Agecroft Power Station

Agecroft Hall was an old manor house located between Lumns Lane on the west side and the Manchester to Bolton railway and the old Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal on the east. It was taken apart by a new owner and sent to Richmond, Virginia in the USA.

The first power station built on this site, Agecroft A Power Station, was opened on Wednesday, 23 September 1925, by Alderman G. Billington, the Mayor of Salford. It was run by the Salford Corporation Electricity Department. After the British electricity supply industry was nationalised in 1948, the station was managed by the British Electricity Authority from 1948 to 1955, then by the Central Electricity Authority from 1955 to 1957, and finally by the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1958 until 1990. In 1950, the power station was expanded with the addition of a B station. Later, in the 1960s, a C station was built. Both Agecroft B and C power stations were opened in 1962, and a plaque was put up to mark the occasion.

The stations drew cooling water from the River Irwell, while the B and C stations were cooled by four large natural draft cooling towers located near the riverbank.

In 1948, Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns built three steam locomotives in Newcastle upon Tyne to move coal wagons at the A station, and later at the B and C stations. However, when the UK's electric supply industry was nationalised, the locomotives became nearly useless. A conveyor belt was set up to transport coal directly across Agecroft Road and into the station from Agecroft Colliery. The colliery kept supplying the stations until it closed in March 1991. Even then, locomotives were still used to move coal wagons to and from the colliery. By the 1980s, there were too many locomotives, so they were sold off. After being retired in 1980, Agecroft No. 1 was saved from being scrapped when a private owner bought it. In 2008, it was acquired by the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester while in pieces and underwent a three-year restoration costing £120,000. Agecroft No. 2 was purchased by the Ribble Steam Railway and sent to Southport for repairs in December 1982. Agecroft No. 3 is currently being fully restored at the Whitwell & Reepham railway station in Norfolk.