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Colliers Row Road

Cutting across Smithills Moor from Montserrat to Belmont over the top of Barrow Bridge is Colliers Row Road. Simply named after two rows of cottages built by the Ainsworth family when they owned Smithills Hall.

This information came from from Mark (May 2007), his great Grandad, Mr John Looty Ward, worked at the loco works. He convinced all of the workers there to donate a penny a week to him and with the money bought Colliers Row. It was then used as a convalescence home for loco works workers with respiratory ailments, and as there was no form of sick pay back then, their families were paid their wage from the donations of the other workers. He also founded the Railwaymans Institute (now sited on chorley old road) and was the founder of the Horwich Spiritualist Church (the wooden one on Chorley old road.) He lived on Barlow Road in Horwich (one of the two stone houses at the top) where my grandad was born.

[old cottages]