The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-07-10 00:00:00

BURY AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.

On Wednesday last, the town and neighbourhood of Bury
were visited with a tremendous storm of thunder and lighten-
ing, accompanied by -such heavy showers of rain and.bßil,
that the brooks and rivers of the district rose to the hei4bt of
six or eight feet above their usual Jevel, in the short sieace of
from thirty to forty minutes. .Tice !urctlrirger; FloyfQ§ hung

unusually low in the atmosphere, immediately over the town,
and the vivid flashes of lightning, and the heavy peals of
thunder followed each other in rapid succession. Great da-
mage has been done to the property in the immediate vicinity
of the rivers Roach and Irwell, as well as to that on the
banks of their numerous tributary mountain streams, and
great quantities of wreck were borne on their surface under
the arches of Heap Bridge, Blackford Bridge, and Bury
Bridge. At Ramsbottom, in the immediate vicinity of
Messrs. Ashton's extensive works, a box of candles, a chest,
of drawers, a table, and various other articles of furniture
and timber were taken out of the stream. Several mills
higher up the stream sustained very considerable injury from
the sudden overflowing of the torrents, which rolled along
with a force and rapidity that threatened destruction to every
thing within their reach. We are informed that at the mills
at Dearden Clough, great damage was sustained, as well as
at Mr. Parkinmar's Mill at Ewood Bridge. All the lawn and
meadow land (upwards of 50 acres) in front of the residence
of John Grant, Esq., of
.Nutton Hall, was completely.
inun-
dated, as well as a portion of the land on which the works of
E. Hardman, Esq., of Bury, are situated. The body of a
cart, divested of its axletree and wheels, was dragged out of
the stream by some of Mr. Hardman's men, but in a very
shattered condition. When the cart was washed away, we
are informed, it was loaded with coals, and the violence with
which it had been driven by the current against the various
objects opposing it in its progress, had broken the iron bolts
of the axle, and thus severed them from the cart. Both axle-
tree and wheels were carried down the stream as far as Ring-
ley. A quantity of planks and other timber were torn from
Mr. Hardman's weir, which was under repair, and carried
away. A valuable cow, the property of Mr. James Kay,
grocer, of Bury, was struck with electric fluid, in a field near
the Bolton road, and killed on the spot ; and we are informed
that the chimney of a house near Park Hills was struck, but
not materially damaged. Two of the inmates fortunately
escaped with but slight injury. At a place called Black Pitts,
the mills of Messrs. 'Turner and Co. were so much damaged
by the overflowing and rapid current, that some time must
elapse before they can Ire put into operation. The heavy
stone wall of the large loom shed, near the brook, was washed
completely down, and the looms and machinery in the
lower rooms of the mill, were immersed in water, and
much valuable property washed away; but, we are happy
to say, no lives were lost. We are informed that three
draw-boys were blocked up in a coal mine, by the water in
that neighbourhood, and had not been got out at the time we
received the intelligence, on the following morning; but
hopes were entertained that the poor little fellows were in
some higher portion of the mine than the waters would reach,
and they would be rescued from their perilous situation.
The mine is entered by a horizontal passage in the lower
part of the side of a hill. Part of the bleaching works at
Hampson Mills, and the land about Goshen and the Gig
Mills, were inundated; but less damage was done than was
expected. In the neighbourhood of Rawtenstall, large tracts
of meadow and pasture land were laid under water, and from
the quantity of wreck that has floated down the streams it is
feared that the damage sustained has been very great. The
large steam engine chimnies have escaped without injury,
we believe, notwithstanding the clouds hung so low in the
atmosphere, these chimnies being generally protected by con-
ductors. A strong pencil of light was several times seen
during the storm at the tipper part of the rod affixed to the
large chimney at the Moor-side vitriol works, but no damage
was done. At. Messrs. Walker and Lomax's mills, upwards
of three hundred squares of glass were broken in the sky-
lights by the heavy had stones. At the works of Messrs. R.
and M. Smith and Co., calico printers, Baxendale, damage
was sustained by the flood to the extent of about £6OO. The
storm at Edenfield is stated in a letter we have seen to have
lasted about six hours, commencing about noon. The brook
there was swollen to an enormous extent, and the flood did
much damage to every establishment on its banks. The
lodge banks and troughs at the print works of Messrs.
Watson and Greig in that neighbourhood, were swept down,
and the chimney was struck by lightning, but not much in-
jured, The bank of a new lodge at the establishment of Mr.
John It ostron, jun., was completely swept away, and a steam
pan from his works was brought down the stream, and carried
over the new wheel. One field of hay-grass was covered to
the depth of a yard and a half. Two cows belonging to Mr.
George Ramsbottom, having taken shelter at the foot of a
large chimney, were killed by the electric fluid, which did
not injure the chimney.