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Photos of Wigan
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Wigan Album

Lower Ince

11 Comments

Crossings at Lower Ince
Crossings at Lower Ince
Photo: Rev David Long
Views: 3,715
Item #: 32988
To go with David Bamford's image of the flooded line south of Lower Ince Station - the section in his image is the one coming in from the bottom right corner.
Further up the line can be seen the pumping station which used to drain the cutting.

Comment by: Cyril on 7th March 2021 at 13:41

Interesting map showing how active the railway was around there.

There's also a brook that runs (or did run) along the bottom left side of the map you could see it from a footpath off Warrington Road, this runs through the cemeteries and whether or not it goes into one of the flashes I don't know, but a brook from the same direction runs through Poolstock before entering the River Douglas at Fourteen Meadows.

Comment by: Rev David Long on 7th March 2021 at 15:36

Cyril - that brook may look as if it comes from the Ince direction - but I think it actually flows from Orrell Water Park through Winstanley and Goose Green (as Smithy Brook by that point).
Ince Brook, which crosses under Warrington Road at Deph Bridge - adjacent to my former Vicarage - does then flow under Ince Cemetery - there's a grid in the corner of what was the lower playground for St Mary's/ Hall of Ince Schools which United Utilities use from time to time to inspect the culvert, sending a video camera through to look for problems. It goes under the WCML by a sump, and then goes under Wigan Cemetery into Pearson's Flash.
I think its waters then find their way into Scotsman's and other flashes... but I think their waters syphon off southwards as part of the Mersey catchment via the River Glaze - which is also fed by Borsdane Brook.
When I was Vicar of St Mary's, one little job I did was to bring the boundary with St James' Poolstock up-to-date - by making the Leeds & Liverpool Canal the new boundary - instead of the line of the Clarington Brook - which was also the Wigan Borough/ Lancs County boundary. This used to cross Warrington Road at Britannia Bridge and flow by an erratic track southwards - ending up, on the map, flowing through Scotman's Flash (which made beating the bounds a bit of a problem). It was thus part of the Glaze/ Mersey catchment. When the Canal was built its waters were culverted northwards from Britannia Bridge into the Douglas, under the Gas Works site.

Comment by: Albert.S. on 8th March 2021 at 09:48

The Brook that the Reverend refers to, the one that flowed under the play ground of St Mary’s School. About half a mile from the Brook reaching that point, in the forties my school mates and I would fish for sticklebacks. A stick, a length of cotton, and a worm on the end. No hooks. Essential, essential, big jam jar.

Comment by: Cyril on 8th March 2021 at 15:26

Thanks David and Albert, yes that's the brook and in the early 1980s my eldest son, his grandad (wife's father) and myself went along there looking to see small fish or tadpoles, alas no, though there was an oily film on the water so that was probably why.

Comment by: Albert.S. on 9th March 2021 at 09:49

Cyril, in the forties, the time that I am referring to, there was a railway wagon works adjacent to the Brook. A large metal pipe ran under the ground, and emerged by the side of the brook. Quite often water would gush for a period of time from the pipe, and pour into the Brook. The water in the Brook was very clear. To one side of the Brook there was a pond, always referred to as the Trenchie.

Comment by: Angela Keegan on 10th March 2023 at 16:19

Hello, I am trying to find out the name of a railway bridge that used to cross Warrington Road Lower Ince in the 1950’s. My grandparents lived at 53 Warrington Road and the railwayline used to run along side their house. Sadly the house has been demolished and I think the bridge was too. I live in wales and so it is not easy foe me to visit. Any help would be wonderful. I have memories of visiting there as a child and playing in a triangular piece of land looking up to the train going past, behind my grandparents terraced house. My grandfather was Ernest Baxter and his wife was Hannah, my mother was Greta Baxter.

Comment by: Rev David Long on 11th March 2023 at 11:46

Angela - take a look at this map:
https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=33656&gallery=Ince&page=9
The bridge you mention is still there - on the Wigan-Bolton-Manchester line - on the left side of the image. The row of houses you mention is the one immediately beside the bridge - with a bit of land between it, the railway, and the railway sheds. There's a housing estate on the land now, which replaced a Kwiksave supermarket on the site.
There's an aerial pic of the area somewhere on the Album - and it's also on the Wigan & Leigh Archives site - showing the area in the 1920s.

Comment by: Rev David Long on 11th March 2023 at 14:45

Angela - Hannah was married from the same house - it was her mother's home. Margaret Alice Webb was widowed, with six children, in the Great War on St George's Day 1917. Their home then was 5 William Street - perhaps 53 Warrington Road was a cheaper house - the family had moved there before your great-aunt Emma was Baptised (aged 17) in 1919. William Webb was in the Border Regiment, but had previously served in the Grenadier Guards, including in the Boer War - he married soon after, in 1901. He was 38 when killed - having re-enlisted in August 1914.

Comment by: Angela Keegan on 28th December 2023 at 10:36

Thankyou all so much. I have only just found your replies. This is great information. Thank you for your time.

Comment by: Colin Traynor on 31st December 2023 at 11:15

Very fascinating map Rev Long, it reminds me of Spaghetti Junction

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