My father moved to Horwich when the railway works at the Viaduct in Earlestown was closed down. Been there a couple of times to collect wood or re-new our 1/4 fare passes. He was a wagon builder a very skilled man who made much of the furniture in the house I grew up in which was in Haydock. I still have many of his tools.

In 100 years time people will be able to look up these videos and see how things was in our day, you have documented so much Martin you should genuinely proud of what you have accomplished on this channel,if only we had someone like you 200 years ago we would be able to see and know so much more , hat's of to you Martin.

Martin, you're an inspiration... So much so that I'm creating a new Birmingham based history, decay and regeneration channel. Your videos have made me far more curious about exploring historical sites, I'm glad that you're documenting this in Manchester. I'll try and do my part here in Birmingham!

Capturing buildings and areas before they change is a brilliant idea. Document what people ignore will make an invaluable archive. A real asset for the future.

There's something really aesthetically pleasing about steam engines.

Oh my. Even when you think its a failure , my family and i are mesmerised with anticipation. We love your videos Martin. Hope you enjoyed your concert. Your fans from Peru

Nice to hear and see you again Martin. I said to my wife this morning if only the canals and all the railways were kept. We certainly could do with both today. The work your doing many look forward to seeing and they are really enjoyable. Thanks for vloging 🙂

Great video! The Gronk featured at 11:11 (08624) is still around, in Freightliner livery these days. I think it's at Felixstowe at the moment.

Another interesting look down memory lane. Love it when you compare maps old and new plus slot in your old pics. Pure history. Thank you for your videos.

Horwitch Loco Works, visited one Sunday morning late 50’s, when I was a young Trainspotter. Don’t think I was yet a teenager. An older lad had organized a formal visit for our non existent Club. A guide was waiting for us and he was annoyed as most of us where just kids far too young to be legally taken around an industrial site. We went around the 3 or 4 long sheds that ran parallel to Chorley Road and we wrote down every number we could, then transfer to our Ian Allen books on type. Some years later as a 16 year old I started work at Elglish Electric works at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows. That would have been 64 and they where doing some of their last orders for Locos. One for Poland and one for a East African country diesels including Deltics for Brit Rail no longer the Steam I grew up on. I stayed there until the converted one of the massive loco building sheds to constructing ships engines quite big I could stand in a individual cylinder. Walking past an Army recruiting office in Bolton I went in and had a chat. I ended up joining as an Aircraft Technician and did 23 years in that job before obtaining my UK CAA Aircraft Engineers License. How’s about something on the old Gordon Works which built the Bayer Garret locos, probably the most massive locos build in UK, there is one in Manchester Science Museum. Good work hope you keep it up. John

What a huge place, with so much work and effort put into it. Now its all gone, everything is so throwaway! Great history and pictures! Thanks Martin!

Another top video for a miserable Sunday evening. Don't worry if there's not a lot to see - your narration, research and mapwork always cover all the bases. Nice one.

Hi Martin - oh good - another vid - I miss you when you go quiet! Your vids are interesting and I like the down to earth no-nonsense way you do it all. Great stuff! And genuinely engaging...

Made me happy to hear the horwich crab got a mention, I was very fortunate to inherit a 7 1/4” gauge crab off my late great grandfather who made it in the 60s

So sad when history is wiped away. Thank you for this xxx

Fascinating stuff again. Thanks for sharing

Great video to watch on a Sunday night!

Quality and passion as always

Brilliant thanks for taking us along again. Amazing how quickly these places can change

Love your channel, I just discovered it and have been binge watching your vids all day. Keep em coming!

Another excellent and fantastic video of when it was Great Britain.

Martin, what another brilliant video! The gems you find are incredible to see and learn about, I love how informative your discoveries are, without exaggeration. I like being able to compare a new and old map and see photos which help put it into perspective. Amazing work, again! Keep it up - Thank you 🐝

Another interesting video Martin, thank you so much.

Another great video, well done Martin. 👍

Great video Martin. It's wonderful you are doing this type of video before all history gets wiped out! I love and appreciate what you do! Thank you...take care!

Late again, but happy to be here! Always a delight, always interesting, always educational. Thanks for dropping some more wisdom on us!

If you walk about thirty yards past the station road bridge, in the opposite direction to which you walked, one of Blackrods back platforms is still extant.

Thanks Martin. Great video as always very enjoyable.

Your videos are so informative and while I know you do this because you enjoy it, this is effectively an archive for future generations. Its absolutely vital we have people like you dedicating your time to this kind of thing.

Lived in Horwich all my life and walked from Old Station Park in Horwich down the line to Blackrod as a kid in the early 90s. Back then there was still come track and signals remaining. Sad to see it's all gone now. Ta for the video!

Interesting video as always. Thanks for cheering.

