Wigan

Wigan is a town in the British county of Greater Manchester. It lies on the River Douglas west of Manchester and is an industrial city with metal, textile, and chemical industries. The city has about 87,100 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2004) and is the administrative center of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan with more than 305,000 inhabitants.

History

Over 2000 years ago the Celts settled on the present area. Later, the Romans built fortifications there and called the place Coccion.

On August 26, 1246 Wigan became a town. In the Middle Ages, the city was an important trade center in the primarily metal was traded.

Wigan has long been a site of heavy industry; the Wigan Coal and Iron Company had its headquarters here and operated several coal mines in Wigan and the surrounding area, including the coal mine Clock Face ( mine ), in nearby St Helens. In Wigan there is still a University of Mining and Technology.

Worth seeing is the well-known because of its Norman tower " All Saints Church ".

George Orwell put the city in 1937 a literary monument with the book The Road to Wigan Pier.

Stations

Wigan has two railway stations on main lines. The Wigan North Western railway station was originally taken in 1838 by the North Union Railway at this point in operation and served the route between Wigan and Preston and is therefore now part of the West Coast Main Line. However, the train station is not, as one might think on the northwestern edge of the city, but hence its name infers that the London and North Western Railway took him in 1846 in its route network. The Wigan North Western Railway Station is just like the 100 m away from him Wigan Wallgate railway station on the southern edge of the town center of Wigan. The Wigan Wallgate station was set up in 1848 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and is used to connect to the stations Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria and Southport.

Sports

From the season 2005-2013 the club Wigan Athletic played in the Premier League. 2013 he was also the first English Cup. In 1995, until the takeover by the local entrepreneur David Whelan, the club still played in the English third division.

Sons and daughters of the town

  • Gerrard Winstanley (1609-1676), Protestant reformer and political activist of the 17th century, leader of the True Levellers
  • George Formby, Jr. (1904-1961) musician and actor
  • Roy Kinnear (1934-1988), actor
  • Terence Wynn ( b. 1946 ), politician
  • Fran Cotton ( b. 1947 ), rugby players
  • Limahl (born 1958 ), pop singer
  • Greg Ellis ( born 1968 ), actor
  • Richard Ashcroft (born 1971 ), musician
  • Simon Tong (born 1971 ), musician
  • Simon Jones (born 1972 ), musician
  • Christian Burns ( born 1974 ), musician
  • Holly Wellin ( born 1986 ), fashion model
  • Richard Handley (* 1990), cyclist
  • Jason Lowe (* 1991), football player
Willard Wigan Post town Regions of England Administrative counties of England Preston, Lancashire Manchester Piccadilly Station Manchester Victoria Station Wigan Athletic F.C. Terry Wynn Greg Ellis (actor) Simon Jones (musician)
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