Orchard Green by Miller Homes

Description

Orchard Green
Set by a reservoir on the eastern fringe of Westhoughton, with a sheltering belt of trees separating it from the farmland to the east and a large open space forming a delightful welcome to the development, Orchard Green is a collection of new homes which has a refreshing air of calm retreat. Yet, just two miles from the M61, and with a train station less than a quarter of a mile away, it offers remarkably good commuter access to Liverpool, Manchester and the whole of the North-West.

Local history
Westhoughton, known as 'Howfen' by the locals, was the site of a Civil War battle in 1642, an event commemorated by a mural above the town's Market Hall. The people of the town are traditionally referred to as 'Keaw Yeds' (cow heads in the local dialect), and while there are several competing explanations for the nickname, the most popular dates it back to a local farmer who, when one of his cows got its head stuck in a gate, cut the beast's head off on the basis that it was cheaper to replace the cow than install a new gate.

Entertainment
There is a wide choice of bars and restaurants in Westhoughton town centre, and the wider area offers a broad selection of entertainment opportunities ranging from live concerts at the Bolton School Arts Centre, to the facilities of the Middlebrook Leisure Park, which include a Hollywood Bowl, a sports stadium, a health club and a multi-screen Vue cinema.

Outdoor activities
The open spaces in Westhoughton include Hall Lee Park, a designated local nature reserve situated less than a mile to the north of Orchard Green, and the popular Central Park, scene of the town's annual carnival, where there are bowling-greens, tennis-courts and a children's playground. Around five miles to the south, the 200-hectare Pennington Flash Country Park includes a large lake with fishing and watersport facilities, an important nature reserve, play areas and a network of paths for walking, cycling and horse-riding. Other parks in the area include Risley Moss Local Nature Reserve, around nine miles away, and the Knowsley Safari Park in nearby Prescot.

Shopping
There is a good range of local shops and supermarkets in Westhoughton, many of them in Market Street - which is also the location of the Market Hall - or in Pavilion Square. The Spinning Gate Shopping Centre at nearby Leigh includes a number of high street retailers. and the comprehensive Trafford Centre in Manchester, with over 230 shops in an attractive mall setting, is only nine miles away.

Sport and leisure
Westhoughton Sports and Leisure Centre includes a sports hall, a 25m swimming-pool and two glass-walled squash courts, and there is a second swimming-pool at Hindley, two miles away. The Cheeky Chimps Playcentre at Atherton, just over a mile from Orchard Green, provides adventure activities and sports for children aged up to 12, and the local Hart Common Golf Club incorporates excellent 9 and 18-hole courses as well as a 27-bay driving range and a fully licensed clubhouse.

Transport
Orchard Green is less than two miles from junction 5 of the M61, offering fast access to central Manchester. And Daisy Hill Station, just quarter of a mile from the development, is served by Northern Rail trains running between Wigan and Manchester. Both Manchester Airport and Liverpool Ferry Terminal are within 35 minutes' drive.

Education
There are several excellent primary schools within a mile of Orchard Green, the nearest being just a quarter of a mile away in Hindley Road, and a choice of secondary schools in easy reach.

Health care
There is a choice of three medical practices, offering a wide choice of GPs and a range of specialist clinics, less than a mile from the development in Nelson Street. There are also dental practices and pharmacies in Westhoughton town centre.

Nearest schools:

• St James CofE Primary School, Daisy Hill (0.2 miles) 
• Eatock Primary School (0.4 miles) 
• Washacre Primary School (0.5 miles) 

Driving directions

From Liverpool

Leave Liverpool by the M62, and exit the M62 at junction 10 to join the M6 travelling northwards. Stay on the M6 through junction 22, and leave the motorway at junction 21, taking the third exit at the roundabout to join East Lancashire Road. Stay on East Lancashire Road for around four miles, then turn left to join the A579. Stay on the A579, which becomes Atherleigh Way, for around three-and-a-half miles, then turn left into Lover's Lane (B5235). At the T-junction, turn left into Wigan Road then immediately right into Schofield lane (which becomes Lower Leigh Road). Carry on for three-quarters of a mile, and at the roundabout, take the second exit to enter Leigh Road. The entrance to Orchard Green is on the right, around 75 yards on.

