Chapel Basin and Mary Moffat, Missionary
The Dukinfield Coal and Cannel Company operated Chapel Basin Loading Stage and in 1850 it was handling coal transported to it by horse and cart from the adjacent Dunkirk Colliery. A second pit in close proximity was Chapel Pit (aka Dog Lane Pit), which was part of Dunkirk Colliery, and coal destined for the basin from this was also transported to it by horse and cart. Later, it is understood that a tramway was constructed to connect Chapel Pit to Chapel Basin but its exact route is uncertain. It is believed that this ran part way down what is now Charles Street and if this is so, then the route taken is likely to have been first along Dog Lane (now Astley Street) and then part way down Charles Street.
Records of Dunkirk Colliery do not seem to have survived but it is known that Chapel Pit was somewhat smaller than other pits owned by the company. In 1896 there were 26 underground workers and six surface workers, the Manager and Under Manager being R Clay and William Hyde, respectively. This pit worked the Sod Mine (seam) and the type of coal was manufacturing coal.
Today there is no trace of these pits. The site of Dunkirk Colliery lay partly below the Stamford Works of William Kenyon & Sons Ltd (Grid Ref. SJ 935 980) and the site of Chapel Pit lay under Railway Street to the south of Astley Street (Grid Ref. SJ 937 979). In 2007, Stamford Works was demolished and replaced by a new building.
The presence of a drydock at Chapel Basin shows that the company operated its own coal boats. A boat needing repair would be floated into the flooded drydock and stop planks would then be inserted down grooves in the sidewalls by the entrance. When these were in place, a valve would be opened to allow water to flow away down a box trunk. The arrangement of this is unknown but it is likely that it was a sluice in a sidewall. However, there is no sign of a sluice mechanism in the photograph. At the head of the dock, steps were provided for workmen to use while they were affecting repairs.
Chapel Basin was filled in, but not destroyed, in 1965.
Cannel Coal
A bituminous coal that burns
brightly but produces lots of smoke. 'cannel coal' is a corruption
of 'candle coal' and was so named because of the bright flame it
produces when burned.
Mary Moffat (1795 - 1871)
Mary Moffat nee Smith was born at Plantation Farm,
Dukinfield, close by the former Stanley Swivel and Footbridges. To read
something about her remarkable life and of her connection with the renowned
missionary and explorer, Dr David Livingstone, click on the button below. Dr
David Livingstone (1813 - 1873) was born in Scotland and he was the person
presumed lost in Africa.
Chapel Basin Loading Stage and Dockyard,
1962.
