Tag Archives: wigan

There is more to Wigan than Orwell’s famous Wigan Pier

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WHEN WE VISITED Wigan in Lancashire in 2022, we saw hoardings that advertised the forthcoming opening of an “artisan deli”, and wondered what George Orwell would have made of it.

We returned to Wigan Pier in September 2025, and headed for the site of the proposed artisan deli. However, it has not been built and the signs advertising the plans to build it are no longer to be seen. The area around the Pier looks similar to what it did in 2022. The warehouses that were to have been redeveloped stand empty. Peering through their windows all that could be seen were huge, dusty empty spaces.

During our second visit to Wigan, we took a stroll in the town’s Mesnes Park. This beautifully maintained park was laid out in 1878 on glebe land (terrain set aside to provide income and support for a parish priest). Apart from a lovely pond, lawns, and carefully tended flower beds, the park contains several interesting features. One of these is the octagonal pavilion built in 1880. Now containing a café, it stants on a raised mound, and can be approached by elegant stone staircases. In fron of its main entrance, there is a statue of a soldier, which is part of a memorial to those men of Wigan who fought in the 2nd Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902). And a few steps down from this, there is the elegant cast-iron Coalbrookdale Fountain. This is a replica of one which stood in the park until 1921. Near the pavilion, there is a 10-sided Victorian bandstand.

Between the Pavilion and the main entrance to the park, there is a statue of a seated man. It depicts the Conservative politician Sir Francis Sharp Powell (1827-1911). He held a seat in the House of Commons from 1863 until 1910.   He was born in Wigan, but represented several different constituencies during his long parliamentary career. The bronze statue in the park was created by Ernest George Gillick (1874-1951), and erected in Wigan in 1910.

Just over two miles northeast of central Wigan, lies Haigh Hall (built between 1827 and 1840), which was undergoing restoration in 2025. It is surrounded by Haigh Woodland Park, which is a vast parkland area containing a variety of leisure facilities including eateries, adventure playgrounds, a golf course, a mini-golf course, and a fine walled garden. It is hoped that when the restoration of the Hall is completed in 2028, it will provide opportunities for a whole range of activities for visitors.

Our second visit to Wigan has shown us that there is much more to the place than Orwell’s famous Wigan Pier.

The road to Wigan Pier and …

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WIGAN PIER WAS made famous by the author George Orwell, who published his “The Road to Wigan Pier” in 1936. Recently, we were staying in Widnes (Cheshire), which is not far from Wigan, a town that was in Lancashire when Orwell wrote his book. So, we decided to see Wigan Pier for ourselves.

A quick glance at a map reveals that Wigan is not on the sea, which is where most piers are to be found. The town is inland, and the so-called Wigan Pier is neither a pier nor on the seaside. It is on a part of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in central Wigan. It was originally a landing stage where locally mined coal was loaded onto barges.

The name ‘Wigan Pier’ might have originated when a train carrying excursioners to the seaside was delayed at Wigan and they saw a structure that looked like a pier, as the following (from http://www.wiganarchsoc.co.uk/content/Projects/WiganPier.htm#Folklore )  described:

“…not long after leaving Wallgate Station, an excursion train from Wigan to Southport, was delayed on the outskirts of Wigan and passengers saw a long wooden structure that reminded them of Southport Pier. This structure would have been the 1,050 yard long wooden gantry … It was built in the late 1880s and carried a double line of rails from Lamb and Moore’s Newtown Colliery high across the River Douglas, the canal and the Wigan to Southport Railway line, to Meadows Colliery by Frog Lane … It certainly would have been easy to see this wooden gantry from a train heading towards Southport.”

I cannot say whether or not this is the true origin of the name, but it is a good story.

We took a road to Wigan Pier and after going around the town’s one-way system and several roundabouts, passing a huge Asda store a couple of times, we arrived at a series of old warehouses labelled Wigan Pier, and parked next to the canal. The Orwell visitor centre, which we were led to believe existed, is no more. A passer-by, with whom we chatted, told us that any memorials to Orwell and his book had disappeared a few years ago. Likewise, the collieries: these have been closed down long ago. Where they were there are housing estates, factories, and shops.

The warehouses close to where the coal used to be loaded many years ago, were inaccessible. They are being redeveloped to create a leisure ‘hub’. This will include (according to hoardings surrounding the old buildings): a beer tap house; conferences; live music; canal tours; festivals; a food hall; and an ‘artisan deli’. I am not sure what is meant by an artisan deli, but whatever it is, I am sure that should George Orwell ever make his way back along the road to Wigan Pier, he would be truly astonished by it.