North West England

North West England extends from the attractive market towns of Cheshire, through the vast urban areas around Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Blackburn and Burnley, to the wilds of Cumbria in the north – the ancient kingdom of Rheged, where place names reflect its turbulent, multi-racial, past.

For many, the North West means the English Lake District, a National Park and world heritage site where you’ll find England’s only mountain range – and one of the country’s most outstandingly beautiful places.  Then there’s the wonderfully lush countryside of Lancashire – particularly around the borders with Cumbria and North Yorkshire.

What is North Wedt England known for?

North West England  became famous in the 18th century for spinning and weaving, and cotton mills and factories dotted the Lancashire landscape. The industrial revolution developed round Manchester. As cotton trade grew, mill towns replaced ancient cities.

Cheshire

• Chester
• Crewe
• Birkenhead
• Ellesmere Port
• Macclesfield
• Runcorn
• Stockport
• Wallasey

Cumbria

• Appleby
• Arnside
• Barrow
• Bassenthwaite Lake
• Bowness
• Carlisle
• Cartmel
• Coniston
• Dalton
• Glenridding
• Grange
• Grasmere
• Hawkshead
• Kendal
• Keswick
• Kirkby Lonsdale
• Kirkby Stephen
• Penrith
• Pooley Bridge
• Ullswater
• Ulverston
• Windermere (Lake)
• Windermere (Town)

Greater Manchester

• Bolton
• Bury
• Manchester
• Oldham
• Rochdale
• Stockport
• Wigan

Lancashire

• Barrow-in-Furness
• Blackburn
• Blackpool
• Clitheroe
• Lancaster
• Preston
• Warrington

Greater Manchester

• Bolton
• Bury
• Manchester
• Oldham
• Rochdale
• Stockport
• Wigan

Lancashire

• Barrow-in-Furness
• Blackburn
• Blackpool
• Clitheroe
• Lancaster
• Preston
• Warrington

Merseyside

• Liverpool
• St Helens
• Southport
• Wirral

Education

Top ten state schools in the North West (2015 A level results)

• Altrincham Grammar School for Girls (1223)
• Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
• The Blue Coat School, Liverpool
• Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School
• The Blue Coat CofE School, Oldham
• Wirral Grammar School for Girls
• Wirral Grammar School for Boys
• Loreto Grammar School, Altrincham
• West Kirby Grammar School
• Clitheroe Royal Grammar School[citation needed]

The areas that have school children most likely to attend university are Trafford and Cheshire, followed by Wirral, Sefton, Stockport and Bury. Four of these areas are or were part of Cheshire.

Colleges

• Carmel College
• Blackburn College
• Trafford College
• Manchester City College, Didsbury
• Aquinas College, Stockport
• Ashton Sixth Form College, Ashton-under-Lyne
• Barrow-in-Furness Sixth Form College, Barrow-in-Furness
• Blackburn College, Blackburn
• Blackpool and The Fylde College, Blackpool
• Blackpool Sixth Form College, Blackpool
• Bolton College, Bolton
• Bolton Sixth Form College, Bolton
• Burnley College, Burnley
• Bury College, Bury
• Carlisle College, Carlisle
• Carmel College, St Helens
• Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College, Cheadle
• Furness College, Barrow-in-Furness
• Hazel Grove High School Sixth Form, Stockport
• Holy Cross College (UK), Bury
• Hopwood Hall College, Rochdale
• Hugh Baird College, Bootle
• Kendal College, Kendal
• King George V College, Southport
• Lancaster and Morecambe College, Lancaster
• Liverpool Community College, Liverpool
• Loreto College, Manchester
• Macclesfield College, Macclesfield
• The Manchester College, Manchester
• Mid Cheshire College, Northwich
• The Oldham College, Oldham
• Oldham Sixth Form College, Oldham
• Preston College, Preston
• Priestley College, Warrington
• Rainford College, St Helens
• Riverside College, Widnes
• Runshaw College, Leyland
• Salford City College, Salford
• South Cheshire College, Crewe
• Southport College, Southport
• Sir John Deane’s College, Northwich
• Stockport College, Stockport
• St Helens College, St Helens
• St John Rigby College, Wigan
• St. Mary’s College, Blackburn
• St. Wilfrids C of E Sixth Form College, Blackburn
• Thomas Whitham Sixth Form, Burnley
• Trafford College, Trafford
• West Cheshire College Ellesmere Port
• Wigan and Leigh College, Wigan
• Winstanley College, Wigan
• Xaverian College, Manchester