From Manchester
Leave the M60 Manchester ring road at junction 15 to join the M61, following signs for Wigan, and stay on the M61 for just over six miles, then leave at junction 5 and take the first exit at the roundabout to enter Snydale Way (A58). At the next roundabout, take the second exit to join Park Road, then after around three-quarters-of-a-mile, at the traffic-lights bear left into Leigh Road. After a little over half a mile, the entrance to Orchard Green is on the left.

Opening hours

Thursday to Monday, 10.30am to 5.30pm

Call directly

Tel: 01204 684398

About Miller Homes

Our Background

We’ll keep it brief, because a lot has happened over the past seventy-five years. Around 100,000 new Miller homes, for a start. A lot of new ideas in building technology. Loads of awards, like Major Housebuilder of the Year, Large Housebuilder of the Year, Best Sustainable Development, and Private Housebuilder of the Year. That last one’s important because it’s from First Time Buyer magazine, so it’s about real people and their experiences. We won that one last year. Oh, and the year before.

But awards are about the past. The important thing is what you can expect from us in the future.

Listening to you

Four times every year, we ask an independent research company to find out whether our customers would recommend us to friends. Our current rating is 97% positive (2011 average).

That’s about more than great houses. It’s about keeping in touch, helping you find what you want, helping you buy it once you’ve found it, telling you how the building’s coming along (by email, SMS, or the post). It’s about listening, and being there if you have a question or a problem. It’s about our incentives, offers and assistance schemes (please check them out), and dedicated websites that help people in a new neighbourhood to get to know each other. Yes, we get excited by new ideas and technologies, but essentially we’re just old fashioned, home loving people.

Quality homes. In quality places.

Building homes is what we do, and we do it exceptionally well. Over the past 75 years, we’ve seen what people really like about the homes we build and, well, we build on that experience.

So you know that behind the kerb appeal there’s a structure that meets the highest professional standards. You know that the beautifully proportioned rooms are impeccably finished and decorated. You know that every detail has been checked, inspected (and admired). You know all that because of the way the door feels when you open it, the crisp clean edge of the paintwork, the way your whole home just works. That’s experience.

What you may not realise, at least until you have the pleasant surprise of seeing your fuel bills, is that we are also absolutely committed to the most environmentally friendly movements in homebuilding. This means we use low-carbon construction methods (even zero carbon on occasion) but it also means that our homes are highly energy efficient in everyday life.

And finally, location location location. Some people want country quiet, some want urban convenience. All we can do is try to find the very best spot for every taste. So we try to put urban where it’s also pretty quiet and rural where it’s also pretty convenient. And the views? Well, we can’t move mountains (and wouldn’t if we could) but we will try to make sure your new home is pointing towards one if there’s one available, and something else nice if there’s not.

Service is too small a word.

We think of it as a relationship. Even if it never gets beyond the electronic stage we’ll do our very best to help you find what you’re looking for, and do it as unobtrusively as we can. You choose the channels, and we go away when you ask us to.

When you visit one of our developments, though, we have a chance to meet properly and talk. We enjoy that. We’ll show you homes we think you might like (or ones very like them if they’re not finished yet) and tell you about special offers that might interest you.

If you decide to buy, we’ll help in every way we can. We can give you information about mortgages and lawyers if you want it, although we’re careful not to become too close to anyone working on your behalf because we don’t want any conflicts of interest. Then we’ll keep you informed as your new home is being built, and invite you round at the appropriate time to choose things like kitchen worktops and bathroom tiles. If you want to measure up for carpets and curtains, we’ll do our best to arrange things.

When you get your keys, there’s a meeting to go over all the important stuff like stopcocks and thermostats, and we’ll also leave you full instructions. But here’s the best part. We don’t go away. We’ll leave you in peace, of course, but if you need help or advice we’ll be on hand for as long as you need us. That’s the kind of relationship we like.

FirstBuy

FirstBuy is an affordable housing Equity Loan product from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), working in partnership with house builders all over England.

This unique FirstBuy scheme has been designed for households who have found buying a property on the open market difficult due to the large deposits required for mortgages. First Time buyers could now benefit from getting additional government help to buy a brand new house through the FirstBuy scheme.

Under the scheme the government and house builders provide an equity loan as follows:

• Government and house builder provide equity loan of 20%
• You arrange a mortgage for 75%
• Meaning your deposit is 5%