Who would you have on the list?


2. Georgia Taylor
One of many successful products of the Wigan-based Willpower Youth Theatre company, Georgia Taylor has been a familiar face on our TV screens for 27 years now, having first appeared on Coronation Street as Toyah Battersby when still a teenager in 1997. She took time out from the soap to appear in a number of other hit dramas, including Casualty and Law and Order UK before returning to the cobbles. Photo: UGC

3. Joe Gormley
Joe Gormley went down his first pit aged 14 and rose to become the President of the National Union of Mineworkers for 11 years. One of his biggest claims to fame was to preside over a seven-week national strike in 1972 which was resolved by a 21 per cent increase in pay and concessions for miners, moving them to the top of the UK's industrial wage league, having previously been 17th. Born in Ashton, he stepped down from the NUM leadership in 1982 to be replaced by left-wing firebrand Arthur Scargill. It was later revealed that he had worked for Special Branch by passing on information on extremism within his own union. Photo: UGC

4. Keely Hodgkinson
Kelly Hodgkinson is now the woman to beat in international middle-distance running. The Atherton-born 22-year-old burst onto the athletics scene as a teenager, breaking Kelly Holmes's British 800m record and took several notable silvers in major championships. But she rose to new heights in the 2024 summer Olympics in Paris where she cruised to gold in the final. She was also the only British track and field competitor to top the podium Photo: Getty