Rainford's Railway Herritage Trail
Our Committee leader, the irrepressible Cllr Rob Reynolds was so committed over a period of 6 years to see the project through. The committee of Sally Powell, Clerk to the Parish Council, Joan Dagnall, John Atherton and I were thrilled and delighted to at last have the unveiling ceremony of the heritage board at Crosspit Lane site.
Lots of people turned out on a very cold Wednesday morning to hear Stuart Bardsley, Chairman of the Parish Council, thank Rob and the committee for the work they had put in. Cllr Reynolds then spoke for a few minutes before Joan Dagnall and Ray Waring carried out the unveiling ceremony and in doing so told the schools present that they were the future generation of Rainfordian’s. The committee have truly carried out the Heritage Society’s mission statement. ‘Leaving Something Behind for Future Generations’.
Well Survey
The Society is carrying out historical surveys around the parish which also includes Rainford Junction, Crank and Kings Moss.
A map has been put up in Heritage Centre Inglenook Farm to allow villagers to follow the society’s progress. The first survey is to plot every one of the old wells and record where they are or where they once provided the village with drinking water long before we had pipes and taps in our houses.
Ray Waring and Peter Lewis are using old Ordinance Survey maps to carry out the project and are able to distinguish between pumped wells, private wells and communal wells. Each of over 100 wells plotted so far has been given a number and you are able to read something about each one they are finding.
Click on the image above to view the wells map.
(This is a large zoomable image and may take a few moments to load)
A key for the map will be published in due course
They have discovered that some wells are not marked on the maps and people are passing on information about them being in houses and out buildings. Also uncharted wells have been revealed during building work and when driveways have collapsed under the weight of heavy vehicles. There is also an incident where a gentleman working in his garden suddenly found his leg dangling down a well.
The map is creating so much interest that the society
is appealing for people who have information about a well to let us have the relevant information as soon as possible.
At the end of 2016 research had highlighted 280 wells in the Parish and we were able to put all our findings
into print.
The Society published a book entitled 'Rainfords Wells: A Record and History' and, in order to raise funds, this is now on sale at Society events price £7.
Metal Detecting
Our main focus of course is the land around the Parish, which not only includes farmland, but very occasionally private gardens and paddocks around the parish generally at the request of the landowner.
When a search is planned all those members on the team are notified and a time and place is arranged prior to the planned search.
Any items that are recovered from the ground are collected at the end of the search various members may take items away for cleaning and research purposes and returned centrally and ultimately for display at our Heritage Centre at Inglenook Farm.
Our displays at the centre and those that we have held at Rainford Library always create a great deal of interest and of course we are adding to them all the time .
Research plays a very important part in this project and full use of the knowledge of local historians is always sought, this produces vital 'clues' which can be extremely valuable when planning a search on some land.
The Detecting Team is open to members who might like to come on board the team. Generally we don't go out in the rain for obvious reasons but we do get caught in it regularly .
If you feel that you would like to help then you need to be a member of course, and enthusiastic and willing to get your hands dirty in the process .You will need a metal detector (see note) and a spade!
Don't forget you will dig up junk most of the time but very occasionally a nice find surfaces, be prepared for backache !
Note:
Before you run out and buy a metal detector get some advice on what to get. Give any of the team members a call and they would be more than willing to help.