Ancoats Goods Branch: Bridges

The Midland Railway's Ancoats Goods Station in Manchester was served by a four-track branch passing through Ardwick, Beswick and Ancoats. It opened in 1870. Most traces have been eliminated.

This 1964 photograph and this 1970 photograph show an impressive bridge crossing the River Medlock and Lime Kiln Lane.. It was a wrought iron plate girder bridge supported by 24 cast iron columns. The bridge can also be seen in a broader context here

Comparing the the 1964 and 1970s photos with this 1946 photo shows that the decorative cast iron balustrade had been replaced by something plainer and stronger.

The character of the area is now completely changed, and the only visible remains appear to be masonry walls. See Google Maps 2022 image here

Immediately south east of the Medlock Bridge, the light went through a cutting and passed under a T junction where Lime Bank Street joined Ashton Old Road. This would have been an interesting structure. All that remains visible from public roads is a plate girder parapet on the south side of Ashton Old Road, visible in this Google Maps 2024 image.

The track continued in a south-easterly direction to pass under a long brick viaduct. The viaduct survives, overgrown with vegetation.

Returning to the Medlock bridge, the tracks continued north westward to cross Palmerston Street and then Great Ancoats Street before fanning out into Ancoats Goods Station. The junction between the two streets, together with the elevated railway, formed a small triangular plot which was fully occupied by a printing works (1915) and later by Tidswell and Co, tool makers. See 1960s(?) photo here. The building was originally a chapel. A map here shows that immediately north of the railway here was the old Ancoats Hall. No signs of the buildings, bridges, or the goods station now remain.

The 1891 O.S. map here gives a good idea of the character of the area at that time. North of the railway, on the east bank of the River Medlock, and straddling Lime Kiln Lane, were the rambling premises of the Limekiln Lane Dye Works and Ancoats Bridge Iron Works. On the west bank of the river was the Ancoats Vale Rubber Co, and north of that was the Ancoats Vale Printing and Dyeing Works. To the west of the railway were some large industrial premises, with Pin Mill Iron Forge on the south side of Lime Kiln Lane. On the south side of the forge was a road called Pin Mill Brow, and on the south side of that was Pin Mill (cotton). Pin Mill Brow headed north to cross the Medlock by Ancoats Bridge.Adjacent to this bridge, on the north bank of Medlock was Sandy Nook Mill. A little further west, on a bend in the river, was the large Bridge Street Mill.

The 1891 O.S. map here shows the railway heading south eastwards of Ashton Old Road, with a couple of interesting features. Immediately south of the 'T junction bridge' there appears to be a narrow building, about 20 ft wide and 120 ft long, spanning the tracks, separated from the bridge by about 10 ft. The other peculiarity is the way the numerous new buildings were built up to the irregularly-shaped parish boundary. This is fairly typical of Victorian housing and industrial premises in the area, resulting in many oddly-shaped buildings.

This 1926 aerial view provides an overview of the area. Zooming in shows, on the extreme left, the bridge over the Medlock, and a large spoil tip associated with the Limekiln Lane Dye Works.

It is possible that the spoil heap was associated with the Ardwick Lime Works, which mined limestone in the area. See here for a description of the workings.

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