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 Mineral Lines 

 

Wigan and Leigh are well known as being coal-mining towns, and remained so into the modern era. It's perhaps less well known that the area to the west of Horwich was once riddled with small pits, many of which were served by private mineral railways. Pits in Blackrod, Adlington, Arley, Haigh, Aspull and Westhoughton were all served by railways which connected with the local main lines and to the canals.

Sadly, the ad-hoc nature of these lines means that there was very little recorded about them; certainly, I have yet to see a photograph of one of these lines. We can however trace their routes on aerial photographs and plot them with the help of first edition OS maps. In some cases, there is no visible trace left, where lines once trailed across open fields. In others, the trackbeds are still visible, or now form field boundaries or footpaths. In some areas - particularly Westhoughton - the density of these railways is quite startling.

 

There may have been other short mineral lines associated with the many small pits between Blackrod and Aspull, but by 1889, there were just three which were either wholely or partly within the confines of the town. 

 

Blackrod

 

At Grimeford, to the North of Blackrod near the boundary with Adlington, there was a south-facing junction on the Preston & Bolton line near the boundary with Adlington. From there, the line turned westwards, then split into two spurs. One fork crossed the Chorley road, heading out across the fields to Arley pits and to the canal near Standish. The Blackrod branch of this line skirted the bottom of the hill at the bottom of Blackrod Brow, following much of the path that would eventually be used by the Blackrod Bypass. The line ended behind Castlecroft, between the bypass and the foot of the hill, serving two pits that were part of Anderton Hall Collieries.

A former stationmaster at Blackrod relates a tale which was passed to him, that there was once a tunnel emerging from the hill to the north west of the station, which brought coal to the railway. Although this is likely a case of Chinese Whispers, it is lent some credence by the presence of a pit just yards up the hill.

 

 

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Hilton House

 

Whilst the above may be of interest to anyone who lived in Blackrod, the area around Hilton House station is perhaps a little more surprising. Today, the Red Moss pit is still easily identifiable as such, but doesn't seem to have been rail-served - at least, by the time of the 1889 OS map. Other pits in the area are still identifiable on aerial photographs and in many cases had links to the rail system.

The L&YR plans for the Hilton House line, opened in 1868, show a mass of mineral lines already in existence. These lines were connected to the Preston-Bolton line by means of a junction a little way further south than the one which was built by the L&YR. The new line crossed the A6 at the same point as the existing mineral line, but it seems likely that the bridge was added at that point. Perhaps a more rudimentary structure was in place before that, or more likely the line followed the gradient rather than lying in a cutting. 

 

The site now occupied by Blackrod Industrial Estate once had a large fan of sidings, extending across Scott Lane.

 

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from Aspull

 

 

The third colliery line which entered the borders of Blackrod, is again shown on the 1889 OS map, and was a spur from the network of lines around Aspull & Haigh. This line approached Blackrod from the West, to serve a pit which was already shown as disused by 1889.

 

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Given that the first edition OS map included lines and collieries which had already closed by 1889, it seems likely that other pits which were marked as disused by that date, may have been rail-served.