Wigan Album

View looking north from what is now known as Haydock Chord Junction, Golborne. The chord line departing left behind the Permanent Way cabin serves to connect to the original GCR branch from Lowton St. Mary’s Jct. to St. Helens. Originally, the GCR branch ran behind us and crossed over the four roads of the WCML. When it was closed beyond Haydock in 1952 it was left as a short branch from Lowton St. Mary’s Jct. to Edge Green lane sidings for colliery traffic, and Ashton in Makerfield for Lowton metals.
Eventually in 1969 Edge Green Lane sidings closed along with the last of the collieries in the area (the last bit of the GCR Wigan Junction railway and its associated branch to St. Helens to close) leaving just the sidings at Lowton Metals and Kelbits on the site of Edge Green colliery needing rail access. At this time the large GCR overbridge was removed from over the top of the WCML not least in anticipation of the forthcoming electrification of the WCML. Removing the overbridge would make life much easier for BR Senior Construction Inspector Arthur Hubbard and the Pirelli engineers to run the wire through the area previously under the bridge. In order to provide a service to both of the remaining goods users: - Lowton Metals at Ashton in Makerfield, and Kelbits sidings for bitumen traffic, this chord was put in off the Down Slow.

Peter Abbot who was the safety and training facilitator at Wigan OHL depot at that time, took this photo to illustrate an un-insulated overlap in the overhead traction equipment for some purpose or other, and later gave the photo to me. The Permanent Way cabin on the left has long gone, although I once took shelter from a heavy downpour in there with LE 2 Frank Hewitt many moons ago when we were foot patrolling Golborne Jct. to Wigan! In the good old bad old days you would have also been able to see the two iron footbridges over the line; one here at Golborne and the other further down at Aye Bridge farm. Circa early 1990’s