111-648: The Lancashire Coalfield in North West England was an important British coalfield . Its coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago. The Romans may have been the first to use coal in Lancashire and its shallow seams and outcrops were exploited on a small scale from the Middle Ages and extensively after
222-613: A doubly plunging anticline , and may be formed from multiple deformations, or superposition of two sets of folds. It may also be related to the geometry of the underlying detachment fault and the varying amount of displacement along the surface of that detachment fault. An anticlinorium is a large anticline in which a series of minor anticlinal folds are superimposed. Examples include the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Purcell Anticlinorium in British Columbia and
333-464: A "Butterfly" safety link to improve cage safety in 1867 that is used globally. Lancashire had the first pithead baths in the country at Gibfield Colliery in Atherton and the first mines rescue station to cover an entire coalfield at Howe Bridge in 1908. The Anderton Shearer Loader invented by James Anderton and first commissioned at Ravenhead Colliery, Sutton, St Helens, produced more than half
444-776: A "superpit" at a cost of £7.5 million. The last completely new coal mine to be sunk on the coalfield was Parkside Colliery in Newton-le-Willows. Sinking to the Crombouke and Lower Florida seams at a depth of 886 yards started in 1957 and production began in 1964. The colliery employed 1,400 men. In the 1960s the NCB began closing collieries, some with workable coal reserves, by setting impossible production targets and by 1967 just 21 pits remained. The Mosley Common superpit closed in 1968 and Astley Green closed in 1970, both had huge reserves of coal. The remaining collieries closed after
555-583: A 30%+ Black British population. In contrast, the town of St. Helens in Merseyside, unusually for a city area, has a very low percentage of ethnic minorities with 98% identifying as White British. The City of Liverpool, over 800 years old, is one of the few places in Britain where ethnic minority populations can be traced back over dozens of generations: being the closest major city in England to Ireland, it
666-496: A blind eye. After 1842 many women continued to work at the pits but on the surface, sorting coal from dirt on the coal screens, as pit brow lasses . More women were employed in this capacity in Lancashire than on any other coalfield. In 1907 there were 358 collieries and coal was produced largely by hand and pit ponies used for haulage in some pits. The highest annual tonnage was produced in 1907 at over 26 million tons. During
777-564: A company with pits in Burnley , and George Hargreaves owned pits in Accrington and Rossendale Valley . James Lees' Chamber Colliery Company owned pits in Oldham . In 1600 the collieries were drifts where coal outcropped, and shallow bell or ladder pits where roof falls were common and poor drainage led to them being abandoned. As a solution to water in his coal pits, Roger Bradshaw dug
888-479: A high rate of compression and seismic activity due to the converging San Andreas Fault. As a result, the Ventura anticline rises at a rate of 5 mm/year with the adjacent Ventura Basin converging at a rate of about 7–10 mm/year. The anticline is composed of a series of sandstone rock beds and an impermeable rock cap under which vast reserves of oil and gas are trapped. Eight different oil bearing zones along
999-523: A little over a mile from Manchester town centre, produced enough coal for the town in the early 1600s. Different areas of the coalfield expanded and contracted at different times. The Wigan area, with coal relatively close to the surface, was important by the 18th century, fuelling the brass and pewter industries; and after the onset of the Industrial Revolution, cotton and heavy engineering. The coalfield around St Helens developed from
1110-743: A north and south direction. The most significant easterly fault described by Edward Hull throws the strata down to the east. It was worked from Fairbottom in Ashton-under-Lyne across the River Medlock to Oldham and onwards to the west of Rochdale. The Red Rock Fault skirts the north-west extremity of the North Staffordshire coalfield towards Macclesfield and Poynton Colliery in Cheshire. The Irwell Valley or Pendleton Fault passes Clifton and Kearsley , where it throws
1221-544: A practice outlawed by the Truck Act 1831 . Wages were poor and coal owners introduced a system of fines to enforce discipline. The Duke of Bridgewater paid eight shillings (40p) for a six-day working week with shifts of 12 to 15 hours and fined those who were late half a crown . The wages amounted to a few pence more than given in Poor Law relief and miners worked to keep out of the workhouse . William Hulton reputedly paid
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#17327823789201332-434: A type of anticlines that have a well-defined, but curved hinge line and are doubly plunging and thus elongate domes . Folds in which the limbs dip toward the hinge and display a more U-like shape are called synclines . They usually flank the sides of anticlines and display opposite characteristics. A syncline's oldest rock strata are in its outer limbs; the rocks become progressively younger toward its hinge. A monocline
1443-602: A variety of other industries. There was demand for coke in the foundries and coke-ovens were built next to some larger collieries, steam coal was required for the cotton mills, chemical works, engineering works, and for locomotive fuel, house coal had a large market in a heavily populated area. After the First World War, demand for coal declined: Britain had lost export markets and productivity had fallen. In 1925 coal owners attempted to reduce wages and impose longer working hours to try to maintain profits. A wages subsidy by
1554-410: Is Scafell Pike , Cumbria, at a height of 3,209 ft (978 m). Windermere is the largest natural lake in England, while Broad Crag Tarn on Broad Crag is England's highest lake. Wast Water is England's deepest lake, being 74 metres deep. A mix of rural and urban landscape, two large conurbations , centred on Liverpool and Manchester , occupy much of the south of the region. The north of
