation.
Industrialisation and the importance of Wirral's docks brought a raft of new-fangled inventions: you can see the impact of industrialisation and ship building on Wirral's Mersey waterfront. Follow the heritage trail through Birkenhead's docks; this was the first town in the country to have a street tram, and you can still see the 'giant grasshopper' at Shore Road Pumping Station, which pumped water from the Mersey Railway tunnel - the world's first under-water railway.
Another important development was the building in 1888 of the now famous industrial village of Port Sunlight, designed to house employees at the original firm of Lever Brothers, now part of the Unilever group. The village, which turned Lord Leverhulme's philanthropic dream into reality provides workers with all they need; employment, housing and entertainment and formed the basis of the "Lifestyle Wirral" ethic.
Wirral is a metropolitan borough in Merseyside, North West England, which occupies the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, more commonly known as Wirral.
http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/index.php has a video of kite flying
http://wirralwideweb.co.uk/map.html map of Wirral. This week goes to our very own and most recently winner of our POTW , I give you Julia (Pixie) Bond.
I was born in Wigan, Lancashire UK in 1967. My Father was a BoilerMaker and my Mother a housewife. I am the middle child of 5. I have an older brother and sister and a younger brother and sister.
When I was around 3 yrs old my parents brought us to live in Wirral which is the other side of the River Mersey from Liverpool and I have lived here ever since.
I have always suffered ill health after being born with a lung condition and I am registered disabled.
I spend most of my time writing. I am a published Author, Poet and Singer/Lyricist. I have also written scripts for TV.
You can see some of my work HERE
I came to the internet to share my writing and then slowly became involved in the plight of our worlds children. As a survivor of abuse and the Mother of a survivor I began to council others who have suffered. I then became involved in the search for missing children. I make regular posts of cases in various places on the net, exposing the pictures of the missing children and also pictures of wanted sex-offenders in the hope that someone somewhere will recognise one of them.
I adore children, my husband Degs and I have seven and I believe as an adult and as a parent it is my duty to protect all children.
I don't really do much in the way of business but I am part of just one BIG business which is about to launch, EVOLUTION
If You're not in it, you should be!
