Agecroft Colliery
Encyclopedia
Agecroft Colliery was a coalmine on the Manchester Coalfield
in the Agecroft district of Pendlebury
that first opened in 1844 in the historic county of Lancashire
, England. It exploited the coal seams of the Middle Coal Measures
of the Manchester Coalfield
.
and worked an area to the south of the Pendleton Fault
. The fault to the north, with a displacement of 695 metres to the northeast, formed a natural boundary to the colliery. In 1896 Agecroft Nos. 1 & 2 Collieries employed 371 underground and 111 surface workers while Agecroft Nos. 3 & 4 employed 15 underground and 39 on the surface.
The colliery was located close to Clifton Hall Colliery
(Lumns Lane, Clifton
), and had access to the Manchester and Bolton Railway
line and the Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal.
(NCB), aware that coal reserves in the existing collieries were becoming exhausted, looked at re-opening the colliery. The NCB carried out deephole-boring in July 1951. In total 7 boreholes were drilled; the deepest was 1,155 metres (3,790 feet). In early 1953 it was deduced that there was an estimated 80 million tonnes of workable coal in seams varying from 68 cm to 213 cm (2 ft 2½ in to 7 ft 0 in) in thickness.
The second Agecroft Colliery was the first coal mine to be sunk in Lancashire since World War II
. It cost £9 million to realign and restructure the pit. The new colliery was situated between Agecroft Road (A6044), Dell Avenue and the Manchester to Bolton railway line. The old Nos. 3 & 4 shafts
were realigned for coal extraction, and No. 5 shaft sunk (610 metres in depth, 7.3 metres in diameter) to provide ventilation and for winding men and equipment into the mine. A tunnelling programme commenced in August 1957 and 10,060 metres of tunnel was driven to allow for development of initial output. First coal winding began in August 1960. New surface buildings were built and the colliery was substantially complete by 1960.
s in May 1994.
close to the River Irwell
. The coal was transported to the power station via an enclosed conveyor belt on a bridge over Agecroft Road. Some coal was moved by merry-go-round coal hopper trains shuttling between coal mines and power stations.
opened on the colliery site. Much of the land remains unused. An international railfreight terminal was planned next to the Manchester to Bolton railway line but, though a spur line was built, the development did not materialise. A housing development has been built on Agecroft Road on the Thermalite factory site and a prison
, HMP Forest Bank and Youth Offenders' Institute
, built close to the power station site. The land has been landscaped, and footpaths constructed to encourage recreational use.
Swinton RLFC
has plans to build a 6,000-seat stadium in the Agecroft area which is expected to be built early in 2012.
Manchester Coalfield
The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South East Lancashire Coalfield. Its coal seams were laid down in the Carboniferous period and some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages and extensively from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th...
in the Agecroft district of Pendlebury
Pendlebury
Pendlebury is a suburban town in the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies to the northwest of Manchester city centre, northwest of Salford, and southeast of Bolton....
that first opened in 1844 in the historic county of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England. It exploited the coal seams of the Middle Coal Measures
Coal Measures
The Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term for the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio-deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks interstratified with the beds of coal...
of the Manchester Coalfield
Manchester Coalfield
The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South East Lancashire Coalfield. Its coal seams were laid down in the Carboniferous period and some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages and extensively from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th...
.
First colliery (1844–1932)
The colliery had two spells of use; the first was between 1844 and 1932. The pit was sunk by Andrew Knowles and SonsAndrew Knowles and Sons
Andrew Knowles and Sons was a coal mining company that operated in and around Clifton, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire. England....
and worked an area to the south of the Pendleton Fault
Pendleton Fault
The Pendleton Fault, sometimes called the Irwell Valley Fault, stretches for about 20 miles from Bolton in Greater Manchester along the Irwell Valley through Pendleton to Poynton in Cheshire, running northwest–southeast. The fault throws the beds of the Middle Coal Measures of the Manchester...
. The fault to the north, with a displacement of 695 metres to the northeast, formed a natural boundary to the colliery. In 1896 Agecroft Nos. 1 & 2 Collieries employed 371 underground and 111 surface workers while Agecroft Nos. 3 & 4 employed 15 underground and 39 on the surface.
The colliery was located close to Clifton Hall Colliery
Clifton Hall Colliery
Clifton Hall Colliery was one of two coal mines in Clifton on the Manchester Coalfield, historically within Lancashire which was incorporated into the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England in 1974....
(Lumns Lane, Clifton
Clifton, Greater Manchester
Clifton is a small town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies in the Irwell Valley in the northern part of the City of Salford....
), and had access to the Manchester and Bolton Railway
Manchester and Bolton Railway
The Manchester and Bolton Railway was a railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England, connecting Salford to Bolton. It was built by the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 1831 converted from a canal company...
line and the Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal.
Second colliery (1960–1991)
In the late 1940s and early 1950s the National Coal BoardNational Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
(NCB), aware that coal reserves in the existing collieries were becoming exhausted, looked at re-opening the colliery. The NCB carried out deephole-boring in July 1951. In total 7 boreholes were drilled; the deepest was 1,155 metres (3,790 feet). In early 1953 it was deduced that there was an estimated 80 million tonnes of workable coal in seams varying from 68 cm to 213 cm (2 ft 2½ in to 7 ft 0 in) in thickness.
The second Agecroft Colliery was the first coal mine to be sunk in Lancashire since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It cost £9 million to realign and restructure the pit. The new colliery was situated between Agecroft Road (A6044), Dell Avenue and the Manchester to Bolton railway line. The old Nos. 3 & 4 shafts
Shaft mining
Shaft mining or shaft sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom....
were realigned for coal extraction, and No. 5 shaft sunk (610 metres in depth, 7.3 metres in diameter) to provide ventilation and for winding men and equipment into the mine. A tunnelling programme commenced in August 1957 and 10,060 metres of tunnel was driven to allow for development of initial output. First coal winding began in August 1960. New surface buildings were built and the colliery was substantially complete by 1960.
Disaster of 1958
In 1958, while construction workers were sinking shafts, an underground explosion killed one man and injured twelve, trapping them at the bottom of the ft 1900 shaft. The accident was attributed to a misunderstanding in signalling, when men at the top mistakenly believed that the men at the bottom had left the pit and commenced demolition sending tonnes of rock and debris down the shaft.http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Snt3jP83c&feature=relatedFinal years of operation
Some workers at the pit participated in the miners' strike from 1984–1985. Pickets were held outside the entrance to the colliery, and many families suffered hardship over the winter months. The colliery closed in March 1991 and demolition began later the same year. The closure of Agecroft Power Station was announced in November 1992. The station closed soon after; demolition of the site commenced in 1993 and culminated in the destruction of the four cooling towerCooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
s in May 1994.
Agecroft Power Station
The colliery's main customer was the Central Electricity Generating Board’s Agecroft Power StationAgecroft Power Station
Agecroft Power Station refers to three now demolished coal-fired power stations, which were situated between the eastern bank of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal and the western bank of the River Irwell at Agecroft, Pendlebury, near Manchester, North West England.-History:Agecroft Hall, an...
close to the River Irwell
River Irwell
The River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
. The coal was transported to the power station via an enclosed conveyor belt on a bridge over Agecroft Road. Some coal was moved by merry-go-round coal hopper trains shuttling between coal mines and power stations.
Post-closure and redevelopment
In the late 1990s, a business enterprise parkBusiness park
A business park or office park is an area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. All of the work that goes on is commercial, not industrial or residential....
opened on the colliery site. Much of the land remains unused. An international railfreight terminal was planned next to the Manchester to Bolton railway line but, though a spur line was built, the development did not materialise. A housing development has been built on Agecroft Road on the Thermalite factory site and a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, HMP Forest Bank and Youth Offenders' Institute
Forest Bank (HM Prison)
HM Prison Forest Bank is a Category B men's private prison, located in the Agecroft area of Pendlebury near Manchester, England. The prison is operated by Sodexo Justice Services.-History:...
, built close to the power station site. The land has been landscaped, and footpaths constructed to encourage recreational use.
Swinton RLFC
Swinton Lions
Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...
has plans to build a 6,000-seat stadium in the Agecroft area which is expected to be built early in 2012.
External links
- http://www.frazerweb.demon.co.uk/Agecroftmain.html "Mine Photos - Agecroft Colliery", retrieved 4 July 2006
- "BBC News - The British Landscape" - A before and after comparison using images from 1983 and the modern day (images "1" & "2"; "9" & "10"), all retrieved 4 July 2006.
- The Lancashire Coalfields: Platt, B. The history of Agecroft Colliery,
- http://www.wcml.org.uk/contents/protests-politics-and-campaigning-for-change/pit-and-factory-papers/agecroft-mine-salford/ Working Class movement library