1665-425: Is bituminous , with 30–40% volatile matter varying in hardness from seam to seam. The coal measures were subsequently subjected to folding ; this accounts for the dip towards the south and west; faulting occurred at that time. The Coal Measures are over 1200 metres (4000 ft)) thick, and coal accounts for about 4% of their thickness. The coalfield is crossed by several major faults, which generally run in
1776-455: Is a dome . Domes may be created via diapirism from underlying magmatic intrusions or upwardly mobile, mechanically ductile material such as rock salt ( salt dome ) and shale (shale diapir) that cause deformations and uplift in the surface rock. The Richat Structure of the Sahara is considered a dome that has been laid bare by erosion. An anticline which plunges at both ends is termed
1887-431: Is a bend in the strata resulting in a local steepening in only one direction of dip. Monoclines have the shape of a carpet draped over a stairstep. An anticline that has been more deeply eroded in the center is called a breached or scalped anticline . Breached anticlines can become incised by stream erosion, forming an anticlinal valley. A structure that plunges in all directions to form a circular or elongate structure
1998-804: Is a downthrow and passes Pemberton , Orrell and to the west of Shevington. Further west are the Great Upholland Fault, the Lathom Fault the Great Boundary Fault stretching from Bickerstaffe to about two miles (3.2 km) east of Ormskirk. The coalfield on the western side of the Pennines is divided into two parts separated by the Rossendale anticline . To the north-east is the Burnley Coalfield and to
2109-471: Is a record of coal mines in Whiston . Most pits were very small and shallow, and Wigan and its neighbourhood were noted for having numerous cannel pits which families could access from under their property. John Leland visited Haigh in 1538 and observed that "Mr Bradshaw ... hath founde moche Canel like Se coal in his grounde very profitable to him." Mining was not a full-time occupation: frequently
2220-462: Is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the location where the curvature is greatest, and the limbs are the sides of the fold that dip away from the hinge. Anticlines can be recognized and differentiated from antiforms by a sequence of rock layers that become progressively older toward
2331-903: Is bounded to the east by the Pennines and to the west by the Irish Sea . The region extends from the Scottish Borders in the north to the West Midlands region in the south. To its southwest is North Wales . Amongst the better known of the North West's physiographical features are the Lake District and the Cheshire Plain . The highest point in North West England (and the highest peak in England)
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#17327823789202442-401: Is cylindrical has a well-defined axial surface, whereas non-cylindrical anticlines are too complex to have a single axial plane. An overturned anticline is an asymmetrical anticline with a limb that has been tilted beyond perpendicular , so that the beds in that limb have basically flipped over and may dip in the same direction on both sides of the axial plane. If the angle between the limbs
2553-559: Is home to a significant ethnic Irish population, with the city being home to one of the first ever Afro-Caribbean communities in the UK, as well as the oldest Chinatown in Europe. The table below is not how many people belong to each ethnic group (e.g. a BBC News article in 2008 claimed there are over 25,000 ethnic Italians in Manchester alone whilst only 6,000 Italian-born people live in
2664-547: Is large (70–120 degrees), then the fold is an "open" fold , but if the angle between the limbs is small (30 degrees or less), then the fold is a "tight" fold . If an anticline plunges (i.e., the anticline crest is inclined to the Earth's surface), it will form V s on a geologic map view that point in the direction of plunge . A plunging anticline has a hinge that is not parallel to the earth's surface. All anticlines and synclines have some degree of plunge. Periclinal folds are
2775-521: Is no mechanical contrast between layers in this type of fold. Passive-flow folds are extremely dependent on the rock composition of the stratum and can typically occur in areas with high temperatures. Anticlines, structural domes, fault zones and stratigraphic traps are very favorable locations for oil and natural gas drilling. About 80 percent of the world's petroleum has been found in anticlinal traps. The low density of petroleum causes oil to buoyantly migrate out of its source rock and upward toward
2886-600: Is still predominant throughout the county, and stretches as far north as Furness in South Cumbria to parts of north Greater Manchester and Merseyside in the south of the region. The region boasts some of the most distinctive accents in the form of the Scouse accent, which originates from Liverpool and its surrounding areas, and the Manc accent, deriving from the central Manchester district. Both of these descend from
2997-606: Is the El Dorado anticline in Kansas. The anticline was first tapped into for its petroleum in 1918. Soon after the site became a very prosperous area for entrepreneurs following World War I and the rapid popularization of motor vehicles . By 1995 the El Dorado oil fields had produced 300 million barrels of oil. The central Kansas uplift is an antiform composed of several small anticlines that have collectively produced more than 2.5 million barrels of oil. Another notable anticline
3108-548: Is the Tierra Amarilla anticline in San Ysidro, New Mexico. This is a popular hiking and biking site because of the great biodiversity, geologic beauty and paleontological resources. This plunging anticline is made up of Petrified Forest mudstones and sandstone and its caprock is made of Pleistocene and Holocene travertine. The anticline contains springs that deposit carbon dioxide travertine that help to contribute to
3219-420: Is the area on the limbs where the curvature changes direction. The axial surface is an imaginary plane connecting the hinge of each layer of rock stratum through the cross section of an anticline. If the axial surface is vertical and the angles on each side of the fold are equivalent, then the anticline is symmetrical. If the axial plane is tilted or offset, then the anticline is asymmetrical. An anticline that
