Town in Greater Manchester, England
Wigan
Wigan Pier was a music-hall punchline long before Orwell made it famous. The town went on to give the world pies, northern soul and an FA Cup that came with relegation.
Key information
- County
- Greater Manchester
- Nation
- England
- Known for
- Wigan Pier, pies, rugby league, the Wigan Casino and northern soul
- What locals are called
- Wiganers (nicknamed "pie eaters")
- Famous people
- George Formby, Roy Kinnear, Shaun Edwards
- Football clubs
- Wigan Athletic (FA Cup winners 2013)
About Wigan
The pier that never took a single paddler
Wigan Pier is famous, but it is nowhere near the sea. The name began as a joke. Music-hall comedians, George Formby's father among them, loved a gag about a seaside resort with no sea. The real "pier" was a humble wooden staging on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, where coal was tipped from wagons into barges. Then came George Orwell. He spent February and March 1936 lodging with miners' families and wrote The Road to Wigan Pier, published in 1937. By then the pier itself had been taken apart, but the name stuck for good. Today the canal-side Wigan Pier Quarter has pubs, restored warehouses and the towpath. The canal climbs through the Wigan Flight, a run of 21 locks completed in 1816, a serious bit of Georgian engineering.
Why Wiganers are called pie eaters
Ask a Wiganer what they're called and you may get "pie eater" with a grin. The usual story goes back to the 1926 miners' strike. Hungry colliers, the tale goes, went back to work and were mocked as pie eaters, and the label turned into a badge of honour. Whatever the truth, Wigan has made good on the name. The pie-in-a-barm-cake combination, with a barm being the local word for a bread roll, is sometimes jokingly called a Wigan kebab. The World Pie Eating Championship is held in the town, and there are plenty of local bakers to supply it. The town's sweet tooth has its own landmark too. Uncle Joe's Mint Balls were first made in Wigan in 1898 by Ellen Santus in her kitchen, and they are still a staple of old-fashioned sweet shops.
Eight in a row: Wigan's rugby league dynasty
Wigan is a rugby league town through and through. The Warriors won the Challenge Cup eight years running, from 1988 to 1995. That is a run that no other club has matched in the modern game. The club's greats have become household names in the sport. Shaun Edwards, who grew up in the town, was one of the stars of that all-conquering side. He later became a top defence coach in rugby union. The Warriors share their stadium with the town's football club, which is unusual in English sport. It means one ground can host the town's whole sporting life.
The Latics' strangest season
Wigan Athletic only joined the Football League in 1978, when they were voted in to replace Southport. For decades they were a small club in the shadow of the rugby side. Then came 2013. Under Roberto Martinez, the Latics beat Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley in the FA Cup final, with Ben Watson heading the winner in injury time. Days later they were relegated from the Premier League. They were the first club to win the FA Cup and go down in the same season. The man behind the rise was owner Dave Whelan, the JJB Sports founder, who had himself played in an FA Cup final in 1960 and broken his leg doing it.
All-nighters at the Wigan Casino
Between 1973 and 1981 the Wigan Casino was the temple of northern soul. Dancers poured in from across the country for all-nighters, spinning, flipping and sliding to rare American soul records that few had heard. The "Keep the Faith" slogan and the patches sewn onto bags and jackets became symbols of the scene. Resident DJ Russ Winstanley helped make it famous, and in 1978 the American trade magazine Billboard named it the best disco in the world. The building closed in 1981 and burned down the following year, but the music has never left Wigan.
Coal, cotton and Roman roots
Wigan began as the Roman fort of Coccium. Its real growth came with coal, cannel coal especially, which burned so brightly it was prized for lighting and fuel. Cotton mills joined the pits, and by the 19th century the town was a place of chimneys, canals and railways. That industry is still visible. Trencherfield Mill beside the canal has a huge steam engine that has been preserved, and a mill that once employed hundreds is now a landmark of the town. On the edge of town, Haigh Hall and its country park were once the seat of the Earls of Crawford, a reminder that the coal fortune of the district built grand houses as well as terraces.