Golborne

Golborne is a town in southern Lancashire located roughly halfway between Wigan and Warrington, with those towns being 5 miles to the north and south respectively.

History

Bede (672-735 AD) recorded a well near Golborne in Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (compiled c. 731 AD) dedicated to the memory of Oswald. There is some suggestion that this well may have been the site at which Penda, the Pagan king of Mercia, slew the Christian king Oswald at the Battle of Maserfield (642 AD). However, the battle is more likely to have taken place further south, close to Oswestry in Shropshire.

The town was the site of the Golborne mining disaster on 18 March 1979. An explosion of methane (firedamp) killed 10 colliery workers and seriously injured another. A memorial to the disaster exists in the town.

Coal production ceased in the town in 1989, when Golborne colliery was finally closed.

Transportation

Despite lying on the West Coast Mainline between London and Glasgow, Golborne no longer has a railway station, with that having ceased operations in 1961 for passenger traffic and 1967 for commercial goods. In recent years, there has been a campaign to reopen Golborne's railway station.

Notable people

Professional wrestling

• Dynamite Kid (1958-2018) - one half of the 1980s tag team "the British Bulldogs" (born Thomas Billington)
• Davey Boy Smith (1962-2002) - one half of the 1980s tag team "the British Bulldogs".