I’m from Wigan. AMA

[PotatoPie888]

I am a long time user lured back here after being disillusioned by a particularly horrible thread.
Anyway, as I say, I’m from Wigan. If anyone is remotely interested, ask away.

Good question @ClaudiaWankleman but Wigan is so uniquely…Wigan it’s beyond compare. Maybe Royal Tunbridge Wells for the devilment.
Seriously though, I know that there is a lot poverty in the south and it is just as serious and bloody unfair as poverty anywhere else. I think places like Wigan have a million misconceptions though that other places don’t.

@PotatoPie888 I live not too far from Wigan and there is definitely alot of misconceptions about not just Wigan but some of the surrounding areas too im always very surprised as to where these opinions come from .

Absolutely @Tittyfilarious81

I've amused myself by noticing that Wigan Pier basically says Wigan PIE-r.
Has this ever amused you too?

I recently met a drag queen from the Greater Manchester area. He had a Wigan address.

@TheSpottedZebra I mean it is amusing and very Wigan in its humour.

For the record, if anyone hasn’t read The Road to Wigan Pier it’s a truly wonderful
Book. It is quite humbling for me personally to know that Orwell was writing about people who were working as miners in Wigan in the thirties, as that’s exactly what my family were doing at that time.

I have two friends from Wigan, one is a big hairy biker and the other is a university professor, is it as diverse as I think it is?

I had the pleasure to work in Leigh recently. I was seriously impressed by the quantity of pie shops and the quality of the pies.

What happened to Maximes? Used to love Friday Rock Night there 30 years ago,🤘🏼🤘🏼 never been to a club where you could buy a cup of black peas since😅

I have no connection to Wigan and have never been but do kind of fancy it now! I like pies and Orwell. If I went to Wigan, what would you recommend I do?

I could understand that "other" thread if her postcode was WN8 tho 😜

dons tin hat

[quote PotatoPie888]@DrMartensHearts My favourite chippy is babby’s yed.[/quote]
With pea wet?

@Shehasadiamondinthesky like everywhere else everyone has their own individual quirks. There probably is a streak of commonality in the sense that the majority of people are quite down to earth. You don’t see huge numbers of people who aren’t white compared to it’s neighbour, Bolton which has a a very large Asian community. Saying that, Wigan and surrounding areas have attracted more and more refugees and immigrants from Eastern Europe in recent years, so the demographic is definitely changing.

It’s also interesting that Wigan borough has no private schools. The area where I went to school is/was in a deprived educational area (I forget the exact term they use). However they have a couple of excellent sixth form colleges and it was recently reported that one of them, Winstanley sends huge numbers of students to the best universities. I think it beats Eton. About a decade ago a report found that despite Wigan students doing better than kids in more affluent areas in their A levels, that didn’t translate to them getting places in the best universities, so it’s good that has changed. My own dc went there and is at a top RG. Another will go next year.

@CatsOperatingInGangs I guess you are a fan of Shaun and so a visit to Leigh had a particular resonance.

@torquewench I am a huge black pea fan. We used to buy them dried from pet shops! I am happy to report that Greenhalgh’s still sell black peas around Bonfire Night every year.

@Levithian Haigh Hall is lovely.

@Etihad you might get parked outside, but if not Dorning Street should have plenty of space of an evening.

I went to 6th form college in Wigan. On t'buzz.

Thanks @CurbsideProphet we’ve never been before

[quote PotatoPie888]@CatsOperatingInGangs I guess you are a fan of Shaun and so a visit to Leigh had a particular resonance.[/quote]
It was an emotional time.

Also used to go Wigan Pier on Wednesday nights (indie/student night) back in the early 90s. Saw Richard Ashcroft there a few times. Never snogged him tho.

@Etihad Sorry! I should have given you a much better answer!

@CatsOperatingInGangs he’s a legend.

Well, you have given me quite a lovely impression of Wigan, so I thank you!

Do you actually still live there?