3330-443: Is the relative ages of the rock strata that distinguish anticlines from antiforms. The hinge of an anticline refers to the location where the curvature is greatest, also called the crest . The hinge is also the highest point on a stratum along the top of the fold. The culmination also refers to the highest point along any geologic structure. The limbs are the sides of the fold that display less curvature. The inflection point
3441-424: Is to bend a deck of cards and to imagine each card as a layer of rock stratum. The amount of slip on each side of the anticline increases from the hinge to the inflection point. Passive-flow folds form when the rock is so soft that it behaves like weak plastic and slowly flows. In this process different parts of the rock body move at different rates causing shear stress to gradually shift from layer to layer. There
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3552-515: The 1984 miners' strike , Bold Colliery in St Helens closed in 1985, Agecroft in 1991 and the Bickershaw, Golborne, Parsonage complex a year later. Parkside Colliery, the last deep mine on the coalfield, closed in 1993 without exhausting its coal reserves. The "gassy" coal seams, poor ventilation and the use of candles meant the coalfield was prone to explosions and, between 1851 and 1853, had
3663-594: The 2019 United Kingdom general election , the Labour Party won a plurality of seats in the North West. It is one of the two regions (along with Yorkshire and the Humber ) that were expected to hold a referendum on the establishment of an elected regional assembly . However, when the North East region of England rejected having an elected regional assembly in a referendum, further referendums were cancelled and
3774-653: The Blue Ridge anticlinorium of northern Virginia and Maryland in the Appalachians, or the Nittany Valley in central Pennsylvania. Anticlines are usually developed above thrust faults, so any small compression and motion within the inner crust can have large effects on the upper rock stratum. Stresses developed during mountain building or during other tectonic processes can similarly warp or bend bedding and foliation (or other planar features). The more
3885-583: The Great Haigh Sough between 1653 and 1670. It was a 1,120 yards (1,020 m) long tunnel under his Haigh Hall estate which drained the pits into a nearby stream and was still in use until 1929. Other soughs were dug, including one in 1729 to drain the Worsley mines and another from Standish Colliery to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Crooke. A waterwheel was used from 1720 to lift water from
3996-669: The Home Secretary ordered troops to be ready to quell the unrest. Long strikes were unsustainable as the miners had no organisation or finances to back them up. The first miners' association was the "Brotherly Union Society" formed in Pemberton in 1794. It was described as a friendly society to avoid prosecution under the Combination Acts and in the early 19th century there were 21 such societies in central Lancashire. The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation (LCMF)
4107-456: The Indices of deprivation 2007 , the region has many more Lower Layer Super Output Areas in the 20% most deprived districts than the 20% least deprived council districts. Only North East England shows more indicators of deprivation than the North West, but the number of affluent areas in the North West is very similar to Yorkshire and the Humber . The most deprived local authority areas in
4218-538: The Industrial Revolution gathered pace. This led to increased demand for coal and larger, deeper mines. Providing fresh air and removing firedamp from pits with a single shaft was a problem as explosive gases accumulated. An early solution was to send a collier or fireman, swathed in wet rags and armed with a long pole with a lighted candle, into the workings to explode any accumulated gases before work began; this did not always work. At Haigh in 1688 it
4329-466: The Industrial Revolution hundreds of thousands of Welsh people migrated to the North West of England to work in the coal mines. Parts with notably high populations with Welsh ancestry as a result of this include Liverpool , Chester , Skelmersdale , Widnes , Halewood , Wallasey , Ashton-in-Makerfield and Birkenhead . The Mixed Race population makes up 1.3% (93,800) of the region's population. There are 323,800 South Asians , making up 4.7% of
4440-610: The Scandinavian influence throughout the North West. Through the Middle Ages the dialects of the North West would have been considerably different from those spoken in the Midlands and south. It was only with the spread of literacy (particularly with the publication of the King James Bible ) that Standard English spread to the region. Even so, local dialects continued to be used and were relatively widespread until
4551-553: The Solway Coast , and almost all of the Forest of Bowland ). Weather in this part of England is typically classified as maritime, moist and temperate, with a moderate annual temperature range. Average annual precipitation in the UK typically ranges from approximately 800 mm to 1,400 mm. Temperatures are generally close to the national average. Cumbria usually experiences the most severe weather, with high precipitation in
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4662-404: The electromagnet in 1825. Sydney Chapman , a mathematician from Eccles , in 1930 explained the ozone–oxygen cycle in the stratosphere , being the first to propose that atmospheric oxygen or ozone molecules absorb (harmful UVB and UVC) ultraviolet wavelengths of light in photolysis , to produce reactive single atoms which accumulate to form the ozone layer . Graphene was discovered at
4773-463: The structural trap for the largest conventional oil field in the world. The Weald–Artois Anticline is a major anticline which outcrops in southeast England and northern France. It was formed from the late Oligocene to middle Miocene , during the Alpine orogeny . Anticlines can have a major effect on the local geomorphology and economy of the regions in which they occur. One example of this
