at Walkden Yard. The collieries were linked to mainline railways at Ellenbrook and Sandersons Sidings on the Tyldesley Loopline, at Astley Green sidings on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, at Walkden Low Level on the line to Bolton, at Walkden High Level on the Manchester and Wigan Railway and at Linnyshaw Moss on the Manchester to Bolton Line. There were canal tips at Boothstown and Worsley on the Bridgewater Canal. Nationalisation At Nationalisation in 1947 Manchester Collieries employed 14,868 workers on the Lancashire Coalfield. Some of the surface workers were women, known as pit brow lasses, who sorted coal on the screens at the pit head. As coal reserves were exhausted, the older collieries closed. References Notes Bibliography Mining in Lancashire Companies based in Salford Defunct mining companies of the United Kingdom