Grace's Guide
British Industrial History
Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 145,057 pages of information and 230,710 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.
Astley Green Colliery
From Graces Guide
Astley Green Colliery, now the Lancashire Mining Museum, Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, M29 7JB.
Shaft sinking was problematic due to the presence of a 100 ft thick seam of unconsolidated glacial drift containing quicksand and water, folllowed by 310 ft of Permian rocks containing large amounts of water. Of the available methods of getting through these layers, the 'drop shaft' method was selected, and Haniel and Lueg of Dusseldorf were contracted to carry out the shaft sinking.[1]