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Park Bridge

Ashton-under-LyneBuildings and structures in TamesideLocal museums in Greater ManchesterUse British English from February 2023
Park Bridge 01
Park Bridge 01

Park Bridge is an area of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is situated in the Medlock Valley, by Ashton-under-Lyne's border with Oldham. Park Bridge anciently lay within medieval manor of Ashton, however there is no record of Park Bridge until the 17th century. The name is probably a reference to the medieval Lyme Park, in the north west of the manor of Ashton. For nearly two hundred years from the 18th to the 20th centuries it was the site of the Park Bridge Ironworks.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Park Bridge (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

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N 53.518897 ° E -2.08296 °
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OL6 8AN Tameside
England, United Kingdom
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Park Bridge 01
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Park Bridge railway station
Park Bridge railway station

Park Bridge Railway Station was a railway station on the Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne and Guide Bridge Junction Railway (OA&GB) that served the village of Park Bridge, in the Medlock Valley near Ashton-under-Lyne's border with Oldham. It was sometimes known as Parkbridge, and one photograph of the station shows the station name board with the name as one word and immediately adjacent the signal box with it shown as two. The station opened on 26 August 1861 when the line opened.The station was located on an embankment leading up to the south side of the viaduct over the River Medlock. The main station building was on the eastern, down, side of the running lines leading on to the shorter of two platforms. There was an access road and ramp from the Park Bridge Iron Works access road.A waiting shelter was provided on the other, longer, up platform, which appeared to be constructed from baulks of timber, perhaps re-used sleepers. Access to this platform was via steps up the embankment from a footpath that ran along the bottom of the embankment.There were several goods sidings to the east of the station with no facilities other than a weighing machine. A branch led from the sidings into the Iron Works.In 1861 the station was served by eight down trains and six up on weekdays, with five services each way on Sundays. By 1895 the station had twenty three OA&GB services each way with an extra one on Saturdays. there were eleven services each way on Sundays. In addition there were three LNWR services to Stockport, but none in the other direction.Goods services at the station stopped sometime between 1912 and 1925, with only private siding traffic being handled afterwards. The private siding closed in February 1964.The passenger station closed on 4 May 1959 following the withdrawal of passenger services on the line.Park Bridge viaduct was 200 yards (180 m) long and 96.5 feet (29.4 m) high with nine arches of 50 feet (15 m), it was reconstructed in 1960 as the line continued to handle heavy parcels traffic until 1967. The viaduct was demolished in February and March 1971.After the lines closure Granada Television's "Inheritance" series filmed a staged crash of 1850 on the embankment.

Fairbottom Bobs
Fairbottom Bobs

Fairbottom Bobs is a Newcomen-type beam engine that was used in the 18th century as a pumping engine to drain a colliery near Ashton-under-Lyne. It is probably the world's second-oldest surviving steam engine. The engine was installed at Cannel Colliery at Fairbottom near Ashton-under-Lyne around 1760 or 1764. It became known locally as Fairbottom Bobs.The engine's origin is unclear. It was possibly first installed at Norbury Coal Works about 9 mi (14 km) to the west from where the Manchester Mercury for 9 October 1764 carried an advertisement for a 'Fire Engine' for sale. Its cylinder dimensions matched the Fairbottom engine.The engine's design and construction have been described as "primitive". It had a power rating of 11 horsepower. Its cylinder has an 28 inches (710 mm) bore and 8 feet (2.4 m) stroke, driving a water pump with a 8 inches (200 mm) bore that could raise water from a depth of 240 ft at a rate of 14 strokes per minute. The timber beam consisted of single wooden king post with wrought iron straps and wooden arch heads at each end. Iron chains linked the beam to the piston rods. An auxiliary arch head drove the engine's air pump. The beam was supported on a pillar of dressed stone resembling a thick wall or narrow pyramid, rather than on the wall of an engine house, a feature found on other engines of this age but rare later. Although foundations and stone floors survive on its site, there is no evidence of an engine house or roof to protect the engine from the weather.As was common for mine drainage, pumping at one pit could drain water across a number of pits. The water produced was used to maintain water levels in the Ashton Canal by draining into the Fairbottom Branch Canal at Fennyfield Bridge, just south of the engine. In 1801 the canal company was approached to contribute to the costs of its refurbishment, work that may have been carried out by Bateman and Sherratt engine builders of Manchester. The original pit appears to have been worked out in the 1820s, although others nearby were working as 'Fairbottom Pits'. Draining the old mine workings and supplying water to the canal kept the engine working after the Cannel Colliery closed until the engine was abandoned in 1826 or 1827.