Why Live in Skelmersdale
If you’ve got your eye on one of the properties at our stunning Vision development in Skelmersdale, you’ll want to know more about the local area, so here’s everything you could need to know.
Skelmersdale – or Skem, as it’s affectionately known by locals - is a friendly and welcoming ‘new town’ set in a picturesque Lancashire valley on the River Tawd. With a population of 38,813 Skelmersdale is a thriving town with both plenty going on, including some exciting redevelopment work, but also easy access to the peace and tranquillity of nature. The greenery isn’t just all around Skelmersdale, either, it’s been built into the planning of this town, which has woodland running right through it.
History
In 1801 just 414 people lived in Skelmersdale village - the area's roots can be traced back to Roman times - but the surrounding coal mining activity transformed the population, which grew quickly to 6,627 by 1891. Suddenly the sleepy village had become a bustling colliery town.
The modern, vibrant town of today, sprang up in 1961 as the North West's first new town. It has developed into a hive of urban activity with a number of thriving business parks, investment centre, industrial estates and busy shopping areas.
Travel & Transport
Despite its rural location, Skelmersdale is incredibly well-placed for transport links, being close to both the M58 and M6 motorways, making it convenient for both Liverpool and Manchester, for work, culture, shopping and the international airports in both cities. Meanwhile, the station at nearby Upholland is on the Kirkby to Wigan line, offering easy connections across the North West and beyond.
Transport within Skelmersdale is a unique experience too, as there are famously no traffic lights in the town, which has been designed to use roundabouts to let traffic flow easily around the town instead. It’s even got one of Europe’s largest roundabouts, known as Hope Island, which has artwork dedicated to cancer sufferers on the middle of the island.
Education and Employment
There are 20 primary schools and three secondary schools in Skelmersdale, as well as four special schools and one independent school. Children from Skelmersdale also attend schools in nearby Wigan, St Helens and Ormskirk, meaning there are lots of options for parents looking for the right school.
Nearby Cobbs Brow Primary has an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating while St James' Catholic Primary School, the Maharishi Free School and Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Engineering College are all also highly-rated and conveniently located for Vision. Edge Hill University is a short drive away towards Ormskirk.
Skelmersdale is home to several multi-national companies, including 25% of all the businesses in West Lancashire, with the likes of Walkers and DHL amongst the companies with offices here, there’s also plenty of local small businesses too, making Skelmersdale a great place to both live and work.
Out and About
The main shopping area of Skelmersdale is The Concourse centre with its two floors of shopping outlets, featuring all the big high street names as well as a mix of independent stores and plenty of places to eat with cafes, coffee shops and fast food chains - as well as fast food, cafes and coffee shops.
As part of a new extension to The Concourse, there’s also a new Star Cinema set to open there later this year along with the opening of a Lidl supermarket and improvements to Skelmersdale Library. This shows that Skelmersdale is on the up and up, with money being spent to keep growing and developing the town centre.
There is a choice of supermarkets in and around the town including Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Iceland and Morrisons and small food stalls in the food hall of the Concourse. With great places to eat like The Star Inn, The Coach House, Prince William Inn and a generous helping of fish n chip shops, you’ll never struggle to find somewhere to eat out or grab a takeaway.
There are also a variety of busy towns nearby to visit to eat out and shop, including Liverpool, Ormskirk, Manchester, Wigan and Southport
Exploring and Leisure
When it comes to green spaces, Skelmersdale has something for everybody. Beacon Country Park has Green Flag Status for its natural beauty but is also an ideal place to spend some family time with lots of summertime events, craft fairs, displays and an 18-hole golf course meaning it’s always a popular place for locals to visit. Golf fans can also visit nearby Dean Wood Golf Club.
There’s also the beautiful Tawd Valley Park, a picturesque valley of open grassland and woodland that runs through the town and has three trails for you to explore and wildlife like Kingfishers, Dippers and Wagtails to spot. If you do want to go further afield, Formby’s sand dunes and red squirrels are a short drive away, as are the beaches and attractions of Southport.
Introducing Our New Development: Vision
Vision is a new development of stylish 2,3 and 4-bedroom homes close to Skelmersdale town centre. At Vision, you will have the best of both worlds, just a 5-minute walk to the town centre and minutes away from some of the most beautiful countryside views in Lancashire.
All of our homes are designed for busy modern lives and finished to a high standard featuring fixtures and fittings from our Signature collection and contemporary kitchens complete with integrated appliances, modern bathrooms, and luxurious en-suites, they’ve got everything you need to settle into your new home.
