The canal that never was
Authorisation,
Construction and Abandonment
The Act authorising the Ashton Canal, or
the Manchester, Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham Canal to give it its full name,
received the Royal Assent on the 11 June 1792 (Note 1). This was, 'An Act
for the making of a navigable canal from Manchester to or near
Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham in the County Palatine of Lancaster'. The
canal was to be constructed from the eastern end of Piccadilly, Manchester, to
Fairfield and from there to Dukinfield Bridge at Ashton and also to New Mill
near the town of Oldham.
This Act authorised a branch that was planned to commence at Fairfield and be cut in a northerly direction until it reached the vicinity of the river Medlock near Waterhouses. From there it was to generally follow the southern bank of the river, upstream, (but crossing it twice) to terminate at New Mill near Park Bridge. The Act also made provision for a short branch at Ashton to cross the river Tame into Dukinfield. This branch appears to have been cut to a point near where Lower Alma Street was later constructed (Note 2).
It is evident that concerns were soon being expressed within the Canal Company about the adequacy of coal supplies for the canal to carry and thus generate income. On the 18 September 1792, the Manchester Mercury reported that a meeting of Proprietors was to be held to consider proposals and estimates for making branches from the Ashton Canal and the method of raising money to enable this to be done. On the 20 November 1792, this paper announced that a General Meeting of the Company of Proprietors would take place on the 12 December 1792 to consider the draft of a proposed Bill intended to be applied for in the next session of Parliament. This draft contained details of proposed extensions to the Ashton Canal.
The November press announcement stimulated new interest in the Company and on the day before the General Meeting a Notice was placed in the Manchester Mercury for the sale of shares in the Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham Canal. Applications were to be sent to A B George's Coffee House, Temple Bar, London.
The Second Bill received Royal Assent on the 28 March 1793 (Note 3). It authorised the cutting of a lock-free southern branch from Clayton to the Three Boars Heads Inn at Heaton Norris, Stockport, passing through Openshaw, Gorton and Reddish and this became known as the Stockport Branch. It also authorised another lock-free branch from this, following contours along the edge of the Tame Valley, to Beat Bank, Denton, on the Stockport/Ashton road, for access to collieries at Haughton Green.
Map 1 - The Ashton
Canal and its Branches
The wording of the Act suggests that the Beat Bank Branch would have terminated at or near the hamlet of Beat Bank in Denton. Beyond Beat Bank, towards Haughton Green where a cluster of coal mines was situated, the land rises but it was impracticable to construct locks because there would have been no water supply for them or for the short summit pound. Instead, it is likely that a system of gravity-operated tramways would have connected the mines to a canal basin at Beat Bank. However, coal from several mines along the banks of the river Tame, of which Hulme's Pit was the most important, would have required hauling up the valley side to Beat Bank.
Simultaneously, plans for the northern branch (authorised by the first Act) from Fairfield were substantially modified. At Waterhouses the branch was now to cross the river Medlock where, after rising through four locks, it was to divide with one branch going to Stake Leach at Hollinwood and another going towards Park Bridge following the northern bank of the Medlock upstream. The canal between Fairfield and Hollinwood became known as the Hollinwood Branch, the authorised terminus being at Bradley Bent, and the branch from Waterhouses to its terminus at Fenny Field, near Park Bridge, became known as the Fairbottom Branch.
However, subsequent developments sealed the fate of the Beat Bank Branch. The Ashton Canal Company had a problem in that the authorised terminus of the Hollinwood Branch did not extend as far as a suitable water supply or to lucrative coal mines a short distance to the north. As it happened, the canal was extended beyond its authorised terminus at Bradley Bent to end at Jig Brow, Werneth, but this extension was unauthorised.
