Wigan Album

Is that the "Rabbit Rocks" or "Rockies" in the background?

Yes, rabbit rocks.

its the 'Rockies'!

looks like the locks near rosebridge school were we used to dive in

that looks like the locks at sandy bottoms

Apologies - I should have been more clear. It seems that the name is/was "Rabbit Rocks" to those who lived around Ince and "The Rockies" to those who lived around Platt Lane or St Catherines. The two names refer tom the same place. I have not seen the area for many years. When I was last there, I don't think the houses over on the right of the picture had been built.

the rabbit rocks are in ince so I think incers have the say on there name..rabbit rocks

They were certainly The Rabbit Rocks to Incers. My Aunty Mary lived in West Street and from her back garden there could be seen some old, derelict buildings which had belonged to the pits, (where the new house are shown on the photo above), and I can remember as a small child standing in Aunty Mary's garden hearing the eerie sound of the wind moaning through them.

Irene those building you speak of I remember very well they were in an area we called the green patch..my friend derek rigby climber up into the beams of the main building to tie a rope to make a swing but nearly fell off it. The building must have been used as an engine shed because inside were what looked like to railway platforms with a gap in the middle for the train to enter.. Also in this area was the burning sands. A red shale mound where you could dig a small hole. Bung some paper in and it burst into flames... We also found fossils in the shale too....in later years a pond appeared on this area close to the belle green lane end

Forget the rest and listen to the best...they are the famous Rabbit Rocks in are in INCE. Not Whelley, not New Springs not Scholes, but INCE, Higher INCE.

Something that is missing from the picture is the arched steel bridge which carried the railway across the canal. I don't know when that disappeared. Also, approximately opposite to the Rabbit Rocks/Rockies on the left side of the canal (as seen from the picture) was a white building which was referred to as the White House. I suppose that has also gone.

The arch steel girder railway bridge would not be visable in both these photos, John. The Lancashire Union Railway (whelley loop) closed in the early 1970s and the bridge scrapped a short time after the lines was lifted.

they were called rabbit rocks i was born and bred in ince top of belle green lane when we were kids we used to walk over them to get to the bye wash on the canal our mums grans aunties used to take us swimming in bye wash every sunday on a picnic then on way home we went on rabbit rocks to look for rabbits those were good days loved them sadly i no longer live up there but my family still do we didnt have any money so it was bottles of water and jam butties for our picnic x

Around there are some pit shafts capped, to the right. Lovely story Jean, just like we did as kids.

The rocks in the back ground are the slag heaps, waste left over from the smelting process from Kirkless Iron works. I remember seeing remains of old building at the rear when i was a kid and looking at old photographs it's hard to imagine nowadays the shear size of the plant let alone that there was anything there.

my grandad would get us to climb up the rabbit rocks from the canal side .stand at the top looking towards whelley he told us to inhale the fresh air he said that the breeze came from the sea at southport.and it would do us good.anyone else heard this

The building with the platforms was some sort of engine shed as there was a small railway from Belle Green Lane to the Rose Bridge Colliery.
The shafts were capped and surrounded with fencing.
I remember that happening.
I also remember this lock being emptied like it is in the photo.
I tried to walk across and got stuck in the thick black mud.
I read somewhere that in it`s day, the Rose Bridge Colliery had the deapest pit shaft in the world.
If it is not true, it should be.
I remember as a small boy jumping the bywash.
It was also a dare to walk along the tops of the lock gates.
We did not worry if we fell in, we could swim, and in any case it wouldn`t be the water that killed you but what you might catch from the unwanted drowned cats or cuts from rusty iron etc.
Still, what does not kill you makes you stronger.