Ellesmere Colliery

Ellesmere Colliery was a coal mine in Walkden, Manchester, England. The pit was located on Manchester Road, a short distance south of Walkden town centre.[1]

Aerial view of Ellesmere Colliery, 1947 or earlier

There were three shafts on the colliery site, with a fourth upcast shaft located a distance to the NNW. No. 1 shaft was sunk to the Five Quarters mine at a depth of 252 metres (276 yd). The 250-metre (273 yd) deep No. 2 shaft and 377-metre (412 yd) No. 3 shaft were located on either side of the engine house.[2][3] The c.1866 engine house contained a central ventilator and the winding engine was from local iron founder's Nasmyth Wilson, which powered a 30-inch by 54-inch winder.[1] It wound one cage in each shaft and the winding drum had a stepped 4.3-metre (14 ft) and 3.0-metre (10 ft) diameter to cater for the differing depths. The 1800s wooden headgear was replaced with metal structures in the 20th century, with one surviving until 1955.[2] At least one of the shafts intersected the underground canal of the Worsley Navigable Levels,[1] and although coal winding ceased in 1921 it was retained for water pumping and ventilation.[2]

The colliery was served by the Bridgewater Collieries Railway, which connected other lines such as the LNWR and also to the Bridgewater Canal.[3] The Walkden Yard maintenance depot was later constructed on the western side of the pit.[4] The Walkden offices of the company were also located to the southwest of the site.[1]

Bridgewater merged with others to form Manchester Collieries in 1929. The electrification of Ellesmere engine plant in 1936 led to the closure of the nearby Roughfield Colliery.[5] Pumping continued until 1968 and after the National Coal Board demolished the buildings at both sites and the shafts were filled-in. Sometime later a violent explosion occurred in a house in Walkden caused by firedamp accumulating underground and eventually forcing its way to the surface. To prevent a recurrence a borehole was drilled down No.1 shaft and a methane extraction plant built at the top.[2]

References
  1. Davies, A. (2010). Coal Mining in Lancashire & Cheshire. Stroud: Amberley. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-44562-361-0.
  2. Wharton Hall Colliery, Northern Mine Research Society, retrieved 22 January 2020
  3. Lancashire and Furness (Map). 1 : 2,500. County Series. Ordnance Survey. 1893. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  4. Davies, A. (2013). Walkden Yard: The Lancashire Central Coalfield Workshops. Stroud: Amberley. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-44561-705-3.
  5. The Electrical Review. IPC Electrical-Electronic Press. 1917. p. 464. Retrieved 22 January 2020.

53.5235°N 2.4018°W / 53.5235; -2.4018

Further reading
  • Challinor, Raymond (1972), The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners, Frank Graham, ISBN 0-902833-54-5
  • Hayes, Geoffrey (2004), Collieries and their Railways in the Manchester Coalfields, Landmark, ISBN 1-84306-135-X
  • Townley, C.H.A. (1995), The Industrial railways of Bolton, Bury and the Manchester Coalfield, Part Two, The Manchester Coalfield, Runpast, ISBN 1-870754-32-8
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