TYLDESLEY man David Brooks got a shock when he took a nostalgic walk through the fields where he played as a boy.

For the retired engineer and local businessman stumbled on what appeared to be two uncapped mine shafts at the site of the former Combermere Colliery on a farm track continuation of Common Lane in the town he grew up in.

Concerned because he knew from his childhood the shafts were hundreds of feet deep he got in touch with former Tyldesley Councillor, Steve Hellier, who immediately contacted the Coal Authority, the body set up in 1994 after coal privatisation.

Within hours, their engineers attended and discovered that the caps on the shafts had sunk and one had a vertical drop of nearly four metres.

Mr Brooks said: “We used to play around here and people told us these shafts were 300 feet deep. I carefully approached the lip of one of the shafts looking for a cap and got as near as I dare. I felt unsafe and went no nearer but still I couldn’t see the bottom. I was so worried that I had trouble sleeping, but I didn’t know who to report the danger to. Once Steve got involved things moved at a rapid pace.”

The ex-Wigan councillor said: ”Understandably, Mr Brooks wasn’t aware of the Coal Authority and when he contacted me I was extremely concerned. Anyone stumbling into the deeper shaft would probably have been trapped and seriously injured. The nightmare scenario is that someone out alone in this secluded spot could have died.”

Confirming that one of the shafts was in a dangerous condition, Coal Authority engineer Ian Hughes, said: “The original shafts were 187 metres deep. We needed to know about this and we’ll erect temporary fencing immediately. Once we have established who owns the land, a long term solution will be put in place. This will probably include topping up the cap, permanent fencing and annual inspections.”

According to coal industry historian and author, Tyldesley man Alan Davies, Combermere Colliery was sunk originally in 1878 and ceased producing coal in 1903, when the site was used as a brick works. However, the mine continued to be used as a source of water for Cleworth Hall Colliery until it too closed in January 1963.