The waggonway

Last updated: 22 March 2006

A waggonway was laid from the early drift to the Border Counties line after the first sod in 1861. It was a modest line for a modest pit, and it did the work. Cottages associated with that working stood at Seldom Seen. The row is still there. It is occupied, and it is one of the older survivals in the parish. From 1889 the waggonway served Bank Top and Far Colliery as well. Slater’s Incline carried the tubs to the screens and the brickworks. The four rows were built along the waggonway at that time.

The eastern loop is said to rejoin the old waggonway, and in the trees you may still read a formation if you like to look. The committee last walked the loop in October 2005 and does not include it in the advertised mileage. The formation is not itself a path; the waymarked line, where it is waymarked, is the walk.

The parish walk does not follow the railway and does not follow the waggonway, though both belong to the same story. For the line itself see the railway. For the pit, mining.