Tramway parts from wood mine
The year is 1946 West mine Alderley Edge is being blocked up with bricks and concrete a wall 20 inches thick is constructed at the mine entrance. two weeks after this event the wall was hammer drilled with a Rawplug star-drill and 3 sticks (pop shots) Polar Amon Gelignite were set. The top part of the wall was soon down.... and allowing access to the mine again.
After this event a more positive event was decided to close all the mines at Alderley Edge, with West mine in 1960 it was to brick up and then infill the opencast in front of the mine..Wood mine1964 would have the adit (sewer entrance) blown up. Engine Vein1957 mine was blasted by an army division...but only to make the opencast bigger.
In 1961 it was decided to remove all the artifacts we could find in the mines...this is what was recoverd
.
A sleeper bed made to hold a single rail.. from wood mine, made of cast iron...made by James Outtram the date is unknown.Cast at the Ripley foundry...James was the farther of Benjamin Outram one of the pioneers in the building of Tramways in Britain...
Bed,sleeper bed from wood mine found near mousehole
Plateways, Sleeper and wheels (Top of page picture) They were found at the bottom of the drop the end of the sewer passage in wood mine, that is under the new bridge. excepet for the small plateway this was found in the small passage above the top entrance to bear pit, Engin Vein Mine(Top workings).
wheels,plateway,sleeper Together
The wheels have the name cast in of the maker, that is MADELEY WOOD
the plateways have the cast in name WOOD Co. Dated 1790all were made at
the Bedlam furnace,Coalbrookdale,Shropshire. The place in wood mine
where the tramway parts were found was worked in the 1860s so the parts
must have come from another area at Alderley or originally bought in
second hand.
The small section of plateway from Engin Vein mine has a small
hole drilled in one end it was stated by the old man that lived
at Beacon lodge that the bit of plateway was used as a safty valve hold
down on the steam engine that was at Bear pit the
main haulage shaft at Engine Vine.