The mine at Jig Brow was owned by the Werneth Colliery Company, which was empowered to build a canal to an existing canal provided that it was not more than four miles long. Accordingly, they built a canal, including four locks, from Jig Brow to Bradley Bent. The total length of canal built by the Werneth Colliery Company was around 1,672 yards, well below the four miles permitted. The Ashton Canal Company bought 792 yards of this at the southern end, including the four locks, and the Colliery Company retained about 880 yards at the northern end for private use, this being known as the Werneth Canal. Later, the larger Chamber Colliery Company absorbed the Werneth Colliery Company.
The Werneth Colliery Company initially consisted of a group of collieries developed by John Evans, William Jones and John and Joseph Lees and, importantly, the Lees brothers were shareholders in the Ashton Canal Company.
The Ashton Canal Company started work on cutting the branch canals as soon as the Second Bill was passed. On the 24 September 1793, the Manchester Mercury reported that, '---- the Company is in want of an engineer to superintend the completion of the cutting of the Canal and several branches. The cutting of the canal from Clayton to Heaton Norris (Note 4) and from Taylor's Barn, Reddish to Beat Bank, Denton (Note 5) is to be let in several different lengths.'
An inspection of maps and physical remains of the Beat Bank Branch shows that it was, indeed, let to contractors in several different lengths. This was, and still is, standard practice in the civil engineering industry and it pays testimony to the accuracy of both the surveyors and their instruments in those early days. It is possible to stand on Ross Lave Lane, Denton, and in one direction to see a section of earthworks and in the opposite direction to see a hillside without earthworks and yet the surveyors had absolute confidence that they had got their levels right for this isolated section. From the same vantage point it is possible appreciate the magnitude of the work that would have been required of the navvies in digging or boring through that hillside.
In common with most canal companies, the Ashton Canal Company soon became cash strapped and this gave cause for concern. A special meeting was held on the 10 June 1795, '---- to consider the propriety of Cutting so much of the Canal, as lies between Taylor's Barn, in the township of Reddish, and Beat Bank (it being Doubtful whether it might be for the Interest of Proprietors to cut that part of the said Canal for the present).' On the 30 June 1795, the Manchester Mercury reported that this meeting was adjourned until the 10 July 1795. However, the outcome was that work on the Beat Bank Branch was discontinued.
By early 1797 the main line of the Ashton Canal and the Hollinwood and Fairbottom branches were complete and the Stockport Branch was nearing completion. Having ensured sufficient supplies of coal from the Hollinwood and Fairbottom Branches, the Ashton Canal Company decided to formally cease work on the Beat Bank Branch with its troublesome clay slopes on the side of the river Tame. They made representations to William Hulton, who owned coal mines at Haughton Green, to the effect that they simply could not afford to complete it.
In 1798 the Canal Company applied for a Bill to allow them to legally abandon the Beat Bank Branch, after paying compensation to landowners for damage done, and at the same time raise another £30,000, half of which was to be used to pay off debts. Predictably, William Hulton opposed this Bill and the Canal Company then offered to give him the unfinished branch. He refused this offer and simultaneously tried to get the abandonment clause defeated. He failed in this attempt and the Act (Note 6) was passed on the 26 May 1798.
An examination of the 1888 Distance Tables of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company provides some reasons for the abandonment of the Beat Bank Branch. It lists two major colliery companies who extensively used the Hollinwood and Fairbottom Branches to carry coal. These were the Chamber Colliery Company, now incorporating the Werneth Colliery Company, and the Bardsley Colliery Company. By 1888 numerous mines, dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries, would have either closed or merged but, nevertheless, the Tables illustrate that the Ashton Canal Company seems to have obtained ample supplies of coal from the Oldham area to generate enough revenue and also avoid the need to raise further capital at the construction stage back in the 1790s. Arguably, the economics of successfully operating the canal was the cause of the cessation of work on the Beat Bank Branch in 1795 and its abandonment in 1798 but the influence of the Lees brothers, as shareholders of the Ashton Canal Company, cannot be lightly dismissed.