4884-479: The 19th and 20th centuries. In modern times, English is the most spoken language in the North West, with a large percentage of the population fluent in it, and close to 100% conversational in it. To the north-east of the region, within the historic boundaries of Cumberland , the Cumbrian dialect is dominant. The historical county of Lancashire covered a vast amount of land, and the Lancashire dialect and accent
4995-801: The Conservative government postponed industrial action, but, after a Royal Commission reported in 1926, the subsidy was withdrawn and mine owners issued new pay and conditions lengthening the working day and cutting wages. By refusing to accept the terms miners were locked out of the pits. The strike lasted from May to September and miners gained nothing, and some were not re-employed. In 1927 there were 222 working collieries in Lancashire belonging to 125 owners. The 18 pits in Cheshire had 15 owners. Most companies were small: over 100 pits had fewer than 200 workers while 60 pits employed more than 200, 14 employed between 1,000 and 2,000, and 18 more than 2,000 workers. The Mining Industries Act of 1925 attempted to stem
5106-575: The Conservatives four, whilst Lancashire is competitive between Labour and Conservative (8 seats each); the Labour seats in Lancashire are concentrated in the south of the county along the M65 . For the region, the Labour gained 3 seats; there was a 5.2% swing from Conservative to Labour. In the 2015 general election, Liverpool Walton was the safest seat in the UK, with a 72% majority, and in 2017 this
5217-475: The Conservatives have 20, and the Liberal Democrats have 1. The Lib Dems' North West seat is in south Cumbria; Labour dominates Greater Manchester, and the Conservatives' vote is concentrated in affluent suburban areas such as Cheadle , Hazel Grove and Altrincham and Sale West . Labour seats also predominate in Merseyside. In Cheshire the 2015 result was reversed, with Labour winning seven seats and
5328-806: The Earls of Crawford and Balcarres of Haigh Hall , the Hultons of Hulton Park , the Fletchers, the Knowles and the Duke of Bridgewater and his successors the Bridgewater Trustees . More companies emerged during the 19th century and included Richard Evans and Company of Haydock , which originated in 1830. Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company was formed in 1874 in Ince . Colonel John Hargreaves began
5439-691: The Lake District. Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Blackburn and Preston are among the region's many English place names. In the 9th to the 11th centuries, Danes from the east and Norsemen from Ireland and Scotland began settling in the area. The North West is really the only area of England where Norse settlement was significant and their influence remains in the place names and dialect of the region. Elements like fell , thwaite and tarn , which are particularly common in Cumbria, are all Norse. The numerous Kirkbys and place names with "holm" and "dale" show
5550-502: The Lancashire dialect but have some distinctions from it, especially Scouse. The region's accents are among those referred to as ' Northern English '. Large immigrant populations in the North West result in the presence of significant immigrant languages. South Asian languages such as Urdu , Hindi and Punjabi are widespread, with the largest number of speakers residing in Preston , Blackburn and Manchester. The Chinese once made up
5661-536: The North West are as follows: Liverpool and Manchester are sometimes considered parts of a single large polynuclear metropolitan area , or megalopolis but are usually treated as separate metropolitan areas. In some studies, part of Wigan in Greater Manchester is considered part of the Liverpool metropolitan area. The North West of England has historically been held by the Labour Party . In
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#17327823789205772-582: The North West from around the 7th century AD, when the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria first appears to have made inroads west of the Pennines. The language at this time would have been the Northumbrian dialect of Old English . The high percentage of English place names in the region as a whole suggests English became almost ubiquitous over the coming centuries, particularly in the area south of
5883-420: The North West's population resides in Greater Manchester, 21.39% in Lancashire, 20.30% in Merseyside, 14.76% in Cheshire and 7.41% live in the largest county by area, Cumbria. According to 2009 Office for National Statistics estimates, 91.6% (6,323,300) of people in the region describe themselves as 'White': 88.4% (6,101,100) White British , 1.0% (67,200) White Irish and 2.2% (155,000) White Other . During
5994-460: The North West). The proportion of people residing in North West England born outside the UK was 11.7% in 2021, compared with 8.2% in 2011 and 5.1% in 2001. Below are the fifteen largest overseas-born groups in the region according to the 2021 census, alongside the two previous censuses: One in five of the population in the North West is Catholic , a result of large-scale Irish emigration in
6105-740: The South Lancashire Coalfield lying outside the modern-day boundaries of Lancashire. A quite separate and much smaller coalfield is situated in the Wenning valley in the northeast of the county but is referred to as a part of the Ingleton Coalfield , the main part of which is in North Yorkshire . It is possible that the Romans were the first to use coal in Lancashire, but the earliest written record of "minera"
6216-463: The UK in 2019, 31.23% voted for the Brexit Party, with Labour polling 21.91%, the Liberal Democrats 17.15% and the Green Party 12.48%. The Conservatives came fifth in the region with 7.55% of votes cast. The earliest known language spoken in the North West was a dialect of the Brythonic language spoken across much of Britain from at least the Iron Age up to the arrival of English in the first millennium AD. Fragments of this early language are seen in
