New Lester Colliery 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 ...

operating 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 ...

from the second half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century in

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, southeast of Wigan ...

, then in the historic county of

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. It was owned by

James Roscoe James Roscoe (1820 – 1 August 1890) of Little Hulton, Lancashire, was an English locomotive engineer and colliery owner. He was the son of Roger Roscoe of Farnworth and his wife Eliza Grundy. He started his working life as a miner in Astley ...

and two shafts were sunk in about 1865 on the east side of Mort Lane on the road to

Little Hulton Little Hulton is an area in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, south of Bolton, northwest of Salford, and northwest of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Little Hulton is bordered by Far ...

where Roscoe had sunk the Peel Hall and New Watergate pits. At first the colliery was not linked to a railway and coal had to be moved using horses and carts until 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 ...

built the Little Hulton mineral branch line in 1874. The Little Hulton mine was connected to the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

's Manchester to Southport Line in 1888 at Peel Hall sidings and a private line built to New Lester. James Roscoe and Sons was formed in 1892 remaining in operation until 1938 when Peel Collieries took over. New Lester's shafts were deepened to access the Arley mine in the early 1890s where 'Arley slack', poor quality coal for industrial use was mined. The colliery also won coal from the

Yard 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 ...

which was known here as the Denner Main, the Four foot, Cannel, Plodder and Three Quarters mines. In 1939 the colliery employed 499 men underground and 169 surface workers and three years later 15 men underground and 13 on the surface. The colliery was completely closed by 1947. The area of these coal workings was opencasted after the Second World War.

Locomotives

Roscoe's company bought ''Lord Kenyon'', a six coupled saddle tank from the

Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & S ...

in 1884. In 1900 another Hunslet saddletank, ''Mary'', in 1907 ''King Edward VII'' and in 1914 ''King George V'' were bought from Hunslets. They resembled the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

Company locomotives and could negotiate sharp curves.

References

Citations

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Bibliography

{{refbegin *{{citation , last=Hayes , first=Geoffrey, title=Collieries and their Railways in the Manchester Coalfield , publisher=Landmark , year=2004 , isbn=1-84306-135-X *{{citation , last=Townley , first=C.H.A. , last2=Appleton , first2=C.A. , last3=Smith , first3=F.D. , last4=Peden , first4=J.A. , title=The Industrial railways of Bolton, Bury and the Manchester Coalfield, Part Two, The Manchester Coalfield, publisher=Runpast, year=1995, isbn=1-870754-32-8 {{refend {{coord, 53.519, -2.436, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Coal mines in Lancashire Underground mines in England Tyldesley

Locomotives

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography