Mines of Winter Hill
Mining remains near Rivington Pike.
The area around the Pike contains a number of mining remains, shafts, adits and spoil heaps but very little remains today except surface markings. The shafts and adits have long since been filled in.
Very little documentation exists about these mines and what little does exist, is not very explanatory or informative. The only entrance open in recent times has been a shaft which first opened up about 15 years ago following severe storms on the moorland. This was located on the moor behind the pigeon tower, on the banks of the stream just above the water tank. Due to the dangerous nature of this shaft (and one on the opposite bank) they were quickly filled in by the Coal Authority. No records were made of the shafts, no photo's taken nor no measurements made.
A couple of years ago one of the shafts re-appeared and was quickly explored. The shaft was very unusual in that it contained a short series of steps carved into the side near it's entrance, it being the only known example of this in the area. A very poor quality photo is shown below with the steps visible on the right hand side.
Other photo's were taken within the shaft but it was very wet and muddy,
and the extreme condensation on the camera made the pictures unusable. At
the bottom of the steps, the tunnel continued for only a very short distance
before being blocked by glutinous mud. Two plans exist of mining remains
in this immediate area and they indicate that the tunnel went only a short
distance. The shaft was soon filled in by the authorities before proper
measurements could be taken.
The filled in shaft on the opposite bank was filled in years ago. My memory has it that this shaft was much deeper than the earlier mentioned one and had a ladder sloping deeply down on one side of it. If anyone else has memories of this shaft, further details would be appreciated.
Further down the hill heading towards the moorland road is a small pile of mining spoil. This marks the entrance to the drift mine which led into the coal workings. The drift has long since vanished but its location is clearly shown on old maps. A trackway led from the tunnel entrance down to the road.