This is an area with a rich industrial heritage, a key player in the Industrial Revolution, and this is reflected in many of our attractions.
Bury played a key part in making Manchester the powerhouse of the industrial revolution. Founded on textile production Bury grew to become one of the largest paper making areas in the world. You can delve into the area’s past and discover how it shaped the present at Bury Art Gallery, Museum & Archive.
Wigan also has an illustrious past, founded on the three kings of coal, cotton and canals. Visitors to The Wigan Pier Experience can step back in time to Victorian Lancashire and visit the world’s largest working steam engine.
Similarly, in Rochdale, the award winning Touchstones Arts and Heritage Centre is the perfect starting point to exploring the history of the town.
At Saddleworth Museum you can experience Oldham’s textile past first hand with demonstrations of weaving machinery. In the museum you will also gain an insight into the history of the area from Oldham’s roman settlements right through to its Victorian era.
Many towns and villages in the area are in themselves steeped in history. Barrow Bridge near Bolton is a chocolate box village created during the Industrial Revolution. Today, the famous 69 steps which workers would have climbed to and from work, leads visitors onto the wild expanses of the West Pennine Moors. Similarly, the thriving Pennine town of Littleborough has a strong history, with the heart of the town still looking much as it did 100 years ago when wool and cotton weaving were thriving. You can discover more about this town at the Coach House Heritage Centre.
The history of North Manchester stretches far beyond the Industrial Revolution. This is highly visible in the architecture; from medieval St Wilfreds Church, Standish, to the ultra modern RIBA award winning Gallery Oldham, this is a place with a perfect marriage of past and present.
Wigan History Shop documents the town’s Roman beginnings right through to the twentieth century when it was a northern soul Mecca.
Make sure you catch Worktown, Humphrey Spender’s remarkable Mass Observation archive at Bolton Museum, Art Gallery and Aquarium and get hands-on in the exciting Clore Interactive Space.
