Platt Bridge, Abram & Bickershaw

There were several landlords in this area, one landlord being the Trustees of the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, and another being a Miss Chadwick. In spite of there being a multiplicity of landlords this was an area where large collieries were located.

Low Hall Colliery was the first large colliery, commencing in 1860 and ultimately eight shafts were sunk. The company was the Moss Hall Coal Co. Ltd and this became a subsidiary of the Pearson & Knowles Coal & Iron Co. Ltd in 1907.

To the south of Low Hall two shafts were commenced in 1876 by William and John Turner, one shaft on Miss Chadwick’s land and the other shaft on a Mr Ridgeway’s land. The Turner brothers took in other partners to form the Wigan Junction Colliery Co. Ltd. The two sinkings became drowned out and it was necessary to sink two other shafts (on a Mr Snape’s land) some distance away to achieve success. In 1907 the Wigan Junction company became a subsidiary of the Pearson & Knowles Coal & Iron Co. Ltd.

Only ¼ mile to the south of Wigan Junction, Maypole Colliery was commenced in 1895 by the Moss Hall Coal Co. Ltd. This was a successful sinking but beset by large quantities of water. All three of these major collieries operated under the threat of inundation from the very numerous old and abandoned workings in the Ince area. Some of these were interconnected and others were separated only by inadequate barriers.

The Bickershaw Hall estate was the site of sinkings in the late 1830s by a partnership Turner, Ackers & Co. By the early 1840s the concern was Ackers & Co., and later, by 1844 had become Ackers, Whitley & Co. It appears that Ackers, Whitley and their predecessors sank no less than 12 pits in this area, most of which had been worked out by the early 1870s. In 1872 the partnership was restructured to form Ackers, Whitley & Co. Ltd, probably to raise capital for the sinking of new pits at Plank Lane. Five shafts were ultimately sunk at Plank Lane, the last in 1908. The Bickershaw Hall operations were closed down during the 1870s.

New leases were taken out on the Bickershaw Hall estate by Heyes and Johnson, who sunk new shafts to reach the deeper seams. Later trading as the Abram Coal Company a limited liability company, the Abram Coal Co. Ltd was formed in 1892. The colliery was known as Abram Colliery and by 1879, five shafts had been sunk or were sinking. By the late 1920s, Abram Colliery was becoming worked out and a merger took place with Ackers, Whitley & Co. Ltd who were still operating the productive Bickershaw (Plank Lane) Colliery. The new company became Bickershaw Collieries Ltd and operated until Nationalisation on 1st January 1947.

Bickershaw Collieries Ltd was a very go-ahead organisation. Major E. Hart MC was appointed manager in 1934. His leisure hours were taken up by Bickershaw Colliery Band which was a top ranking brass band in the UK. Sadly, nationalisation left Major Hart severely depressed and he took his own life in 1950.