6327-417: The University of Manchester in 2004 under Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov . At the Calico Printers' Association in Manchester in 1941, John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson discovered polyethylene terephthalate , known as PET, a common polyester compound found in plastic bottles and food, and also known as Terylene or Dacron. Cheslene and Crepes of Macclesfield discovered crimplene ,
6438-599: The Wigan Coalfield; they run nearly parallel to and equidistant from each other. The Great Haigh Fault begins near Bickershaw Colliery and passes northward through Hindley , Kirkless Hall, Haigh, and Arley to the west of Adlington Park . The Great Standish or St Catherine's Fault has a downthrow to the east and passes under St Catherine's Church at Ince . The Giant's Hall Fault passes by Abram , west of Ince Hall Colliery, west of Gidlow and under Giant's Hall Farm to Standish Church. The Great Shevington Fault passes by Hawkley Hall and east of Kirkless Hall. The Great Pemberton Fault
6549-429: The center of the fold. Therefore, if age relationships between various rock strata are unknown, the term antiform should be used. The progressing age of the rock strata towards the core and uplifted center, are the trademark indications for evidence of anticlines on a geologic map . These formations occur because anticlinal ridges typically develop above thrust faults during crustal deformations. The uplifted core of
6660-489: The coal measures down to the north-east. It has a throw of 3000 feet (900 metres) and the area is still geologically active and subject to earth tremors. A fault with a large horizontal but small vertical throw is found at Tyldesley . In the deep mines at the southern edge of the coalfield, the Plodder mine in Leigh and the Arley mine in Tyldesley were hot: the miners worked in temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 °C). Five substantial faults affect
6771-434: The coalfield was at Golborne Colliery in March 1979, when three men died instantly in an explosion of methane caused by an electrical spark and seven men later died of their injuries. Boothstown Mines Rescue Station was opened by the Lancashire and Cheshire Coalowners in 1933 close to the East Lancashire Road . It replaced four smaller stations and was permanently staffed by two rescue teams who attended emergencies across
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#17327823789206882-402: The coalfield. Some reclamation has taken place often after opencasting. Subsidence had resulted in "flashes" or shallow lakes some of which have been landscaped for recreational use such as the Three Sisters at Ashton in Makerfield and Pennington Flash Country Parks in Leigh . The Astley Green Colliery Museum and Gin Pit Miners Welfare in Tyldesley are two of the last tangible reminders of
6993-541: The deaths of thousands of workers in Lancashire's pits. In the first half of the 19th century there were many disasters, many caused by firedamp and inadequate ventilation. In the year 1859 there were 68 fatal accidents in Manchester district and 57 in Wigan and St Helens. The third worst mining disaster in the country was at Hulton Colliery Company 's Pretoria Pit in 1910 when a faulty lamp caused an explosion killing 344 miners. In 1962 16 men died and 21 were injured at Hapton Valley colliery near Burnley. The last disaster on
7104-528: The dominant party in the region by seat count, with the Conservatives total now standing at 27. The Conservatives made two gains in Cheshire, three gains in Lancashire, five gains in Greater Manchester, notably including Andy Burnham 's former seat of Leigh. In the 2017 general election , the area was dominated by the Labour Party. Fifty-five per cent of the region's electorate voted Labour, 36.3% Conservative, 5.4% Liberal Democrat, 1.9% UKIP and 1.1% Greens; however, by number of parliamentary seats, Labour have 54,
7215-415: The early 1950s. At the same time, the NCB embarked on an extensive programmes of boring to prove the reserves of coal, and modernised existing collieries. In the late 1950s some smaller collieries were closed in the Wigan and Burnley areas as was Deane Colliery in Bolton. Production at the reopened Agecroft Colliery resumed in 1960, and by 1962 major investment was made to turn Mosley Common Colliery into
7326-504: The entire coalfield. The colliery owners fended off the formation of unions until well into the 19th century and trade unionism was slow to take a hold on the coalfield. The employers arbitrarily fined men for minor reasons, disallowed wages on false pretexts and victimised perceived radicals. Bonds were used to enforce discipline. Miners protested about poor wages in 1757 when bread prices rose and some marched from Kersall towards Manchester in protest but were turned back. When trouble flared,
7437-485: The existence of the atomic nucleus . Sir J. J. Thomson of Cheetham Hill discovered the electron (given its name in 1891 by George Johnstone Stoney ) in April 1897 and received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906; his son George Paget Thomson would win the Nobel Prize for Physics 1937 for discovering electron diffraction (at the University of Aberdeen). John Dalton , from Cumbria and moved to Manchester, developed atomic theory . William Sturgeon of Lancashire invented
7548-481: The fabric that is now referred to as polyester. ICI Dyestuffs at Hexagon House , in Blackley in north Manchester, discovered Procion dyes. At the Winnington Laboratory on 27 March 1933, Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson discovered polythene in an ICI laboratory in Northwich, when reacting benzaldehyde with ethene at a pressure of 2,000 atmospheres ; the process was improved in 1935 by Michael Perrin . Anticline In structural geology , an anticline
7659-399: The face of a singularly dreary stretch of country, where the pastures are scanty and blackened. Frequent pools of water lie between the collieries, indicating subsidences of the earth caused by mining. What trees remain standing appear as dead stumps, with leafless branches reflected weirdly in the 'flashes' of water. Coal mining has left areas of derelict land and spoil heaps or "rucks" across
7770-406: The first quarter of the 20th century an average of nearly 20 million tons of coal was produced annually by a workforce of 100,000 men. Conditions became increasingly difficult as the best, most easily won coal was worked out in mines that were deep and hot. It became more difficult for Lancashire to compete with the more easily worked mines in Yorkshire and Derbyshire. In the Burnley area output from
