Bedford Colliery

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Coordinates: 53°30′14″N 2°29′49″W / 53.504°N 2.497°W / 53.504; -2.497
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bedford Colliery, also known as Wood End Pit, was a

coal mine on the Manchester Coalfield in Bedford, Leigh, Lancashire, England.[1] The colliery was owned by John Speakman, who started sinking two shafts on land at Wood End Farm in the northeast part of Bedford, south of the London and North Western Railway's Tyldesley Loopline in about 1874. Speakman's father owned Priestners, Bankfield, and Broadoak collieries in Westleigh.[2] Bedford Colliery remained in the possession of the Speakman family until it was amalgamated with Manchester Collieries in 1929.[3]

Geology

Bedford Colliery exploited the

Arley mines.[a]
The seams generally dip towards the south and west and are affected by small faults. The Upper Coal Measures are not worked in this part of the coalfield.

History

Bedford Colliery monument

Bedford was a rural community until the arrival of the Bridgewater Canal; a large basin built at Butts in 1795 proved to be a catalyst for the development of industry in the township. Coal however had been got from small pits in the northeast of the township.[4] Wood End Farm was an area of Bedford with many old small coal pits including Milner's Pit which was working in 1853.[5][6]

John Speakman began sinking two shafts south of the railway line in 1874, and by 1876 coal was being produced. The shafts were 197 yards (180 m) deep and reached the

Arley mine, at 891 yards (815 m).[5]

Speakman's Sidings between

Six and Seven Foot mines.[7]
Speakmans sank No. 3 pit between 1913 and 1916.

After 1929 the colliery became part of Manchester Collieries and its railway was connected to the Astley and Tyldesley Collieries railway system between Nook and Gin Pit collieries. Manchester Collieries made improvements including new headgear and screens. The colliery became part of the National Coal Board in 1947. It closed in 1967 having employed 518 underground and 131 surface workers.[8]

Disaster

The

Bedford Colliery Disaster occurred on Friday 13 August 1886, when an explosion of firedamp killed 38 men and boys. There is a memorial in Leigh Cemetery.[2][9]

Locomotives

The Speakmans bought a 0-6-0

saddle tank locomotive about which little is known; it may have been built by Andrew Barclay of Kilmarnock. This engine was replaced by a 4-coupled saddletank The Sirdar from the Vulcan Foundry at Newton le Willows. In 1910 the company acquired Bedford a 0-6-0 side tank built in 1865 by Manning Wardle of Leeds.[10]

See also

References

Notes

  1. coal mine
    as a colliery or pit.

Citations

  1. ^ NW Division map, cmhrc.co.uk, archived from the original on 19 July 2011, retrieved 22 October 2010
  2. ^ a b Lunn 1958, p. 264
  3. ^ John Speakman & Sons Ltd, Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 22 October 2010
  4. ^ Lunn 1958, p. 187
  5. ^ a b Lunn 1958, p. 235
  6. ^ Sweeney 1997, p. 235
  7. ^ North and East Lancashire's Mining Industry in 1896, projects.exeter.ac.uk, retrieved 7 July 2009
  8. ^ Davies 2010, p. 71
  9. ^ BEDFORD. Wood End Pits. Leigh, Lancashire. 13th. August, 1886. (PDF), The Coalmining History Research Centre, p. 1, archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2010, retrieved 17 December 2010
  10. ^ Townley et al. 1995, p. 282

Bibliography

External links

53°30′14″N 2°29′49″W / 53.504°N 2.497°W / 53.504; -2.497

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