A lengthy contoversy began in summer of 1925 when the Gas Company proposed building a new gasworks at Horwich End. The company had purchased land which had been reserved as open space and faced considerable opposition. The company supplied gas to Whaley Bridge, Chapel en le Frith, Chinley, Bugsworth and Furness Vale. They operated two gasworks, one at Whaley Bridge and the other at Bradshaw Edge, Chapel-en-le-Frith and proposed replacing both with the new works.
In June 1926, the Guardian reported: "There was considerable opposition to the scheme by the Fernilee and Taxal Parish Councils, the Manchester and District Town Planning Advisory Committee, and other authorities on the ground that the new works would mar the entrance to the famous Goyt Valley. At the public enquiry into the matter, the opposition described the proposed works as "a rusty lock on the gate of the Goyt".
Fernilee Parish Council offered to pay as much for the land as the Gas Company and would turn it into a recreation ground. Cost of the new gasworks was estimated at £45,000
Despite the many protests, the planning application was eventually approved and the gasworks built.
One of the Horwich End gasholders. Photo courtesy of Tony Beswick.
Writing about the gasholders, Tony Beswick observed: "On the gas holders you will notice the metal walls externally are not straight. They appear to have troughs running down the sides and if you look closely these are hinged at the bottom so that they go up or down depending whether gas is going into or out of the holders. These troughs were tight to the side of the metal panels and were full of water and they were always full and as they went up and down you could see from above if any of the panels had any gas escapes by looking for gas bubbles in the water. Simple but ingenious."
Gasholders were usually of one, of two designs, rigid or water sealed. Those at Horwich end are of the latter type. Theseare described extensively in a Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_holder
The priciple is that the lower structure is a water tank in which the gas tank floats. The gas tank is open-bottomed and will rise or sink according to the quantity of gas which it holds; the water keeps the gas at a constant pressure.
Tony Beswick wrote a further description of the gasworks:
"One of the gas holders is smaller than the other one but I never
realised this when I walked past them thousands of times when I lived in
Horwich End.
Before these massive structures were built there
were two smaller gas holders: one that served Whaley Bridge and one
that served Horwich End.
The one that served Horwich End was within the Botany Land. I've got old maps that show that one.
The
one that served WB was situated in the old Council yard and I'm fairly
sure I have maps showing this one as well. To reach the yard you would
drive down Bridge Street past Whiteley's leather and milling works on
the right and drive round the back. I imagine you can still walk around
even today. It was a public footpath up to the Bings. Half way up was a
metal kissing gate; as I can't get out just yet I don't know if it is
still there.
Also in the Council yard was a mortuary and
bodies were stored in there. There was always a window at high level
left slightly ajar and as kids we would go round and take a look inside.
Thankfully I saw no bodies".
The discovery of North Sea Gas in the mid 1960s led to the end of so called "town gas" and the Horwich End works were demolished in the mid 1970s.
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