7881-399: The fold causes compression of strata that preferentially erodes to a deeper stratigraphic level relative to the topographically lower flanks. Motion along the fault including both shortening and extension of tectonic plates, usually also deforms strata near the fault. This can result in an asymmetrical or overturned fold. An antiform can be used to describe any fold that is convex up. It
7992-548: The following subdivisions : After abolition of the Greater Manchester and Merseyside County Councils in 1986, power was transferred to the metropolitan boroughs , making them equivalent to unitary authorities. In April 2011, Greater Manchester gained a top-tier administrative body in the form of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority , which means the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs are once again second-tier authorities. North West England
8103-499: The highest mortality rate of any British coalfield. In 1850, 16 men and boys died at Bent Grange Colliery in Oldham, 36 died at Coppull Colliery in 1852 and in two disasters within a year at Ince Hall Colliery, 58 died in 1853 and 89 men died in 1854. In 1883 some 68 men and boys were killed and 53 were injured at Moorfield colliery near Accrington. Mining was dangerous: flooding, gases, roof falls and explosions of firedamp contributed to
8214-555: The inscriptions and place names of the Roman era. In some parts of the region, the Brythonic dialect developed into the medieval language known today as Cumbric , which continued to be spoken perhaps as late as the 12th century in the north of Cumbria. This early Celtic heritage remains today in place names such as Carlisle , Penrith and Eccles , and many river names such as Cocker , Kent and Eden . English may have been spoken in
8325-527: The largest minority in the region (as Liverpool has one of the oldest Chinese settlements in Europe), and still do to the far north where Chinese is spoken by small but significant communities. Since the enlargement of the EU, over one million Poles have immigrated to the UK, a large number of them settling in the North West. Places such as Crewe as well as larger cities make Polish written information available for
8436-468: The last deep mine to be sunk on the coalfield, was closed in 1993. The geology of the coalfield consists of the coal seams of the Upper, Middle and Lower Coal Measures , layers of sandstones , shales and coal of varying thickness, which were laid down in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago. The coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests. The coal in Lancashire
8547-538: The local minority populations. In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), North West is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKD", which (since 2015) is subdivided as follows: Population > 400,000 Population > 100,000 Population > 70,000 Population > 50,000 Population > 30,000 Population > 20,000 Population > 10,000 Population > 5,000 The five largest metropolitan areas in
8658-575: The mid-18th century supplying the copper , glass and chemical industries that developed close to the Sankey Canal . In the 1770s records show that there were pits in Wigan, Bolton, Oldham , Ashton-under-Lyne and Dukinfield . From the 16th and 17th centuries some landowners began to develop the industry, and several dynasties of coalowners emerged. These included the Bradshaws and subsequently
8769-406: The mountainous regions of the Lake District and Pennines. In winter, the most severe weather occurs in the more exposed and elevated areas of the North West, once again mainly the Lake District and Pennine areas. Source: Office for National Statistics Mid Year Population Estimates in 2008 North West England's population accounts for just over 13% of England's overall population. 37.86% of
8880-413: The nineteenth century as well as the high number of English recusants in Lancashire . Of the nine regions of England, the North West has the fourth-highest GVA per capita —the highest outside southern England. Despite this the region has above average multiple deprivation with wealth heavily concentrated on very affluent areas like rural Cheshire, rural Lancashire, and south Cumbria. As measured by
8991-509: The northeast. The south eastern part extends well into neighbouring Cheshire where significant mining took place around Poynton and Dukinfield . The area of the coalfield became heavily industrialised as new industries developed, attracted by the availability of fuel. A small area around Todmorden in West Yorkshire is geologically part of the coalfield. The redrawing of administrative county boundaries in 1974 resulted in almost all
9102-624: The once thriving industry. North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of Cheshire , Cumbria , Greater Manchester , Lancashire and Merseyside . The North West had a population of 7,417,397 in 2021. It is the third-most-populated region in the United Kingdom, after the South East and Greater London . The largest settlements are Manchester and Liverpool . The official region consists of
9213-458: The poorest wages in Lancashire and was hostile to permitting his workforce the right to free assembly. The Mines Act of 1842 prohibited the employment of women and girls and boys under the age of ten to work underground in coal mines. Many women were employed underground in Lancashire and after the passing of the Act some continued for a time, as there were few inspectors of mines and employers turned
9324-486: The population, and 1.1% Black (80,600). 0.6% of the population (39,900) are Chinese and 0.5% (36,500) of people belong to another ethnic group. North West England is a very diverse region, with Manchester and Liverpool amongst the most diverse cities in Europe. 19.4% of Blackburn with Darwen 's population are Muslim, the third-highest among all local authorities in the United Kingdom and the highest outside London. Areas such as Moss Side in Greater Manchester are home to
