Town's best-known names celebrated on Wall of Fame

Circular plaques have been placed on the wall at the site off Leigh Road where shoppers leave their vehicles to use the Asda supermarket celebrating individuals who have made an impact in fields including music, art, science, literature, sport, entertainment and public service.

Those already put on the Wall of Fame include rugby league legend Tommy Sale, Paralympic swimming gold medallist Heather Frederiksen, musicians Georgie Fame and Pete Shelley, author James Hilton and pioneering scientist Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker.

The project has been created by artist Martyn Lucas and funded by the Leigh Neighbours project, with pupils from Leigh St Mary’s CE Primary School and Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School working on the designs.

Primary school pupils with the plaques they helped to create

Martyn said: “It is great to be involved with the Leigh Neighbours project and working with local people to make improvements to the area through art in public spaces.

“Art can inform and inspire and I think this latest project does just that.

“There is a blue plaque in Wilkinson Street in honour of writer James Hilton and a gold painted post box on Market Street for Heather Frederiksen.

“I thought it would be nice to celebrate more people from Leigh who have received recognition for great things that they have achieved.”

So far 10 plaques have been installed with more in the pipeline.

Already, though, the Wall of Fame shows what an impact people from Leigh have made far beyond the borders of the borough.

Punk-rocker Pete Shelley stamped his name on popular music leading local outfit Buzzcocks, writer James Hilton penned Hollywood screenplays and became known to generations of readers for works like Lost Horizon and Goodbye Mr Chips, while Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker’s work studying seaweed led to her being revered in Japan, where she is known as the Mother of the Sea.

The Wall of Fame is part of the project Our Art Neighbourhood, which seeks to involve local people in using creativity and culture to improve the look of the area.

The school pupils contributed drawings to the designs for the metal plaques, responding to old photographs and recordings in the Leigh Local Studies Archives.

It is hoped a public launch event can be organised to unveil the Wall of Fame officially when the restrictions on larger events to reduce the spread of the coronavirus are no longer needed.

For more information visit www.lnpb.org.uk