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

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

on the

Manchester Coalfield The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South Lancashire Coalfield, the coal seams of which were laid down in the Carboniferous Period. Some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages, and extensively from the begi ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. 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 The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

Tyldesley Loopline The Tyldesley Loopline was part of the London and North Western Railway's Manchester and Wigan Railway line from Eccles to the junction west of Tyldesley station and its continuance south west via Bedford Leigh to Kenyon Junction on the Live ...

in about 1874. Speakman's father owned Priestners, Bankfield, and Broadoak collieries in Westleigh. Bedford Colliery remained in the possession of the Speakman family until it was amalgamated with

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 ...

in 1929.

Geology

Bedford Colliery exploited the Middle Coal Measures which were laid down in the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

period and where coal is mined from seams between the Worsley Four Foot and

Arley mine The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South Lancashire Coalfield, the coal seams of which were laid down in the Carboniferous Period. Some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages, and extensively from the beg ...

s. 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, Leigh Cemetery - geograph

Bedford was a rural community until the arrival of the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...

; a large basin built at Butts in 1795 proved to be a catalyst for the development of industry in the township.

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

however had been got from small pits in the northeast of the township. Wood End Farm was an area of Bedford with many old small coal pits including Milner's Pit which was working in 1853. John Speakman began sinking two shafts south of the railway line in 1874, and by 1876 coal was being produced. The shafts were deep and reached the

Crombouke mine The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South Lancashire Coalfield, the coal seams of which were laid down in the Carboniferous Period. Some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages, and extensively from the begin ...

. In 1883 No. 2 shaft was deepened to to access the Seven Foot mine and to to access the

Trencherbone mine The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South Lancashire Coalfield, the coal seams of which were laid down in the Carboniferous Period. Some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages, and extensively from the begi ...

. Three years later No. 1 shaft was deepened to reach the

, at . Speakman's Sidings between Tyldesley Station and Bedford Leigh Station were provided after 1882. Speakman's built a private mineral railway line about a half mile in length to Guest Street, where there was a landsale yard and from where coal was sent to Bedford Mill. The line served a brickyard and smokeless fuel plant. In 1896 Bedford Colliery employed 366 men underground and 108 surface workers. Household and manufacturing coal was got from the Crumbouke,

Six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

and Seven Foot mines. 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 The Astley and Tyldesley Collieries Company formed in 1900 owned coal mines on the Lancashire Coalfield south of the railway in Astley and Tyldesley, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The company became part of Manchester Coll ...

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 The National Coal Board (NCB) 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 United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

in 1947. It closed in 1967 having employed 518 underground and 131 surface workers.

Disaster

The Bedford Colliery Disaster occurred on Friday 13 August 1886, when an explosion of

firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...

killed 38 men and boys. There is a memorial in Leigh Cemetery.

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 The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside). History The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossi ...

at Newton le Willows. In 1910 the company acquired ''Bedford'' a 0-6-0 side tank built in 1865 by

Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Precursor companies The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially s ...

of Leeds.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Photographs of Wood End Pit Past Forward Issue 43 pp.13–15 BBC, Early Days as a Bevin Boy in Lancashire Bedford Colliery, Leigh by Roger Hampson
{{Authority control Coal mines in Lancashire Underground mines in England Industrial railways in England Defunct mining companies of the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Leigh, Greater Manchester Demolished buildings and structures in Greater Manchester