Agecroft Colliery

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Agecroft Colliery was a coal mine in Pendlebury, part of Salford in Greater Manchester, England.

1 First colliery (1844-1932)
2 Second colliery (1960-1991)
3 Agecroft Power Station
4 Final years of operation
5 Post-closure and redevelopment
6 References
7 External links

[edit] First colliery (1844-1932)

The mine had two spells of usage, the first was between 1844 and 1932. The first mine was sunk by Andrew Knowles and Company and worked an area to the south of the Irwell Valley Fault. The Irwell Valley Fault to the north of the colliery with a displacement of 695 metres to the north east, formed a natural boundary to the colliery.

The mine was located close to the Clifton Hall Colliery, and enjoyed good access to the Manchester to Bolton railway line and the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal.

[edit] Second colliery (1960-1991)

In the late 1940s/early 1950s the National Coal Board was aware that some of the nearby collieries were becoming exhausted, and so looked at re-opening Agecroft Colliery. The National Coal Board carried out some deephole-boring in July 1951. In total 7 boreholes were drilled, with the deepest being 1,155 metres (1,259 yards) in depth. In early 1953 it was deduced from this information, along with data from other nearby collieries, 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 old No. 3 and No. 4 shafts were realigned to allow coal extraction, however, a new No. 5 shaft had to be sunk (610 metres in depth, 7.3 metres in diameter) to provide adequate ventilation and winding men and equipment down to the seams. After the old shafts had been relined, the tunnelling programme commenced in August 1957 and in all some 10,060 metres were driven to allow for development of initial output. First coal winding began in August 1960. New surface buildings had been built and the colliery was substantially complete by 1960.

Agecroft Colliery was the first new mine to be sunk in Lancashire since World War II. An investment of £9 million was utilised in realigning and restructuring the mine. The new Agecroft Colliery was situated between Agecroft Road, Dell Avenue and the Manchester to Bolton railway line.

[edit] Agecroft Power Station

The colliery's main customer was Central Electricity Generating Board’s Agecroft Power Station, which was on the opposite side of Agecroft Road. The coal was transported over to the power station via an enclosed conveyor belt which travelled on a specially constructed bridge over Agecroft Road. Some coal was also moved by merry-go-round coal hopper trains which were a common sight, simply shuttling between coal mines and power stations and back again.

[edit] Final years of operation

Some workers at the mine participated in the National Union of Mineworkers strike from 1984-1985. Pickets were held outside the entrance to the colliery, and many families suffered hardship over the winter months.

The mine closed in March 1991. Both the colliery and Agecroft Power Station were demolished in 1991. The legacy of the closures being relatively high unemployment and vast swathes of wasteland on the old sites.

[edit] Post-closure and redevelopment

In the late 1990s, a business enterprise park has opened on the wasteland left over from the colliery. Much of the land is still without use, such as the pits adjacent to Dell Avenue. An international railfreight terminal was to have been build next to the Manchester to Bolton railway line, however, even though a spur line had been built off the railway, the railfreight terminal has yet to materialise. Further development on the land in the early 2000s has lead to a small increase in jobs in the area.

A housing development has recently been built along Agecroft Road on Agecroft Power Station's site, as has a new Prison and Youth Offenders Institute (HMP Forest Bank). The land has been somewhat landscaped, and footpaths have been constructed to encourage people to use the land for recreational purposes.