South Lancashire Tramways built a tram shed, power station and offices in 1901 on the north side of Leigh Road. It was taken over by Lancashire United Transport who built a bus depot on the south side Leigh Road on the site of the closed Howe Bridge Colliery pithead.[2]
Religion
A school and mission opened at Howe Bridge in the Atherton parish in 1869. St Michael and All Angels Church was built in 1877 as a result of the late Victorian urbanisation which occurred when the small settlement on the road from Atherton to Leigh became a pit village when deep mining began at Howe Bridge Colliery. The church was designed by Paley and Austin of Lancaster, and the £7,000 cost was given by John Fletcher.[4]
Landmarks
Between 1873 and 1875, Fletcher, Burrows and Company, owners of the local collieries, built a model village on Leigh Road, comprising terraced cottages, shops, Atherton Collieries Village Club and a bath house for their employees. This Victorian village on either side of Leigh Road,[5][6] together with St Michael and All Angel's Church, is a conservation area.[7]