Westhoughton: Bolton Borough Town Between the M61 and the Moors With a Keaw Yed Tradition
Westhoughton sits in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, about four miles southwest of Bolton town centre. The population is around 25,000. The town has a long-standing nickname: locals are called "Keaw Yeds" (cow heads), supposedly from an incident where a cow got its head stuck in a gate and the locals cut off the head rather than breaking the gate. The tradition is marked by the annual Westhoughton Cow Head Wakes. The Pretoria Pit disaster of 1910, in which 344 miners were killed in an underground explosion at the Hulton Colliery on the edge of town, was one of the worst mining disasters in British history. A memorial on the former pit site commemorates the dead.
The town centre along Market Street and Church Street has a village character despite its size. The Carnegie Library on Market Street, funded by Andrew Carnegie, opened in 1906. Westhoughton station is on the line between Bolton and Wigan, though services are limited. The M61 runs just to the east, connecting to the M6 at junction 6 and to Bolton and Manchester. The A6 passes nearby. For those interested in adult companionship in the Bolton and south Lancashire area, Westhoughton's M61 access connects directly to Bolton, Wigan, Manchester, and the wider motorway network.
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Westhoughton sits in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, about four miles southwest of Bolton town centre. The population is around 25,000. The town has a long-standing nickname: locals are called "Keaw Yeds" (cow heads), supposedly from an incident where a cow got its head stuck in a gate and the locals cut off the head rather than breaking the gate. The tradition is marked by the annual Westhoughton Cow Head Wakes. The Pretoria Pit disaster of 1910, in which 344 miners were killed in an underground explosion at the Hulton Colliery on the edge of town, was one of the worst mining disasters in British history. A memorial on the former pit site commemorates the dead.
The town centre along Market Street and Church Street has a village character despite its size. The Carnegie Library on Market Street, funded by Andrew Carnegie, opened in 1906. Westhoughton station is on the line between Bolton and Wigan, though services are limited. The M61 runs just to the east, connecting to the M6 at junction 6 and to Bolton and Manchester. The A6 passes nearby. For those interested in adult companionship in the Bolton and south Lancashire area, Westhoughton's M61 access connects directly to Bolton, Wigan, Manchester, and the wider motorway network.
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