9435-461: The post-war decline and encouraged independent companies to merge in order to modernise and better survive the economic conditions of the day. Robert Burrows of the Atherton company, Fletcher Burrows proposed a merger of several companies operating to the west of Manchester and merger was agreed and took place in March 1929 forming Manchester Collieries , the largest such company on the coalfield. On
9546-602: The proposals for elected regional assemblies in England put on hold. The regional leaders' forum, 4NW is based on Waterside Drive in Wigan . The former North West England European Parliament constituency had the same boundaries as the Region. Ten English regions were established by the government in 1994. At that time, Merseyside , which already had its own Government Office, formerly the Merseyside Task Force,
9657-638: The public, to much controversy. Other immigrant languages with a presence in the North West are Spanish, mainly amongst the Latin American communities in Liverpool and Manchester , as well as various other Eastern European and Asian languages. The most taught languages in schools across the North West are English, French and Spanish. German and Italian are available at more senior levels and, in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, even Urdu and Mandarin are being taught to help maintain links between
9768-416: The region (based on specific wards within those borough areas) are, in descending order—Liverpool, Manchester, Knowsley, Blackpool, Salford, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Rochdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Halton, Hyndburn, Oldham, Pendle, St Helens, Preston, Bolton, Tameside, Wirral, Wigan, Copeland, Sefton, and Rossendale. In 2007 when Cheshire still had district councils, the least deprived council districts in
9879-399: The region by council district, in descending order, were—Congleton, Ribble Valley, Macclesfield, and South Lakeland. These areas have Conservative MPs, except South Lakeland has a Lib Dem and Labour MPs. At county level, before it was split into two, Cheshire was the least deprived, followed by Trafford, and by Warrington and Stockport. In March 2011, the overall unemployment claimant count
9990-591: The region, comprising Cumbria and northern Lancashire, is largely rural, as is the far south which encompasses parts of the Cheshire Plain and Peak District. The region includes parts of three National parks (all of the Lake District , and small parts of the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales ) and three areas of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (all of Arnside and Silverdale and
10101-628: The rich diversity of microorganisms. This area also contains remains of fossils and ancient plants from the Jurassic period that are sometimes exposed through geological erosion. The Ventura Anticline is a geologic structure that is part of the Ventura oil fields , the seventh largest oil field in California that was discovered in the 1860s. The anticline runs east to west for 16 miles, dipping steeply 30–60 degrees at both ends. Ventura County has
10212-498: The shaft bottom. Some coalowners used bonds, paying signing-on fees to the colliers who worked in their coal pits for a year or had to pay a considerable forfeit if the contract was broken. The coalowners used the bond system as a tool for enforcing discipline and preventing the workers from unionizing. The Combination Acts of 1799 made unions illegal. Some coal owners, including William Hulton, paid their workers with tokens or vouchers that could only be redeemed in their company shops,
10323-498: The south is the much larger South Lancashire Coalfield which comprises, from west to east, the St Helens, Wigan, Manchester , and Oldham Coalfields . The Oldham Coalfield extends to the south and becomes the Cheshire Coalfield. The coalfield covers around 550 square miles (1,400 km) extending from Stalybridge in the southeast to Ormskirk in the northwest and from Rainhill in the southwest to beyond Burnley in
10434-514: The start of the Industrial Revolution . The coalfield was at the forefront of innovation in coal mining, prompting the country's first canals, use of steam engines and creating conditions favourable for rapid industrialisation. The pits on the coalfield were at their most productive in 1907 when more than 26 million tons of coal were produced. By 1967 just 21 collieries remained. Parkside Colliery in Newton-le-Willows , St. Helens area,
10545-786: The surface until it is trapped and stored in reservoir rock such as sandstone or porous limestone. The oil becomes trapped along with water and natural gas by a caprock that is made up of impermeable barrier such as an impermeable stratum or fault zone. Examples of low-permeability seals that contain the hydrocarbons, oil and gas, in the ground include shale , limestone , sandstone , and rock salt. The actual type of stratum does not matter as long as it has low permeability. Water, minerals and specific rock strata such as limestone found inside anticlines are also extracted and commercialized. Lastly, ancient fossils are often found in anticlines and are used for paleontological research or harvested into products to be sold. Ghawar Anticline, Saudi Arabia,
10656-408: The thin seams towards the north of the coalfield was small. Despite its higher price Lancashire coal remained important. The consumption of the coalfield was largely for a local market but some was shipped abroad. Manchester was the centre of a vast industrial district and there was a great demand for coal from the cotton industry and other textile manufacturers, engineering, iron and chemical works, and
10767-436: The total output of British coal in the 1960s. There can be no doubt that coal mining substantially changed the landscape. The Victoria County History has several disparaging descriptions of the Wigan area in the early 20th century. Hindley lies in the centre of the great Lancashire coalfield, and consists of a level-surfaced country dotted over with collieries and black pit-banks. A close network of tramways and railways covers
10878-409: The turn of the 19th century demand for coal increased rapidly for domestic and industrial consumption: steam was used to power factories and steamships. Miners worked in intolerable conditions. Coal was got by hand, hewers using picks and shovels in mines lit by candles. Children as young as five sat in complete darkness opening ventilation doors for "hurriers", women and boys who hauled tubs of coal to
