Floods, closing churches, the jazz festival axed and Warriors in Vegas - some of the big Wigan headlines in the first half of 2025

In this the first of two articles looking back on the past 12 months, we highlight some of the stories which made the biggest headlines between January and June.

January

The year was just minutes old before many Wigan homes faced a crisis caused by torrential downpours on New Year’s Day.

Homes in several parts of the borough including Bickershaw, Platt Bridge and Ashton, were inundated and streets became rivers, exposing a number of long-term issues and weakness in flood defences.

Over the ensuing months there have been pleas from residents and local politicians to prevent further disasters and a Government pledge of millions of pounds to the region to do so.

A Wigan rapist and domestic abuser was branded “a woman’s worst nightmare” after being jailed for another series of horrific crimes against a partner.

Nathan Modlinsky was given 15-year sentence after a Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court jury found him guilty of 10 sexual, violent and manipulative crimes inflicted on a young partner five years earlier.

His ex tbravely spoke to Wigan Today about the terrors and traumas he inflicted on her during a nine-month period in 2020 which included forcing himself on her sexually, repeatedly beating her and locking her in their home.

A Wigan woman, Bianca Perea, was declared cancer-free after undergoing the UK’s first liver transplant for advanced bowel cancer.

The 32-year-old thought there was no hope when she was told she had a stage 4 tumour.

But pioneering surgery at Leeds Teaching Hospital has given her a new lease of life and re-written the medical records.

February

A coroner hailed a Wigan dad and his son heroes and recommended them for awards for their actions during a devastating and tragic fire at their family home.

An inquest heard that Barry Mason was fatally injuried going back into the blazing house in order to rescue his four-year-old, Ethan, who would also later die.

And Ethan’s older brother David was commended for his quick-thinking and courage during the heartbreaking emergency too.

A Wigan woman who suffered life-threatening and life-changing injuries in a hit-and-run smash was “treated shabbily” by police, family claimed.

The 58-year-old was run over in Milnrow and police took an initial examination of the victim to mean she had suffered minor injuries and didn’t investigate the case in detail, yet later hospital tests showed she in fact suffered a ruptured spleen, a destroyed kidney, a serious head injury, a smashed knee, wrenched shoulder, multiple spinal fractures and 14 broken ribs, one of which was dangerously close to piercing her heart.

As a result there was little or no chance of the offender ever being caught. Greater Manchester’s deputy mayor said the police response was "neither reasonable nor proportionate" and demanded further action.

It was announced that the landmark St Catharine’s CE Church in Scholes had been earmarked for closure because the premises were no longer deemed “fit for purpose” and the diocese couldn’t afford the upgrade.

The congregation were moved into the church hall for services but there was outcry over the move, not least because a lot of money had been spent 12 years earlier straightening its famously twisted tower.

There have been other church closures since: St John The Baptist at New Springs and Clowes Methodist Church, Pemberton

March

Not since the disappearance of Helen McCourt decades ago was such a huge public search launched to find Wigan Athletic “super fan” Darren Orme after his sudden disappearance.

Mountain rescue, police dogs and underwater search teams plus the force helicopter and drones were deployed while hundreds of concerned ordinary folk joined in the hunt day after day while poster and social media campaigns, involving Latics and Wigan Warriors, kept the issue in the public conscience.

Tragically Darren’s body was found 19 days later in the canal just yards from the stadium where his beloved team played. A coroner would later record an open conclusion at his inquest.

It almost reached its 40th anniversary but, with great sadness, organisers of the world famous Wigan International Jazz Festival pulled the plug on it this year.

It had attracted world-famous acts to town over a week and more since the 1980s, in more recent years it had badly haemorrhaged sponsorship leading to a shrinking line-up and dwindling audiences.

Latterly it was being run by the The Music Continuum CIC, whose co-founder Ian Darrington launched the festival in the first place and who took the heartbreaking decision not to continue with it in 2025 for fear of the company being declared bankrupt.

Wigan Warriors are famous for making history and they did it again in March when they took on Warrington Wolves in the first ever Super League to be played in Las Vegas.

