Manchester Collieries

Manchester Collieries was a coal mining company with headquarters in Walkden formed from a group of independent companies operating on the Manchester Coalfield in 1929. The Mining Industry Act of 1926 attempted to stem the post-war decline in coal mining and encourage independent companies to merge in order to modernise and better survive the economic conditions of the day. Robert Burrows of the Atherton company Fletcher Burrows proposed a merger of several independent companies operating to the west of Manchester. The merger was agreed and took place in March 1929.^[1]

Constituent companies

The constituent companies of Manchester Collieries in 1929 were Fletcher, Burrows and Company who owned the Howe Bridge, Gibfield and Chanters Collieries in Atherton, Andrew Knowles and Sons, the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company, John Speakman and Sons owners of Bedford Colliery in Leigh, Bridgewater Collieries who operated pits in Little Hulton, Walkden and Mosley Common and the Astley and Tyldesley Collieries Company who had pits in Astley and Tyldesley.^[2]

Not all the companies in the area joined the new company. The Tyldesley Coal Company remained independent until nationalisation in 1947 but other companies were acquired in the 1930s after the government introduced quotas in the Coal Mines Act 1930. Ramsden's Shakerley Collieries was taken over in 1935; its Wellington Pit closed the same year and the Nelson three years later. Bradford Colliery, in Bradford, Manchester, owned by a subsidiary of Fine Cotton Spinners, was acquired in 1935. The West Leigh Colliery Company and the Coppull Coal Company were bought before 1939.^[3]

Up to 1929 most coal was cut by hewers, men using picks and shovels, but Manchester Collieries began a programme of mechanisation increasing its production of machine-cut coal from 17% to 98% in 16 years. The movement of coal underground was also mechanised, and pit ponies were no longer used for underground haulage after 1932.^[4]

Mining was a dangerous industry but Manchester Collieries aimed to make the job as safe as possible, and training was a major priority. Some entrants attended local technical colleges and after 1942 some were sent to university. The company was considered to be a generous employer; workers at its pits were on average 1s 6d per shift better off than miners working for other employers, and it built pithead baths and canteens at its pits.^[4]

Central railways

The collieries were linked by an extensive system of mineral lines linked to workshops at Walkden Yard. The collieries were linked to mainline railways at Ellenbrook and Sandersons Sidings on the Tyldesley Loopline, at Astley Green sidings on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, at Walkden Low Level on the line to Bolton, at Walkden High Level on the Manchester and Wigan Railway and at Linnyshaw Moss on the Manchester to Bolton Line. There were canal tips at Boothstown and Worsley on the Bridgewater Canal.^[5]

Nationalisation

At Nationalisation in 1947 Manchester Collieries employed 14,868 workers on the Lancashire Coalfield. Some of the surface workers were women, known as pit brow lasses, who sorted coal on the screens at the pit head.^[6] As coal reserves were exhausted, the older collieries closed.^[4]

Colliery[2]	Location	Underground workers	Surface workers
Astley Green Colliery	Astley	1,375	561
Nook Colliery	Tyldesley	1,365	355
Gin Pit Colliery	Tyldesley	362	158
Bedford Colliery	Leigh	704	252
Chanters Colliery	Hindsford	945	429
Gibfield Colliery	Atherton	530	178
Howe Bridge Colliery	Howe Bridge	312	136
Mosley Common Colliery No. 1 & No. 2	Mosley Common	978	406
Mosley Common Colliery No. 4	Mosley Common	853	221
Newtown Colliery	Clifton	570	240
Brackley Colliery	Little Hulton	761	271
Sandhole Colliery	Walkden	725	335
Pendlebury Colliery (Wheatsheaf)	Pendlebury	659	274
Bradford Colliery	Bradford, Manchester	690	223

References

Notes

1. Townley et al. 1995, p. 373
2. Manchester Collieries, Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 29 October 2010
3. Townley et al. 1995, p. 374
4. The Manchester Coalfields (PDF), Museum of Science and Industry, archived from the original (pdf) on 19 July 2011, retrieved 10 December 2010
5. Sweeney 1997, p. 352
6. Davies 2006, p. 108

Bibliography

• Davies, Alan (2006), The Pit Brow Women of the Wigan Coalfield, Tempus, ISBN 0-7524-3912-X
• Hayes, Geoffrey (2004), Collieries and their Railways in the Manchester Coalfields, Landmark, ISBN 1-84306-135-X
• Sweeney, D.J. (1997), A Lancashire Triangle Part Two, Triangle Publishing, ISBN 0-9529333-2-2
• Townley, C.H.A.; Appleton, C.A.; Smith, F.D.; Peden, J.A. (1995), The Industrial railways of Bolton, Bury and the Manchester Coalfield, Part Two, The Manchester Coalfield, Runpast, ISBN 1-870754-32-8