The two main higher education colleges in the region are Blackburn College and Blackpool and The Fylde College. There are forty three FE colleges. The regional LSC was in central Manchester; this is now the SFA and the YPLA.

Universities

The universities in the North West are listed below:

• University of Manchester, Manchester – The largest single-site university in the UK with 36,907 students
• Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester – Also one of the country’s largest universities with 40,420 students – second-largest university in the region
• UCLAN, Preston – The University of Central Lancashire in Preston, 28,850 students – third-largest university in the region
• Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool – 24,085 students
• University of Liverpool, Liverpool – 20,765 students
• University of Salford, Salford – 20,185 students
• Lancaster University, Lancaster – 17,415 students
• The University of Law, Chester, Manchester
• Edge Hill University, Ormskirk – 15,645 students
• University of Chester, Chester and Warrington – 15,095 students
• University of Bolton, Bolton – 8,540 students
• Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool – 8,205 students
• University of Cumbria – The region’s newest university located across Cumbria, parts of Lancashire and London, and formerly known as the Cumbria Institute of the Arts. Over 60% of university students in the region are native to the region.

The region with the next-highest number of students in the North-West is Yorkshire and the Humber, so approximately 80% of university students in the area are from the north of England. The region’s students have the highest proportion of students from so-called low-participation neighbourhoods.

Sport

Football

The following football clubs are based in the North West, and compete in the Premier League or Football League (the top four division of the English football league system) going into the 2022-23 season.

Teams in the North West have won 63 out of 123 English football League titles (Just over 50%), more than any other region, with Manchester United having won more than any other team

Rugby League

The following rugby league clubs are based in the North West, and compete in the Super League or the Championships (the top three division of the British rugby league system) as of 2021.

Super League teams

• Leigh Centurions (Leigh, Greater Manchester)
• Salford City Reds (Salford, Greater Manchester)
• St. Helens (St Helens, Mersyside)
• Warrington Wolves (Warrington, Cheshire)
• Wigan Warriors (Wigan, Greater Manchester)

Championship teams

• Swinton Lions (Swinton, Greater Manchester)
• Oldham Roughyeds (Oldham, Greater Manchester)
• Whitehaven (Whitehaven, Cumbria)
• Widnes Vikings (Widnes, Cheshire)

League 1 teams

• Barrow Raiders (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria)
• Rochdale Hornets (Rochdale, Greater Manchester)
• Workington Town (Workington, Cumbria)

Swimming

British Swimming have one of its three Intensive Training Centres at the Grand Central Pools in Stockport.

Golf

Royal Birkdale Golf Club is at Southport and there is the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club. Royal Liverpool Golf Club is at Hoylake.

Newspapers

• Blackpool Gazette, Blackpool
• Bolton News, Bolton
• Bury Times, Bury
• Chester Evening Leader, Chester
• Lancashire Evening Post, Preston
• Lancashire Telegraph, Blackburn
• Liverpool Echo, Liverpool
• Manchester Evening News, Manchester
• News and Star, Carlisle
• North-West Evening Mail, Barrow-in-Furness
• Oldham Evening Chronicle, Oldham
• Southport Visiter, Southport
• The Reporter, St Helens
• The Star, St Helens
• Westmorland Gazette, Kendal
• Wigan Evening Post, Wigan