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This tranquil spot on the bank of the River Medlock was once a hive of activity. There are a few remains left to show that the Fairbottom coal mine was here. It was the location of a Newcomen steam engine known locally as "Fairbottom Bobs" (now in the Dearborn Museum, USA).
©Martin Clark
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©Alexander P Kapp
Dist:0.2km<br/>Looking downstream, from the bank at Fenny Field Bridge.
©David Dixon
Dist:0.2km<br/>The path from Park Bridge Road to Bardsley, at Fenny Field Bridge.
©David Dixon
Dist:0.3km<br/>The River Medlock, at Fenny Field Bridge, on Park Bridge Road. The path alongside the river goes to the Daisy Nook Country Park.
©David Dixon
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©David Dixon
Dist:0.3km<br/>Park Bridge Road crossing the River Medlock at Fenny Field Bridge.
©David Dixon
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©Alexander P Kapp
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©Alexander P Kapp
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©Alexander P Kapp
Dist:0.4km<br/>A footpath leading from Bardsley Bridge to Park Bridge.
©Gerald England
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©Alexander P Kapp
Dist:0.5km<br/>The River Medlock, looking downstream, from [[[2271435]]].
©David Dixon
Dist:0.5km<br/>The structure known as “Fairbottom Bobs” was a Newcomen steam engine. It was built here, in an area known as Fairbottom, possibly around 1760, to pump water out of the Cannel coal pits, which were about 200 feet deep. The name arose from the bobbing motion of the wooden beam. The water was pumped along a wooden trough to top up the level of the Fairbottom Branch Canal, 200 metres away at Fenny Fields Bridge. ([[[2271432]]]) The engine ceased to be used in 1834 and become a local curiosity, sometimes mistakenly called "Watt's First Engine." In 1929 it was bought by Henry Ford and taken to America where it is now on display in the Dearborn Museum. Henry Ford compensated the locality for the loss of its famous relic by paying for the construction of a footbridge across the river ([[[2271495]]]). The area is now thickly wooded, and the ruins were allowed to become forgotten and overgrown until, in 2000, the site was excavated by the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, revealing these substantial remains together with the nearby [[[2271472]]] The large structure towards the back is the base of the chimney, built to draw smoke from the boiler. Photographs taken in the 1880s, showing visitors in Victorian dress posing in front of the engine, indicate that that the chimney was around 20 feet tall. http://www.ashton-under-lyne.com/history/fairbottombobs.htm
©David Dixon
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©Alexander P Kapp

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