Wigan Album

They were quite dramatic when covered with snow, could well have been an alpine scene.

It makes you wonder how they got those massive boulders like the one in front of the photo up to the top from underground, must have taken some heaving and grunting.

Forbidding and inviting in equal measure.

Those giant boulders were in fact giant cinders Cyril. They were dug out from the middle of the tip after it caught fire. The fire was a deep seated fire, more of a smoulder really. It was caused by spontaneous combustion due to the poor consolidation of the tip allowing air to get in and create the conditions for any poor quality waste coal inside the tip to catch fire.

I dont remember it being that high

The view from my bedroom window until 1979