to Clifton, where it would connect to the Manchester and Bolton Railway. The company also promoted the idea of extending the line northwards to Rawtenstall. On 4 July 1844 their private bill was granted Royal Assent. The Act authorised the company to raise £300,000, and also to borrow £100,000 (£ and £ respectively in ). The land between Clifton and Bury, partly owned by the Earl of Derby, John Robinson Kay, William Grant and others, was mostly "waste, woodland, pasture or reservoirs, except at Brookbottoms where arable land was avoided by the tunnel". Strong financial support was offered to the MB&RR by local businesses, who were unhappy with the idea of the M&LR building their own railway. The Manchester and Leeds District Board of Trade produced a report in 1845 which gave their backing to the M&LR and the line was sanctioned in 1846, however the MB&RR project was unaffected by this connection. Manchester contractors Pauling & Henfry, who tendered £167,529 (£ in ), were in May 1844 awarded two contracts to build the Clifton to Bury and Bury to Rawtenstall sections of the new railway. The work was sub-let to smaller contractors and began quickly; in July 1844 the Manchester Guardian wrote a favourable report on the works. However, a shortage of workers in 1845 (reflecting the amount of railway construction underway at that time) meant that some men were asked to work on Sundays, resulting in some being charged with breaking the Sabbath. Further difficulties prompted the dismissal of the original contractors, their place being taken by John Waring. The railway ran north from Clifton through a cutting at Outwood. This required the removal of about of earth. It then passed north-east through Radcliffe Bridge and Withins station, and from there into Bury Bolton street station. From Bury, it ran through Summerseat, Ramsbottom, Stubbins and finally to Rawtenstall. The railway climbed a constant gradient, across a mixture of viaducts, tunnels, cuttings and embankments, one of which, the mile–long section from Ramsbottom to Stubbins, was substantial. The extant Clifton Viaduct was built to cross the River Irwell, which flowed below, and also the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal. Its largest span is wide. Expansion By 1844, the Blackburn and Preston Railway (B&PR), who shared a viaduct across the River Ribble with the North Union Railway (NUR), were planning a railway from Blackburn to Farington. Following an 1845 act the