Rationale for
Abandonment
It is interesting to examine in greater detail the
motivation behind the Ashton Canal Company in deciding to abandon the Beat Bank
Branch. At this distance in time from the events this may seem a difficult task
but, as military strategists will confirm, human psychology does not change.
There was a huge reserve of coal in the Haughton Green area and it seems that
the Ashton Canal Company too easily gave up the idea of carrying any of it on
the proposed Beat Bank Branch. This volte-face occurred at practically
the same time that they received authorisation to do it and in so doing they
lost an important source of revenue. Human avarice suggests that if coal could
be carried into industrial Manchester and Stockport from both the north and
south sides of the Ashton Canal, then it would have been done. One coalfield
could then have been played off against the other with impunity and lucrative
deals could have been struck and tolls levied accordingly.
The received facts are:
In common with practically all canal companies, the Ashton Canal Company was cash strapped but this was the era of 'Canal Mania' and investors were flocking to put their money into such companies. But, somehow or other, they invariably managed to raise sufficient capital to complete their projects. The Canal Company wished to exploit coal reserves both to the north and the south of the main line of the Ashton Canal and their Second Act of Parliament confirms this. Curiously, they then offered to give the Beat Bank Branch to William Hulton in order that he could complete it for himself. This was either an attempt to deceive or to pacify. If he had called their bluff and actually completed it as a private canal could he then have carried coal on it toll free? This leaves two imponderables. Was the Canal Company genuinely anxious about future engineering problems and just how much influence did the Lees brothers actually have on Canal Company policy? On balance, after considering the relevant facts, it seems that the Lees brothers were a major influence in the abandonment of the Beat Bank Branch because its completion was not in their own financial interests. The outcome of this was that most of the coal consumed along the banks of the Stockport Branch was carried there from the Hollinwood and Fairbottom Branches.
The Beat Bank Branch
described
Taylor's Barn in Reddish (Note 7), where the Beat Bank
Branch left the Stockport Branch, was a mere 1 mile and 66 yards from the
terminus at Stockport Basin. Referring to Map 1 above, and without any prior
knowledge of the lie of the land, one would reasonably expect this departure
point to have been somewhere further north. However, in order to follow the
contours along the river Tame, the point chosen was the only one possible.
From Taylor's Barn the branch was cut for a short distance in an easterly direction before turning northwards to pass by the eastern side of Reddish Hall and then on towards Mill Lane, on the Reddish/Denton border where the cutting ceased (Note 8). The line then turned to the northeast towards Denton Wood. It then made an acute turn to the southeast to pass through the wood. A brook runs through this wood, so either a small aqueduct or a culverted embankment would have been required. On leaving the wood, the line would have passed through a short tunnel before arriving at Ross Lave Lane, Denton. Here there was another section of earthworks where the line turned in an easterly direction. Prior to the construction of the M60 motorway, this could still be followed along the contours to the southern end of Horse Close Wood. All construction work on the Beat Bank Branch ceased at a point adjoining Horse Close Wood, which lies just short of the hamlet of Beat Bank.
Map 2 - Beat Bank,
Denton
Referring to Map 2 above, although the distance between Horse Close Wood and Beat Bank is only about 550 yards, it was fraught with engineering problems. A stream flowing through Horse Close Wood had to be crossed. This crossing was close to a hairpin bend in the river Tame that is particularly prone to erosion and bank collapse (Note 9). After crossing the stream, the line then followed the contours along a winding course with steep sides, before arriving at a second stream. Here, compounding matters, Stockport Lane (Stockport Road) climbs Beat Bank and the stream is culverted below it. Immediately beyond Stockport Lane the branch would have arrived at Beat Bank. Even at this distance in time, it is easy to understand why all work ceased at Horse Close Wood. This begs the question, was it the intention to terminate the branch at Horse Close Wood and then make the connection to coal mines using tramways? This was standard practice with canals and many feeder tramways were constructed from mines and quarries to them. Both the Hollinwood and Fairbottom Branches had feeder tramways.
