{"id":654,"date":"2025-04-05T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-05T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/?p=654"},"modified":"2025-04-13T08:04:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T08:04:59","slug":"dead-uk-town-to-be-transformed-with-135000000-project-including-464-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/05\/dead-uk-town-to-be-transformed-with-135000000-project-including-464-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dead\u2019 UK town to be transformed with \u00a3135,000,000 project \u2014 including 464 homes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Plans\t<\/div>
A new era is dawning for Wigan up in Greater Manchester (Picture: Wigan Council)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sandwiched between Manchester and Liverpool<\/a>, Wigan is known for its strong roots in coal mining, cotton manufacturing and even its sporting history \u2013 and now, it\u2019s dawning on a major new era of investment.<\/a><\/p>\n

464 new homes<\/a> and a huge shopping centre are set to be unveiled at the site of what was once The Galleries complex \u2013 and it\u2019ll now be known simply as Fettlers.<\/p>\n

The new name for the \u00a3135,000,000 project has been inspired by the local dialect, as \u2018fettling\u2019 means to make or mend.<\/p>\n

Wigan locals won\u2019t just have the opportunity to shop until they drop though: there\u2019ll also be a bowling alley, a cinema, a climbing wall, a Hampton by Hilton Hotel, and even a co-working space<\/a> for those who want to mix it up when they\u2019re working remotely.<\/p>\n

\u2018A fettler was someone who worked with metal and poetry, industries with a strong history in our area,\u2019 council leader David Molyneux said of the new project at a launch event held this week.<\/p>\n

\u2018We have worked really closely with our local community to find a name that really meant something to the people of Wigan.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tReady to start your homebuying journey?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Award winning service from the UK\u2019s leading mortgage broker<\/p>\n

\u2013 Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week<\/p>\n

\u2013 Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market<\/p>\n

Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won’t charge you a fee for their advice.<\/p>\n

Find out how much you could borrow online<\/a><\/p>\n

Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Fettlers\t<\/div>
The name has been inspired by the local history (Picture: Wigan Council)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018This name and brand celebrates our history, our values and looks towards our bright future of crafting, grafting, dreaming, fettlin\u2019 and making things happen.\u2019<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the Fettlers\u2019 website<\/a> envisages the project as helping \u2018attract new audiences to live, shop, work and visit Wigan.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Imagined by the people who live here, Fettlers represents Wigan\u2019s proud heritage and celebrates the town\u2019s unique identity,\u2019 it adds.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some locals have long felt that Wigan has needed a little bit of a revamp.<\/p>\n

Over on the r\/Wigan Subreddit<\/a>, @OneFisherman9541 described the locality as \u2018just dead,\u2019 while in @Triple_OG_2023\u2019s opinion, it\u2019s \u2018a dive.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s nothing there. Even the shops that are there have nothing I want,\u2019 they penned.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Fettlers\t<\/div>
Fettlers represents ‘Wigan’s proud heritage’ (Picture: Wigan Council)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, @hazbaz1984\u2019s wife is from Wigan \u2013 and they report that \u2018she got out as soon as she could.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018They are all glad to no longer be living there. Sad really. As the folks\u2019 stories about the Wigan of old are really cool. Northern Soul, Wigan Pier and the strong community,\u2019 they added.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s all gone now. The place is a depressing mess. I hated visiting it, and I\u2019m really glad I never have to go back ever again.\u2019<\/p>\n

On the other hand, many locals have only good things to say about the Greater Manchester town. Some places are like Marmite, after all: you either love them, or hate them.<\/p>\n

@PixieWitchery has lived in Wigan \u2018happily\u2019 for the last decade and has \u2018friendly neighbours\u2019 on a \u2018fairly quiet street.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Fettlers\t<\/div>
The new name has been inspired by the local dialect (Picture: Wigan Council)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Genuinely the best place we\u2019ve lived,\u2019 they wrote. \u2018Home is what you make it I think.\u2019<\/p>\n

And @meribeldom<\/a> had nothing but positive things to say about it, lauding it for having \u2018decent schools, great music service, excellent bakeries, lots of green space, [a] world class rugby team, great jazz festival, fascinating and important history, and fun nightlife.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018On top of that, you\u2019re a stone\u2019s throw from Liverpool and Manchester\u2026 the Lakes, Pennines, Bowland, Yorkshire, North Wales, Lancashire coast are all close. London is less than 2 hours away on [the] train,\u2019 they added.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s an excellent place to live\u2026and if you wanted to get some bang for your buck, it\u2019s genuinely worth considering the area.\u2019<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new era is dawning for Wigan up in Greater Manchester (Picture: Wigan Council) Sandwiched between Manchester and Liverpool, Wigan is known for its strong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions\/661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}