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On Wednesday May 21st, Year 7 had their Geography Field Trip which was a fascinating trip on the East Lancs Railway. (see Gallery of photographs below)
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Between Bury and Rawtenstall the East Lancs Railway follows the valley of the River Irwell. The Irwell rises in the Rossendale Moors and flows north to south through Rawtenstall and Bury to Salford, where it forms the boundary with Manchester. Turning west it merges with the River Mersey, flowing through Warrington and out into the Irish Sea below Liverpool. Almost all of the riverbed between Salford and Warrington has been engineered to form the Manchester Ship Canal.
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Much of the valley between Bury and Rawtenstall was formed by glacial mmeltwaters at the end of the Quanternary ice ages about 25000 years ago. It has since been occupied by the present day river. It can be a fast flowing river, with considerable run-off from the surrounding moors during periods of heavy rainfall. Geologically, the Irwell in its upper reaches flows through Millstone Grit overlain by Coal Measures. These are sedimentary rocks of the Carboniferous era, laid down approximately 300 million years ago.
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Historically, the Upper Irwell Valley was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution during the 18th and 19th centuries. Water power was harnessed to drive machinery for the developing Lancashire textile industry. As the mills expanded and increased output, local coal was used to supply steam power. The development of the railway was an essential part of this process, transporting coal and raw cotton to the mills, and finished products to the markets. At the same time towns and villages (Bury, Rawtenstall) expanded considerably to house the burgeoning population, eventually becoming part of the Greater Manchester industrial conurbation.
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During the late 20th century many of the traditional industries in the Greater Manchester area went into a severe decline, as the British economy changed from manufacturing to service industries. Railways were closed to make way for new roads and motorways, whilst new technological industries and business parks have replaced much of the Victorian industrial base. The railway that the pupils travelled on once linked Bury with Bacup and Accrington, but was closed to passenger traffic in the 1960s. Only through the efforts of the volunteers of the East Lancashire Railway was it possible to re-open the line from Bury to Rawtenstall and to Heywood as it is today.
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The pupils were given a list of 35 questions (click here) to be included within a project, and prizes will be awarded at the end of term for the best project.
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Geography Rail Trail: Things to See
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• River erosion and deposition. In June 2002, for example, the river rose rapidly after a period of
heavy thundery rain. "Scouring" of the foundations of Lower Ashen Bottom Bridge at
GR796206 made the bridge unsafe, closing the railway north of Irwell Vale for 7 months.
• Waterfalls
• Meanders
• River terraces
• Terracettes and soil creep
• Landslip. For example, in the cliff at Burrs GR803125
• Confluence of the Irwell and its tributary the Ogden at Irwell Vale GR792202.
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Man Made Features
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• Quarries - for building stone
• Weirs - to harness water power and channel flow
• Bridges - Ewood Bridge is unusual in that it is one bridge built upon another. The earlier bridge
was built by Blind Jack of Knaresborough in 1789 as part of the turnpike road to Haslingden. It
was rebuilt in 1846 when the railway arrived.
• Settlement - the rows of workers' cottages at Irwell Vale are a classic example of a Lancashire mill
village. Similarly at Summerseat.
• Victorian Industry - business parks and industrial estates at Rawtenstall, paper mills at Stubbins
and Ramsbottom
• Industrial Archaeology - at Stubbins there are the remains of a railway junction and station. And
further northwards an embankment and viaduct, which carried the line to Accrington.
• Water Abstraction - for the sewage works at Ewood Bridge, and for the paper mills at Stubbins and
Ramsbottom.
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