History of Horwich Locomotive Works

Ripped from here. I like the last paragraph... obviously this guy hasn't been to Horwich in a while...

The building of steam locomotives, which dominated much of industry from the mid 19th century until well into the 20th century, reminds us of the numerous great works in England at Newcastle, Doncaster, Crewe, Rugby, and Swindon. However, these were not the only places in the country.

Nestling in the foothills of Rivington Pike (309m) (1013ft), one of the highest points of the Pennine Range--the `backbone' running through the North of England, lies the now sleepy town of Horwich. In the census of 1881 Horwich was recorded as having 3761 inhabitants, the local industry was dyeing and bleaching, a spin-off from the textile industry of its large neighbour Bolton, but things were about to change.

In 1884 the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company (L.Y.R.C) was seeking to expand its network, and more engine building capacity was needed. The company's existing workshops at Manchester and Bury had been opened in 1847, and were considered unsuitable and out of date. The Pennine Range, which divides the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, was natural territory to the L.Y.R.C, so the ideal choice to re-locate its works would be in this area. After searching several sites the Company decided to purchase land in Horwich, the prime factor being low cost, plus a plentiful supply of water from the reservoirs of the west Pennines, and an abundant supply of coal from the nearby Wigan coalfield. It was a smart move from the outset, in fact, the company was able to purchase 650 acres for 36 000 [pounds sterling], a bargain since it had originally a capital outlay of 65 000 [pounds sterling] to purchase 350 acres.

With the deal completed, the company lost no time in putting its plans into actions, the Bolton Evening News reported, `The surveyors and architects are pushing forward their work with all speed, the whole estate is close to being completely mapped out'. Tenders for the buildings and offices were accepted at 182 000 [pounds sterling], but further costs of 4600 [pounds sterling] were incurred because of the need to divert Manchester's new water supply from Lake Thirlmere, which was on coarse to cross the Horwich site. Some 400 men and boys were employed in preparing the site, working around the clock with the aid of electric lighting--a new phenomena, which attracted much attention. One blot on the landscape was a large hill, which contained 450 000t of earth, this was removed with the aid of a steam navvy.

With the site cleared, work began on the construction of several large buildings comprising of erecting shops, iron, steel, and brass foundries, pattern shop, forge, boiler-making shop, and offices etc, these were served by a railway siding connected to the company's network. The largest building was the erecting shop, at 1520ft (463m) in length and 118 feet (36m) wide, this was believed to be the largest single workshop in Great Britain. A narrow gauge railway operated over a distance of about six miles within the works that also enjoyed the benefit of a telephone system.

By November 1886 the first locomotives began to arrive for repair--a remarkable achievement of the company's efforts, considering the foundations of the works were only dug out 18 months previously. The first locomotive to be built at the works was a 2-4-2 tank engine, No 1008, this was completed in February 1889. By 1892 the works was fully operational and the L.Y.R.C railway was taking orders for the repair and supply of locomotives. Previous to this it had been placing orders with other companies, two of whom were situated within a few miles--Beyer Peacock of Manchester, and the famous Vulcan Foundry, Newton-Le-Willows. By this time the L.Y.R.C. was seen as a great benefactor to Horwich. The town enjoyed a building boom in houses and shops to accommodate its workers that now numbered 3000. Schools and a mechanics' institute were built and funded by the company to educate their workers and children.

By 1895 the population had increased to 12000 and continued to rise as the company prospered. In 1911 the town's population peaked at 17 000, an increase of more than 400%, all due to the presence of the L.Y.R.C.

Like most large companies of the day, the L.Y.R.C. was not immune from industrial strife. The first of these came in 1887 when blacksmiths and blacksmiths' strikers, who had re-located from the Company's Manchester works when it closed, learned of the lower rate of pay at Horwich; the company conceded to their demands. A similar strike by steelmakers a few years later was unsuccessful and resulted in their dismissal and replacement.

Regarding the supply of steel, early plans of the works show that there were Bessemer Cupolas and Siemens Martin open hearth furnaces, and a rolling mill, but there appears to be no blast furnaces. It is not clear whether this fully met with demand, in view of this it can be assumed that a further supply of steel in the form of heavy plate for the boiler shop would have been supplied from elsewhere, possibly Bessemers of Bolton.

In the years 1889-1907 the works had already built more than 1000 locomotives, a further 50 000 were repaired over a period of 76 years. The works remained open well into the 20th century but closure eventually came in 1983 dealing a severe blow to the local economy. However, Horwich recovered by using its past skills to adapt to light industry, some of which occupies the old locomotive works site.

Also, Horwich plays host to its big neighbour Bolton, whose premiership football team occupy the unique Reabok Stadium, built by Watson Steel of Bolton. A great number of terraced houses still stand close to the old works site, they still proudly bear their original street names after famous engineers of the period: Smeaton, Siemens, Brunel, Stephenson, Telford, Eiffel, Tredgold, etc. There can be no better reminder of a great engineering past, the people of Horwich have good reason to be proud of their heritage.