Sandhole Colliery (or Bridgewater 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 fro ...

originally owned by the Bridgewater Trustees 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 beg ...

Walkden Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Salford, and of Manchester. Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire, Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture. In 201 ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

, then in the historic county of

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

, England. The colliery closed in 1962.

History

The Bridgewater Trustees began sinking two diameter shafts for the Bridgewater Colliery in 1865. The winding house contained two engines built by Naysmyth, Wilson & Company. The engines survived until 1962 when the colliery closed. Two further shafts were sunk soon after, one of which was sunk to the

Doe 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 ...

at for ventilation and emergency use. No 3 shaft was in diameter and sunk to . This shaft was deepened to in 1943.

References

Notes Bibliography * * Coal mines in Lancashire Mining in Lancashire Underground mines in England {{UK-geo-stub