Abram, Greater Manchester

Abram is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. With a population of around 6,000, Abram is south-southeast of Wigan.

History

The name of the village derives from Abraham, the surname of the historical lords of the manor.

Mining disaster

Just after 17:00 on the 18 August, 1908 there was an explosion at the No 1, Cannell Mine of the Maypole Coal Pit, 78 people died in the disaster, although it wasn't until November the following year that all the bodies where recovered. The inquest ruled that the explosion was caused by a combination of a build up of coal dust and gas, and the use of explosives to bring down coal from the ceiling.

Geography

To the south of the village lies Abram Flashes a 39.6 hectare (98.0 acre) site of special scientific interest (SSSI). The site lies adjacent to the Leigh Branch Canal and is part of Wigan Flashes an area of wetland stretching for between Wigan and Leigh. The flashes are shallow bodies of water which originate from flooding due to subsidence caused by shallow-mining. Abram flashes was designated an SSSI in 1990 due to its biological interest which includes various different habitats such as open water, swamp, tall herb fen and wet marshy grassland.

References

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Last updated on Thursday June 19, 2008 at 04:33:03 PDT (GMT -0700)
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