The Knowhere Guide

Local Heroes in Leigh, Greater Manchester*

Leigh, Greater Manchester Famous Residents

Cringing Cult of Celebrity (Famous residents and ex-residents.)

• The guy from Altern-8......."watch yer bass bins i'm tellin' ya!"
• Rick Astley - lots of people thought he came from Newton-Le-Willows... but his record co only said this cox 'leigh' sounded common... Newton-Le-Willows sounds posh (which we all know isn't the case!!)
• Georgie Fame (Clive Powell) lived in Cotton St, my mam used to babysit him. James Hilton lived in 26 Wilkinson St, we lived in 24.
• Micheal tongue went 2 bedford!! plays for sheff utd now. the ones who played arsenal!
• Ken Dodd switches the Christmas lights on. The most (in)famous person in Leigh is Derek "Toddy" Todd.
• vernon kay is often in ruebens, he called me a freak, how cool is that! we have also had tyrone out of corrie drinkin in there!and sharah dunn out of hollyoaks went to my school!
• A guy who works for the Leigh Journal (local comic) is the leading look-a-like of Sven Goran Eriksson - thats how desperate Leigh trolls are for fame!
• James Hilton lived in my house!! Oooh bet you're jealous!! Sarah Dunn(Mandy Richardson-fit blonde off Hollyoaks) lives two minutes away and Nigel Short(Chess champion) lives close by!!
• Errr, Colin Welland (Chariots of Fire dude) used to teach at Bedford High School. Starsailor all went to Leigh College on Railway Road.
• James Hilton (author - wrote the classics Goodbye Mr Chips, Lost Horizons) Geargie Fame (entertainer - sang Yeh Yeh) Robert Shaw (actor - was in The Sting, Jaws) Pete Shelley (entertainer - singer/guitar in The Buzzcocks) Alan Beswick (radio / TV entertainer) Rick Astley (entertainer - sang Never Gonna Give You Up) Tracy Bennet (actress - played Sharon in Coronation Street) Paul Ratcliffe (canoeing - won Silver medal in Sydney 2000 Olympics) Nigel Short (Grandmaster at chess) Colin Welland (author and actor - wrote Chariots of Fire)
• we once had ken dodd to turn the chistmas light's on he was SO good (well cheap) thay asked him to come back the following year lucky us.
• Georgie Fame (bit of a naff name) but my mum assures me he was good in his day
• There have been famous people? Currently a guy from "Where the Heart is" lives in Leigh Variuos Rugby players come from leigh aswell
• James Hilton, who wrote "Goodbye Mr Chips" was born here. I believe that the rugby ground, Hilton Park, is named after his family.
• Georgie Fame (real name Clive Powell) used to be my dad's neighbour.
• Peter Maxwell Davies the composer lived here.
• The Buzzcocks were all born and educated here (at my old school)
• Oh and the bloke who invented the Spinning Jenny (which explains why everything is named the Spinning Jenny) but he's dead and has been for some time.
• The woman out of Juliet Bravo took her advanced driving test here, but that's about it.

Buskers, Street Entertainers

• Well me mates Doogal and Mike used to busk in Leigh but they never got much money and were shouted at by the man with the accordian - so they ent to Wigan instead and earned about £50. Not really street entertainment, but Leigh is full of Loons There is one guy who thinks he is jesus and wanders around the street talking to himself. Any leythers reading must know who I mean - he only has half a shoe on and has a piece of string tied around his head.
• just look at the locals there good for a laugh
• there is a shop that sells Chickens and he stands out side shouting "GET YOUR CHICKENS HEAR 3 FOR A FIVER e.t.c" that is entertaning for a bit
• watching the locals is good but dont let them catch you laughing at them
• Still man with dog, plus varius others at Weekends
• Bloke with an accordian and a dog. Doesn't play the accordian very well. Neither does the bloke!!

The Knowhere Guide started out as a list of places to skateboard in the UK. It is a compilation of (unedited) information and views supplied by users like yourself. It is not a conventional tourist guide!

In most cases, the information in each section has been submitted by more than one contributor (the credits at the bottom of the page list some, but not all, of the contributors) and some of it dates back to the 1970s.

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Credits

Last updated: 2007-07-09