Wigan Album

Has the name Arley got some significance with Wigan. In the deep mines, there were Arley seams. The only reference that I can find, is, it is a male baby name, originally Hebrew. Old English, meaning. " Bowman, the hunter."

Arley golf course at Red rock running by the canal dairy pit and Fan pit.and Meadow pit.plus many more probably had seams at Arley

Jack. Arley also has the meaning. "Meadow of the Hares"

The Arley seam takes it's name from one of the places it outcrops and was probably first mined. That is along Arley Brook near what is now Wigan Golf Club. The Arley seam was the best quality coal in Lancashire and was worked out extensively wherever it was found, from it's outcrops around Haigh, Blackrod, Aspull, Westhoughton and other places right down to over 4000 feet below ground at Parsonage Colliery near Leigh, a record depth for British mining from 1947 till 1990.

In the photo, the building on the right is Abbey Farm. Under the bridge on the left would be Arley Hall, which had a moat around it, hence the name Moat Bridge, although on all the maps it is shown as Arley Bridge. Arley Hall is now Wigan Golf Club.

I recollect Chris. The Arley seam at the Maypole was the deepest seam, located down No.1 shaft. 900 yards deep. I worked down No.2. Too long to go into detail Chris, but it was a superb bit of mining engineering, sinking down to the Arley seam, in the late thirties, early forties.

It was a shaft sunk below an existing shaft, with its own cage , and winding engine, (Electric), until the engineering fete was completed. It enabled coal still to be wound, without shutting down the pit.

Albert, the Arley is the deepest seam at every pit in South Lancs. That is because it is the lowest in a succession of more than 30 workable seams available over large areas of the main coalfield. There are seams much lower than the Arley, about 900 ft lower is the closest, but they are thin and of poor quality.

Apologies for spelling feat, fete.

Albert, I'm intrigued about the set up which you described at Maypole. Was there another winding engine at the pit bottom to service the extended shaft? Can you tell us more.

Tuddy. The reason for this expert piece of engineering was. Wigan 5ft, and Wigan 6ft seams were becoming exhausted. To get to the Arley seam , and the Haigh? seam, they had to sink the shaft much lower. The powers that be didn't want to shut the pit, to do this. Two winding engines were installed at the bottom of both shafts. ( Both electrical) This enabled coal production to continue. An electrical engineer named H. J. Bridge installed all the necessary electrical equipment. He sent me a letter confirming this. No 2 shaft had also to be sunk lower, for ventilation purposes. In the Heritage Centre they have documentation confirming this. (Maypole Colliery)

Thanks for that Albert,I didn't know about that set up.