Platt Bridge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Platt Bridge
Platt Bridge shown within Greater Manchester
OS grid reference	SD604031
Metropolitan borough	Wigan
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WIGAN
Postcode district	WN2
Dialling code	01942
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Makerfield
List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester

Coordinates: 53°31′25″N 2°35′53″W / 53.5237, -2.598

This article is about a district in Greater Manchester, England. For the bridge over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, see George C. Platt Bridge.

Platt Bridge is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester England, two miles south of Wigan town centre along the spine of the A573. The area serves as a residential suburb.

Platt Bridge borders Abram, Bryn, Bamfurlong, Hindley and Ince-in-Makerfield. Platt Bridge's border with Bamfurlong is marked by the Leigh Canal, a branch off the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, linking with the Bridgewater Canal.

Two railways also pass through Platt Bridge; one the West Coast Main Line, the other a disused industrial line.

Platt Bridge has recently seen a major change in primary school provision.Two schools, Low Hall County Primary School and Saint Nathaniel's C.E Primary have been closed and integrated and a new school Platt Bridge Community School, designed by NPS and opened in Nov 2006. It is a modern 'state of the art' extended school, which is home to Platt Bridge Community School and Platt Bridge Childcare which offers full day care, wraparound care, funded sessional care, before and after school clubs and holiday clubs. In addition there is a Sure Start Children's Centre, a Family Centre, and a children's and adult's public library.

Also, as part of the same site, there is a Primary Care Trust Health facility and a housing office. There are three churches in the area; Holy Family (Roman Catholic), St Nathaniels (Church of England) and Independent Methodist Chapel (Methodist).

Some areas of Platt Bridge are currently undergoing development with a number of new housing estates. Platt Bridge is known to Wigan folk colloquially as "Platt Waz" originating from the fact that it was a comfort stop for the coal train drivers. With the recent opening of a new McDonald's "drive thru" sic the area has also acquired the more upmarket nomenclature "Platt Vegas".

[edit] Site of Special Scientific Interest

Bryn Marsh & Ince Moss is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located to the east of Platt Bridge. The 68.3 hectare (168.8 acre) site was designated in 1989 for its biological interest. The main habitats are open water, fen and swamp, mire, woodland, acidic and neutral grassland and ruderal communities.

The site is also important for its breeding bird populations including: little grebe, great crested grebe, mute swan, tufted duck, snipe and redshank. 10 species of Dragonfly and Damselfly are also found, some of which are locally rare.