At Taylor's Barn about 264 yards of the Beat Bank Branch was fully completed and put into water. Ordnance Survey maps of 1848 and 1894 show no buildings associated with this truncated branch and the Distance Tables of 1888 provide no clues about its use. The tables refer to it simply as the Reddish or Beat Bank Private Branch. Moreover, as no streams seemed to have flowed into it, it was not retained to act as a water supply. Consequently, its usefulness remains a mystery.
Vestiges of earthworks can still be seen at various places but, with the passage of time, these are disappearing. Large-scale maps show a short cutting immediately to the east of Denton Wood. This is the approach cutting to the tunnel that would have emerged near Ross Lave Lane. The earthworks adjoining Horse Close Wood were almost destroyed when a main sewage pipe was laid soon after World War II and the line can now only be identified by a row of trees and a slight depression in the ground. When the M60 motorway was built, huge embankments were necessary to provide approaches for the bridge across the river Tame in Reddish Vale and this resulted in more loss.
Even when the branch was being cut, the Ashton Canal Company was aware that the clay slopes of the river valley were prone to slippage. This process has continued ever since and has generated more loss. In the 1970s it was baffling to see earthworks at different levels until it was realised that slippage had occurred.
At that time, the local farmer, Harold Phillips of Hyde Hall Farm, Denton, (Note 10) said that he was aware of some 'undulations' across his land but he had always believed them to be natural features of the landscape. He was unaware that their existence had been caused by the cutting and abandonment of the Beat Bank Branch.
Coal Mines at Haughton
Green and Denton
Coal mines were often referred to as coal pits and
early maps show a profusion of them in the Haughton Green and Denton areas with
several being located alongside the river Tame. Hulme's Lane provided access to
these and nowadays walkers extensively use this.
These pits were probably fairly shallow and from the bottom of the shafts many galleries would be driven into the coal seam at right angles to each other so that pillars of coal were left behind to support the roof. At some point it would be decided that the work could advance no further and the colliers would then withdraw back to the shaft and as they did so they would remove the numerous pillars of coal and in so doing cause the roof to collapse behind them (Note 11). The second stage of removing coal from a pit of this type was highly dangerous. Having completed this work, it was then a case of sinking another shaft somewhere else. Obviously, those pits close by the riverbank would have had the added danger of flooding and it is known that Hulme Pit had a beam engine to pump out the water.
Eventually, some of the underground galleries would connect with those of other pits and this is how the larger pits may have emerged while others were abandoned as not being viable. There was also a need to sink deeper shafts and this required capital, especially for the acquisition of winding gear and pumps in order to continuously drain water away. In due time, the following larger pits, all relatively close to Beat Bank, emerged from the consolidation of numerous smaller ones:
Hard Mine Pit and Horse Holes Pit eventually closed and were replaced by a more modern pit called Great Wood Pit. Ellis Pit lay on the northern side of Stockport Lane and Top Pit on the southern side. These two merged to form Denton Colliery (Note 12) and there was a tramway connection between Great Wood Pit and Denton Colliery from where there was a tramway connection to Denton Colliery Sidings on the Stockport and Guide Bridge line of the London and North Western Railway (Note 13). Hulme's Pit seems to have retained some kind of independence until it closed.
The Hamlet of Beat
Bank
By the end of the 18th century (and
throughout the 19th century) Beat Bank was essentially a mining community but
its foundation goes back much further. The earliest known name for the hamlet
and surrounding area is Bight Bank but alternative spellings of
Beight Bank and Beet Bank also occur. It was situated on the
northern side of the Tame Valley, hence the name, 'Bank'. In due
course a yeoman's farm was built on the northern side and this was called
Bight Bank Farm (later Yew Tree Farm). The derivation of
Bight (or Beight) is unknown but there are two occurrences of
the place name Beighton, one in Derbyshire and the other in Norfolk,
both of which can be traced back to around the time of the Norman Conquest in
1066. Beighton also occurs as a surname. This farm was of a
timber-framed construction having a stone roof and wattle and daub walls. Its
appearance suggests that it was built around the time of Elizabeth I (1533 -
1603) and it may be that when it was first built it had a thatched roof that
was later replaced by a stone one.
