Haigh Hall & Country Park (Haigh Hall & Country Park (Haigh))

Member Name: thecatsnose

Product:	Haigh Hall & Country Park (Haigh)
Date:	08/09/09 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful surroundings

Disadvantages: .

The background
Haigh Hall is a large country house set in 250 acres of gardens and woodland close to Wigan. Back in the day the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres used to live there, but the grade 2 listed building and the grounds are now owned by the council and the house is hired out for functions and weddings - in fact I got married here, but more about that in a bit...

What can you do?
Visiting the grounds of Haigh Hall is free, so you are able to visit and walk around the gardens and the woods whenever you like. The grounds are popular with dog walkers, bike riders, and families just using the large grassy areas or the playground on sunny days. If you are feeling adventurous, there are 3 nature trails to follow, from 1.5km to a lengthy 9km if you are up for a challenge.

If you want to spend your money, there are plenty of ways to do so: -
You can play 18 holes of crazy golf, collect a picnic or eat locally sourced produce in the Stables Tea Rooms, travel around the park on the minature railway, make something special at the craft gallery, or buy something at the gift shop. Haigh Hall also boasts a real 18 hole golf course, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a Tiger Woods. Once a year the fair comes to Haigh Hall, usually around the August Bank Holiday, and it gets packed full of people having a great time.

There are special evening events organised quite regularly, usually tea dances, psychic evenings, murder mysteries etc, which I haven't been to yet, but they always look interesting. There are sometimes outdoor music events for up and coming bands, although The Verve once did a concert after they were famous.

Weddings at Haigh
Haigh Hall is a lovely place to get married, the house is beautiful with its magnificant rooms and the Grand Staircase certainly lives up to its name. Outside you have the backdrop of the Douglas Valley for your photos. I can't praise the staff highly enough, they were true professionals and glided around as if by magic.

I find it scary that there have been whispers about this magnificant hall being sold off to the highest bidder. If the rumours are true who knows what might happen to it? In years to come I could take my grandchildren to show them where I got married, and could find myself in the middle of a housing estate. I hope they are only rumours.

You can find out more about what you can do at Haigh at www.wlct.org/leisure/Haigh/haighhome.htm

Summary: Can be as cheap as you want to make it