Join us at the 2025 Big Wigan Walk Week as we follow in the footsteps of the infamous Lady Mabel! 🚶
The tale of Lady Mabel Bradshaigh is the stuff of local legend… fascinating the people of Wigan for centuries and now also inspiring a brand-new Wigan-based novel entitled ‘Lady Mabel’s Gold’.
Hear from novelist S.P. Caldwell as we visit some of the places featured in the book, which recounts the tragic but romantic story of how Lady Mabel remarried in the belief that her husband, Sir William Bradshaigh, had been killed on the Crusades - only for him to return, leading to her walking barefoot from Haigh Hall to Mab’s Cross once a week as penance for bigamy.
In crime thriller ‘Lady Mabel’s Gold’, a gang of robbers led by an obsessive academic raid chantries on the eve of the 2020 lockdown because they think that Sir William brought back an invaluable treasure for his wife who hid it in one of them.
This walk visits sites mentioned or described in the story, such as the tomb of William and Mabel in Wigan Parish Church, Haigh Hall, Mab’s Cross and the opening of the Great Haigh Sough.
It also incorporates a visit to Wigan Museum to see an 18th century portrait of the Bradshaigh family described in the book; to St Mary’s Church where the 19th century mystic Teresa Higginson fell into ecstasies, and also to the scene of murders near to the Wutchie, the reclaimed slag heap in New Springs.
Believers in the supernatural reckon the ghost of Lady Mabel, aka ‘The White Lady’, can still be spotted roaming around Haigh Hall and the nearby wood named in her honour! Whether you believe or not, this is a tale worth hearing…
📍 Meet at Wigan Parish Church, Bishopgate, WN1 1NL.
🥾 Please wear suitable footwear and make sure to dress for the weather
🎟️ FREE – please book via the Be Well app or online as spaces are limited (please note: following this event page does not constitute a booking).
Suitable for ages 16+
This is one of more than 55 free organised group walks taking place as part of the Big Wigan Walk Week 2025.
Find out more at bewellwigan.org/bigwiganwalkweek
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