Paul Steane's Photography Pages

What I have called "Boysnope Tramway 2" ran from Boysnope Wharf on the River Irwell in Higher Irlam to the eastern side of Chat Moss. This tramway was built in the early 1890s by Manchester Corporation, and ran from Boysnope Wharf (by this time on a stub off the Manchester Ship Canal) onto the eastern side of Chat Moss; this lasted until the 1930s and is known to have had several steam locomotives. The main item of interest is the bridge under the A57: the tramway must still have been operational, or maybe potentially so, when that road was rebuilt. The road underbridge has been landscaped to provide access for a golf club between the club house on the eastern side and the golf course on the western side of the A57, though it has been fenced off as the golf course is out of use. The route of the tramway, including many lines criss-crossing the Moss, are marked on many of the old maps through into the middle of the twentieth century.
Useful maps:
Side-by-side map showing 1900s Ordnance Survey map alongside a modern map - zoomed in to show details around Boysnope Wharf.
Side-by-side map showing 1920s Ordnance Survey map alongside a modern map - showing the tramway network on Chat Moss.