10989-435: The underlying fault is tectonically uplifted, the more the strata will be deformed and must adapt to new shapes. The shape formed will also be very dependent on the properties and cohesion of the different types of rock within each layer. During the formation of flexural-slip folds, the different rock layers form parallel-slip folds to accommodate for buckling . A good way to visualize how the multiple layers are manipulated,
11100-742: The vesting date, 1 January 1947, the remaining coal mines were nationalised, taken into public ownership, and the service contracts of the employees transferred to the National Coal Board (NCB). In total 86 collieries were nationalised and the coalfield divided into four areas, Manchester with 20 pits, Wigan had 26, St Helens 22 and 18 in Burnley and the number of collieries continued to decline as reserves became exhausted. In order to maximise coal output, short-life drift mines including Fence Drift and Wood End Drift were opened near Burnley and Seneley Hall Drift at Standish and Dairy Pit at Haigh in
11211-482: The west of his Hulton estate and gave his pits at Chequerbent access to the new means of transport. In the following 20 years the main lines of the railway system were constructed, linking the increasingly industrial towns in Lancashire with the rest of the country. Access to transport, the steam engine, the development of the textile industry with raw cotton imported through the Port of Liverpool and associated industries as
11322-569: The work was seasonal and combined with other occupations such as farming or weaving. During the Elizabethan era there were pits throughout the coalfield, and mines were recorded at Haslingden , Padiham , Ightenhill and Trawden . Over 50 small collieries operated around Rochdale where coal was got from small pits from the 1580s at Falinge, Cronkeyshaw and near Littleborough. Landowners entered into disputes with their tenants and neighbours, some of which were violent. Shallow pits at Bradford ,
11433-606: The workings of the Plumbe Street Mine in Burnley using an endless chain of buckets, and James Brindley installed one at the Wet Earth Colliery in the Irwell Valley . The invention of steam engines , first in 1698 by Thomas Savery and then in 1711 by Thomas Newcomen , provided an alternative method of draining wet mines and winding men and coal from deeper mines. A Newcomen atmospheric engine
11544-617: Was 4.2% for the region. Inside the region the highest was Liverpool with 6.8%, followed by Knowsley on 6.3%, Halton with 5.5% and Rochdale with 5.1%. The lowest claimant count is in Eden (Cumbria) and Ribble Valley (Lancashire) each with 1.3%, followed by South Lakeland with 1.4%. In the 2019 general election , the Conservatives gained ten seats, from the Labour Party, with no other seats changing hands. Labour held 42 of their 52 seats, albeit many with slimmed down majorities. They remain
11655-691: Was built in 1755 and by 1760 Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater was constructing the Bridgewater Canal , providing a direct link from his mines, the Worsley Navigable Levels , into Manchester. This encouraged the development of more canals, including the Leeds and Liverpool and Manchester Bolton & Bury Canals . William Hulton was a supporter of the Bolton and Leigh Railway , Lancashire's first public railway, opened in 1828 to carry coal and cotton. The railway passed to
11766-636: Was founded in 1881 and after the formation of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1945, the LCMF became its Lancashire area. Though not considered militant, the union was involved in several strikes including the national strikes of 1926 , 1972, 1974 and 1984. Lancashire was at the forefront of innovation in coal mining from James Brindley 's 1756 water wheel at Wet Earth Colliery to the Duke of Bridgewaters's underground canals . Edward Ormerod patented
11877-636: Was installed at Bardsley Colliery in Ashton-under-Lyne in about 1760. It was known as Fairbottom Bobs and is preserved in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan . Transport of coal was difficult; roads were poor and carting heavy loads made them worse. In 1720 the River Douglas near Wigan and the rivers Irwell and Mersey were made navigable, providing a more efficient and cheaper method of transporting coal. The Sankey Canal
11988-457: Was made in 1246 when Adam de Radcliffe stole coal belonging to Adam son of Alexander. Small amounts of coal were dug during the Middle Ages , but wood was plentiful and turf was preferred to coal which was inferior in quality. It was however used for lime burning and by smiths . Coal was got in Shakerley in 1429 when a dispute over the stealing of "seacoals" was recorded, and in 1521 there
12099-538: Was recorded that "the fiery damp went off twice, but did little hurt". A system of coursed air circulation in the workings was introduced in the 1760s using walls and doors, leading to the employment of "trappers", children as young as six or seven, working in darkness, who opened and closed the doors. The air flow was improved by braziers or fire baskets suspended in the shaft, and by the late 1700s underground furnaces, in combination with stoppings and doors. These methods were not without danger from fires or explosions. At
12210-718: Was regarded as a separate region. In 1998, Merseyside was merged into the North West region. This action was controversial in some quarters. Regional Government Offices were abolished in April 2011 by the Coalition Government. Sir Ernest Marsden (of Blackburn) and Hans Geiger conducted the Geiger–Marsden experiment at the University of Manchester in 1909, where the Geiger counter was invented, which demonstrated
12321-454: Was repeated with a 77% majority for Dan Carden (Labour), when an astonishing 85.7% of the electorate voted for him (the Conservatives came second with 8.6%). In the by-election of 2012 , Manchester Central has the record for the lowest turnout in the UK—18%. Gwyneth Dunwoody , for Crewe and Nantwich, was the longest serving female MP until her death in 2008. In the final European Elections in
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