Higher Folds

12°CPatchy rain nearby

• Today: 13° / 8° · 24% rain
• Tomorrow: 12° / 8° · Partly Cloudy

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 07:14Sunset 16:32

9h 17m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

15US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: ozone

Source: WAQI · Glazebury, United Kingdom

• 6.7 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.0% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

219 reported road collisions (2025)

91 killed or seriously injured · 275 casualties · 6.6 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

500+ food businesses within 2 miles

• 321 rated 4–5 ★ (209 top)
• 57 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency · split of the nearest 500

• Nearest station: Trencherbone Platform (2.7 km)
• 16 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£194,393 average▲ 2.8% YoY

Across Wigan · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£746 average monthly rent▲ 6.6% YoY

• 1 bed £542
• 2 bed £700
• 3 bed £838

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

5.9× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 5.9 times median annual pay (5.8× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

4,223 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

• Cheapest petrol: 151.9p · BP (3 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 183.9p · BP (3 km)

25 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

39 charging locations within ~8 km

• 14 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 75 kW
• Nearest: Leigh Infirmary (1.9 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Gyms3
• Swimming pools1
• Sports pitches45
• Golf courses1
• Playgrounds10

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

329,330 residents in Wigan · 1,750/km²

• Under 16: 18%
• 16–64: 62%
• 65+: 19%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK15,073
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK12,395
• Net moves+2,678

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

More deprived than the average in England

Ranked 102 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

16% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,153 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band A (45% of 153,530)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

146 schools · 48,372 pupils

99 primary · 19 secondary · 28 other

Ofsted: 51 of 53 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (96%)

127 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Wigan

259 CQC-registered services

• Care homes61
• GP practices62
• Dentists57
• Homecare agencies45
• Hospitals & hospices8

CQC ratings: 96% of rated services Good or Outstanding

Source: Care Quality Commission · Wigan

• Not in the Green Belt
• 13 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

180 applications decided

88.3% granted · 159 granted, 21 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Jo Platt

Labour (Co-op)

Leigh and Atherton

Source: UK Parliament

Labour majority

• Lab 42
• Ref 25
• Oth 7

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools7
• GPs & clinics2
• Pharmacies3
• Supermarkets2
• Parks & greens15
• Restaurants & cafés19

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

10,900 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

£727 median full-time weekly pay

3.6% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£20,587 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

43% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 148,093 certificates

11.6% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

73% low-carbon electricity

Nuclear 39% · Wind 29% · Gas 18% · Imports 9%

73 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for North West England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 81.9 yrs women · 77.9 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 55.1 women · 54.6 men

74% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.6
• Feeling worthwhile7.8
• Happiness yesterday7.3
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.0

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

25 GP surgeries · 11 pharmacies in WN7

• Old Henry Street Med Ctr
• Brookmill Medical Centre
• Westleigh Medical Practice

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Leigh and Atherton:

• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth328 local signatures · 113,305 nationwide
• Stop megasheds being built & operated 24/7 close to homes and communities 301 local signatures · 11,425 nationwide
• Launch a public inquiry into illegal migration in the UK184 local signatures · 78,478 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND146 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• Fund £20,000 a year (term time) wage for Teaching Assistants138 local signatures · 39,730 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

• 
  Higher Folds · 0.1 km

  Higher Folds is a housing estate to the north-east of Leigh, in the Wigan district of Greater Manchester, England. It lies about 15 miles west of Manchester. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 2,770. Shaun Keav…

• 
  Leigh East (ward) · 0.8 km

  Leigh East is an electoral ward in Leigh, England. It forms part of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, as well as the parliamentary constituency of Leigh.

• 
  Bedford Colliery disaster · 0.9 km

  The Bedford Colliery disaster occurred on Friday 13 August 1886 when an explosion of firedamp caused the death of 38 miners at Bedford No.2 Pit, at Bedford, Leigh in what then was Lancashire. The colliery, sunk in 188…

• Bedford Colliery · 0.9 km

  Bedford Colliery, also known as Wood End Pit, was a coal mine on the Manchester Coalfield in Bedford, Leigh, Lancashire, England. The colliery was owned by John Speakman, who started sinking two shafts on land at Wo…

• Gin Pit Colliery · 0.9 km

  Gin Pit was a coal mine operating on the Lancashire Coalfield from the 1840s in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It exploited the Middle Coal Measures of the Manchest…

• Nook Colliery · 1.0 km

  Nook Colliery was a coal mine operating on the Manchester Coalfield after 1866 in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)