We Find The Lost Grove Lane Ginny Tramway In Padiham in East Lancashire

On a warm and sunny July I went in search of the Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham in East Lancashire. It had been visited by Charlotte Bronte who had ties to the Shuttleworth's who lived there and some of her stories drew inspiration from her time there. The river Calder whose course has been alter in the 19th centaury to avoid the industrial smells from effecting Gawthorpe Hall. I was altered back again in the 1960's due to opencast mining works and is now back to it straight coarse. As I walked down Grove Lane plantation ad discover some large stone blocks, there appears to be a pair of them and they very look similar. The one on the left has a metal rod sticking out and looks like something industrial sat on the blocks. We look around and there is a path running off in line with the blocks. I take a walk down the pathway running from the blocks and come across some wooden posts with carvings on them, I carry on walking at the same angle, what else will we find yet more carvings and as we walk at the same angle Yes more carvings. Now we find some earthworks that look manmade. At the other side we find stone sleepers still with holes in for track rail chairs.

This would appear to be the the chain worked tramway remains near of a type known in the area as a "Ginney Track". It was double tracked and worked by an endless chain which rode on top of the tubs at roughly waist height. When a corner had to be negotiated, substantial sprung horizontal wheels mounted in masonry blocks changed the direction of the chain. This system ran from Cornfield Colliery beside the River Calder which it crossed before changing direction and heading through trees to Padiham where there was a coal yard. The last part of this was in a tunnel. Cornfield Pit shut in 1897 but the tramway continued as it had been extended to Habergham Colliery which lasted until 1941.
Charlotte Bronte
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