For the 300,000+ residents of Wigan Borough, the phrase ‘there’s no place like home’ is much more than just words. It represents the pride they have for their communities and the unique spirit that personifies our neighbourhoods.
Nestled in a central location within the North West region, with excellent transport links to neighbouring major cities, there’s a whole lot on offer to visitors that you may not have associated with Wigan Borough before.
Along with two main town centres; Wigan and Leigh, there are also 12 district centres and dozens more townships and villages. Across the board there’s a mix of independent shops, markets and eateries providing plenty for shoppers to get their teeth into.
With 70 per cent of the borough designated as green space, our beautiful Greenheart offers stunning landscapes and the opportunity to explore. It includes beautiful parks, woodlands, wetlands and canals – most notably Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan, the Pennington Flash Local Nature Reserve and the Wigan Flashes Nature Reserve.
If you’re not familiar with the musical movement that is gripping the nation, spearheaded by bands like The Lathums, The Stanleys and Lottery Winners – you need to be. And that’s before we even start talking about Northern Soul, George Formby and the Wigan Jazz Festival.
For visitors, The Museum of Wigan Life, The Turnpike Centre and Leigh Town Hall Archives provide an insight into the borough’s fascinating cultural history.
Sporting heritage is also a huge part of what makes this borough so special. From Olympic athletes to rugby (both union and league) legends and FA Cup winners, sport is part of Wigan Borough’s DNA. At various locations, there’s opportunities to take part in water-sports, high ropes climbing and other adventurous activities that offer something different to the mainstream sporting scene.
View the following map to find the location of all the towns and districts in Wigan borough.
A green borough