Thousands of fans travelled over to America to watch the cherry and whites triumph convincingly in this latest bold move to spread the word of rugby league to a wider audience.

It was generally agreed that the venture had been a big success and another fixture will be played there this coming year featuring Huill KR and Leeds.

April

Tributes were paid to a Wigan father of two lost his battle for life after a road smash that also left his brother critically injured.

‘Inseparable’ siblings Danny and Dean Kearney were riding a motorbike up Ormskirk Road in Pemberton when it was in collision with an HGV at the junction with Enfield Street.

Two GoFundMe appeals were launched, one to help cover the costs of Dean’s funeral and the other to help pay for relatives’ transport to and from Aintree Hospital every day to be at Danny’s bedside.

Distressed residents said they had been “completely blindsided” by the turning of a Wigan home into an HMO for ex-prisoners with drug problems.

Householders on Beech Hall Street, Gidlow, said there was no consultation nor even notification about the plan and the family next door, who were in the process of moving, said the news wiped £20k off their home’s price.

At the time the council had no obligation to rule on developments where so few occupants in the HMO were involved, but later moved to change the rules so that all houses of multiple occupation go through them first.

With much fanfare it was announced that the name of the £135m development that is replacing Wigan town centre’s Galleries shopping centre is to be called Fettlers, because Wiganers have for centuries been good at fettling (making things).

The outline of the new market hall is beginning to take shape with a predicted opening of late next year and groundwork is currently being completed on the new 144-room Hampton by Hilton Hotel.

After that will come a pavilion building along with a cinema and leisure space followed by more than 400 homes across several new residential buildings.

May

Wigan was given the royal seal of approval when King Charles told visitors that he loved the place.

Former Ashton teacher Jean Hensey-Reynard had been invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party when she met the monarch for the second time.

And it was as he was being led away to meet more guests that Charles turned back and said to her “love Wigan.”

A Wigan girl who won the hearts of thousands to spark one of the most astonishing life-saving charity campaigns ever seen celebrated her 18th birthday.

Emma Hoolin was a name on the lips of countless Wiganers when it was revealed in September 2011 that the four-year-old from Whitley had been diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma: an aggressive form of cancer with a very poor survival rate.

Her last chance was pioneering treatment in the US. The problem was that £211,000 was needed to be raised within 100 days, but so many people got involved that the target was hit with more than a month to spare and the rest is history.

After years of campaigning, the green light was finally given for the establishment of a railway station at Golborne.

Wigan Council approved a planning application and Transport for Greater Manchester appointed a local company to design it.

The new station – which will reconnect Golborne to the railway for the first time in more than 60 years – is part of the city-region's wider plans to improve connectivity for communities as part of the first fully-integrated transport system outside London.

June

Wigan-based gym business Fitness First was hit with a fine of more than a quarter of million pounds for a series of health and safety failings.

The company, whose head office is on Enfield Street in Pemberton and has a gym on Stadium Way in Wigan, appeared at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to failing to ensure its staff received bi-monthly pool rescue training, that 30-minute poolside checks were not carried out and that pool rescue equipment was available if needed.

It further admitted that CCTV cameras and monitors were inadequate, that risk assessments were not properly carried out and that protective equipment was not given to staff when handling pool-related chemicals.

A young Wigan gay man spoke of a vile under-current of homophobia in his home town.

His shaming and heartbreaking account follows observation of frequent hate comments made on social media, not least after a recent Wigan Today article about a local man appearing in a queer reality show, and his own personal experiences of prejudice culminating in a vicious attack in the town centre last Boxing Day.

He clinically dissected the needless and ignorant prejudice of some local people who launch attacks just because someone isn’t like them yet doing them no harm.

History was made when it was announced that Wigan rugby league legend Billy Boston was to become the first person in the sport to receive a knighthood.

The nonagenarian became Sir Billy in a private ceremony conducted by King Charles at Buckingham Palace.

There was general delight, especially in the RL community, although many questioned why it has taken so long for Sir Billy to be so honoured and, indeed, why this rugby code should have been so bereft of knights until now.