Ashtons Field

Ashtons Field is an 8.4 hectare woodland space on the former Ashtons Field Colliery provides an attractive green haven for the local community. The accessible pathways provide a vital green corridor for walkers and cyclists and the flat grassland a place for children to play. A heath land area at the west end of the space is a designated biodiversity area.

Unusually the site has four blue canal locks but no canal! Or that’s to say no visible canal. The ornamental locks are a tribute to the Underground Duke of Bridgewater canal which runs underneath the site. The canal, created in the eighteenth century, was considered groundbreaking as it was among the first canals built in the country transporting coal directly from the underground seam to Manchester via the Bridgewater canal. Even by today’s standards it was an impressive feat of engineering.

The site was restored by the Northwest Development Agency using funding from the Homes and Communities Agency National Coalfield Programme. On completion the Woodland was handed to the Land Trust, an organisation that ensures public spaces such as this are secured for the benefit the community. The Trust have appointed the Forestry Commission to manage the site for community benefit.