Wigan Tourist Information

Wigan, in the The Metropolitan Borough of the same name, lies to the extreme west of Manchester.

Wigan has long been known as a coal producing area. The first coal mine was established here in 1450 and at its peak there were 1000 pit shafts within 5 miles of Wigan town centre.

During the Industrial Revolution Wigan's excellent canal network resulted in a dramatic economic expansion in the area and a rapid rise in the population.

Wigan Pier, a major trading stop on the Leeds-Liverpool canal, was made famous by the writer George Orwell. In his book, 'The Road to Wigan Pier', Orwell highlighted the terrible working and living conditions of the local coal miners during the 1930s.

Today all the coal mines have gone and in the past few years the 2000 acres of dereliction they created has been cleared and redeveloped. The area's numerous slag heaps have been been replaced by landscaping and green developments and the ancient town of Wigan now has many attractions.

Wigan Pier can still be visited but the tourist attraction itself is closed.