An early surviving record of this farm is in an indenture dated 16 April 1711 when Thomas Lees was the yeoman there. The relevant part of this document reads, '---- Samuel Torkinton of Haughton of Haughton of the same county Broad Cadwaladr and Martha his wife upon the second part and Thomas Lees of Bight Bank in Denton in the county of Lancaster aforesaid yeoman upon the third part ----'. The 1881 Census records that the farm (then renamed Yew Tree) was 32 acres in extent and the farmer was William Whitehead, a bachelor, who lived there with his brother, Peter, a farm bailiff. The timber-framed building was eventually demolished and replaced by a brick-built two-storey house. The later name of Yew Tree was from a yew tree growing nearby.
The hamlet was separated from Bight Bank Farm by Stockport Lane (later Stockport Road) and it contained miners' cottages and a farmstead with a barn and an orchard. The 1881 Census records that the farm (13 Beet Bank) was 45 acres in extent and that the farmer was Joseph Leather. Shaw Street lay at its northern end and its construction dates from the second half of the 19th century. There were also two rows of terraced cottage built parallel to Stockport Lane. It is not known who built the cottages but it is likely that it was the mine master at the nearby Hulme's Pit by the side of the river Tame on Holmes Lane (later Hulme's Lane).
Beat Bank lies in the Parish of the Church of St Mary, Haughton Green, and it was without an inn or a shop. The closest inns were the Waggon and Horses (Fletcher's Arms) and the Arden Arms on the Cheshire side of Beat Bridge over the river Tame. Although Beat Bank lay on the Stockport/Ashton road; it must have been a very isolated community at that time. By the late 1930s, it had been abandoned (and mostly demolished) except for the farmstead (then a house) and Shaw Street.
The later Denton Colliery took control of Hulme's Pit but the shaft was only used to pump water from Denton Colliery workings. The Denton Colliery Company provided its own miners' cottages and there were more cottages at the nearby hamlet of Burton Nook (Note 14) on Stockport Lane, almost opposite the Waggon and Horses (Fletcher's Arms).
Today, practically nothing remains of the former coal mines or of the mining community that served them but with care some traces can be found. The stone-retaining wall around Denton Colliery survived until about 2004. The adjoining colliery offices remain and they have long been used as a private residence and display area for a monumental stonemason. By an Act of Parliament of 1911, it became compulsory to have mine-rescue stations. The one built for Denton Colliery, complete with mortuary, is still extant and is now used as two private residences. One collier's cottage associated with Denton Colliery still survives, although much altered. The Fletcher's Arms is still there but the original Waggon and Horses Inn was demolished and rebuilt. Traces of Hulme's Pit remain and have been excavated and here and there fence posts made from iron rail can be found alongside the river. Some drystone walls, which once formed boundaries at Beat Bank, remain and have been incorporated into garden walls. The walls flanking the former road through Beat Bank at the southern end are particularly well preserved and are now part of a garden wall. In Hardy Wood, a paved drainage channel associated with Great Wood Pit survives.
Lastly, it should be mentioned that the Beat Bank Branch was not intended to connect with the small pit at Burton Nook or with the much larger Denton Colliery, both of which were situated on Stockport Lane. Neither of them was extant at the time of the short-lived Beat Bank Branch.
Earthworks of the Beat Bank Branch
looking east from Ross Lave Lane, Denton, 26 August 1981.
Reddish Vale
and the river Tame are off the photograph on the right.
Earthworks of the Beat Bank Branch looking
east towards Horse Close Wood, Denton, 26 August 1981.
Referring to Map
2, these are the earthworks shown on the map.
Reddish Vale and the river
Tame are off the photograph on the right.
