Lady's Incline

Standard gauge railways reached the Poynton Collieries in 1845 with the opening of a branch of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway from a junction with the Macclesfield line up to the Albert Pit. A coal yard was laid out on the east side the turnpike road level crossing from which landsales were made and trains assembled for dispatch onto the main line. By 1848, a further line was constructed from this yard to the Lord and Lady Pits at Hockley. It was known as the Lady's Incline and comprised a self-acting incline some 600 yards long at a gradient of 1 in 40, followed by some 400 yards at an easier inclination until Lord Pit was reached.

The self-acting incline continued in use until 1882 when it was converted to locomotive operation following the purchase of a tank locomotive from Walker Brothers of Wigan. When the collieries closed in 1935 the tracks were soon removed and the incline became a public footpath, well used by local people.

In 1984 the local council undertook improvements to the surface and during preparatory works the remains of the top wheelpit and rope guides for the self-acting incline were revealed. These were left in-situ and a course of bricks laid on top to represent the structures below the surface. This has survived well, as can be seen in this recent view looking down the incline across the wheelpit.