5th January 2009 - by Noel Keane
How to Get to Wigan
There are many reasons why Wigan is a popular place for the
visitor. It could be sport for Wigan Warriors in Rugby League,
the Latics for a football fixture or Orrell for Rugby Union.
Wigan is the “homeland” of Northern Soul and had many thousands
of visitors to the world famous Wigan Casino in the seventies.
It could be that you may be visiting for the heritage of Wigan
or to visit the legendary Wigan Pier. One thing is certain;
there are many ways to get to Wigan.
Fully blessed with a full Motorway network, the M6 runs
alongside Wigan and the home of Heinz Baked Beans can easily be
seen when travelling along the M6 motorway. The M58 is a less
widely known Motorway but leads to the Northern end of
Liverpool and is a popular motorway for locals on their way to
Southport for a day out at the seaside. It also leads to
Skelmersdale where there is a plethora of industries housed on
the industrial areas. The M62 passes closely by and can be used
for the centre of Liverpool or Manchester in the other
direction, miss Manchester and you will continue over the
Pennines and end up in Yorkshire, for Huddersfield, Halifax and
Leeds.
Wigan has two railway stations, there used to be three! Today
the famous Wigan Wallgate is used to travel to and from
Manchester and Liverpool as well as a lot of smaller stations
in the immediate area. The main railway station is the Wigan
North Western which is almost equidistant between Glasgow and
London and can be reached by train in approximately two and a
half hours. The geography of Wigan is fantastic as the town is
also equidistant between Liverpool and Manchester thus making
the town a very popular commuting point.
The canal is another method of travel and the Leeds to
Liverpool canal snakes around Wigan and over recent times has
seen an enormous transformation. Famous for the Victorian times
and it’s industrial heritage the canal has always played a very
important role for Wigan and indeed, its banks are also home to
the world famous Wigan Pier and is still today a visitor
attraction for visitors from all over the world.
The canal also passes by the golf course at Haigh Hall, a
wonderful visitor attraction for the town, where the golf
course has a couple of holes that run by the banks of the
canal. Many a local kid has spent their summer holidays
“rescuing” the errant golf balls from the “cut” and earning
their spending money by selling the balls back to the
golfers.
Today the canal is also home to an increased number of people
that have escaped the rat race, sold up and bought a houseboat.
There are a number of marinas around Wigan and these have
developed over the years into small communities that share this
common interest and that also travel the canal visiting the
numerous canal side hostelries around the area that provide
some fantastic food and “water” to the travelers.
So there we are, many ways to get to Wigan and whilst there is
no airport, Liverpool, Manchester and Blackpool are all close
by and accessible within an hour, well by car and train, the
canal may take a bit longer!!
Source: http://www.articlesabroad.com
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