I love watching your videos of your country’s history. Thank you!

Nice episode again Martin, thank you!

showing failures as well as successes is just as important. it's reality. and it still shows your "process", which is interesting to see. and you still gave us good information about the history of Horwich. so this vlog was NOT a fail!

Sad to see older railways slowly disappearing. I hope I can take a trip somewhere to find abandoned railways or stations. Great vid btw

Fortunately there are still old maps of the area. I also use them regularly to discover the area. An interesting history.

Great stuff Martin, being prepared to go to Horwich knowing you may find something or nothing bearing in mind how long the works has been closed shows great dedication, love the videos, more please.

There was still some lovely finds, great video

Thanks Martin another fascinating subject brilliantly presented and illustrated and some very interesting finds. Loved the mix of old photos and the music.

I cant get enough of your videos, they are fantastic... Thank you

Always good to see you and Connor out and about exploring, great video and info as always.

👍👍👍😊 Nice one Martin. That guy looking out of the boiler on the left at 15.15!😊

Hi Martin. That was in no way a “fail “! It’s important to document these places. So glad you are doing that with Manchester and have series planned. I m looking forward to it. Totally with you on the train spotting side of things. My childhood spent travelling all over the country, the north in particular, has left me with a lifelong interest in seeing old industrial and commercial places. It’s why I love your channel so much and appreciate the time and effort you put into making these films. Looking forward to the next one! 😁👍👊

Brilliant Martin as allways,

Nice short video that,always fascinating to see the remnants of our industry and past.

Some priceless history awesome thank you for taking the time to share your findings like the fact when able you can match the photos to better days

Again a superb video! Thanks again

I remember sneaking into Horwich works to look at the trains as a young teenager around 1980.

Great stuff, cheers Martin

I don't even know Manchester but your video's bring interesting history alive in a way I find extremely watchable. Good work Martin.

Thanks for the Videos as Always Martin

Thanks Martin I really enjoyed that. The brickwork was amazing

What always gets me is how nature just absorbs everything...

ZM32, the Horwich Works Ruston diesel is still at the Steeple Grange Light Railway

I live down in London. But, my word, this is fascinating stuff! Great to find your video. Really compelling stuff.

Thanks Martin for an interestingly informative video. Appreciated. 👍👍😎

Another cracking video Martin. The 'Changes' idea is an excellent one. Looking forward to seeing it.

I truly love the work you put into your videos, I love anything trains. Old or new. Thank you sir and keep them updated for us.

Maybe you didn't find as much as you'd liked but still fascinating spliced together with your archive photos and research. Definitely worth your efforts before it's gone forever. Thanks Martin.

I still found it intriguing, my mind kept thinking of what it must have been like with all those trains and workers. Thank you Martin!

Another great video Martin, great effort to do the videos . Thumbs up

Space 1999...that brings back some memories! Anyway, thoroughly enjoyable video even if you didn't make any big discoveries. Looking forward to your other explores.

Superb!

Thanks Mate. LOVE IT !!!

All I can say is BRILLIANT

Good watch 👍

MOONBASE ALPHA!! OMG! You're the best Martin!

Good to explore before it gets lost forever , another interesting vlog mate

Nice work Martin and team,thanks

I really enjoy watching your KZfaq channel keep it going x

Remember seeing the shunter on a Horwich Works open day in the 80's... it was a Wigan Springs Branch shunter outposted to Horwich. They maintained the Bury line units and units from Merseyrail late on and had a third rail test track set up on the run down to where the M61 is. Brings back a lot of memories.

Great stuff as usual

Another brilliant video :)

Awesome stuff

excellent video your channel is great been looking through your videos as i recently found your channel .

Nice one - enjoyed that...

Yes Horwich Works was a vital enterprise and should never be forgotten in the history of Greater Manchester. My only connection was in about 1980 when I visited Horwich Fire Station. This was a "part time" Fire Station with only one Leading Firemen per shift employed, but when the sirens sounded the part-time crew turned up, and most of them were from the Loco works.

I worked I there 5 years ago for mg fabs thay have moved now. I used those overhead crane's to move new over head line steelworks for the electrification from manchester to bolton and onwards . I also worked for west coast railway in Carnforth and met a old working man restoring steam locomotives he did his apprenticeship there in the late 70s.

Love your videos!

Another great video ✌🏼 we watch a few explores, but really like yours because of the quality, information, and the gentle manner you bring to each video. Looking forward to the next 👌🏻👌🏻✌️

Just found your post of old Horwich railways. I went to Horwich Count Secondary School in the early mid 60's. We had as GCE subjects Technical drawing, wood work and metal work, As we were feeders for the craft trades essential for the life blood of the works. Great video and look forward to viewing others ta mate. Ps I was a steam train spotter and still have all my Ian Allen books too.

Amazing video! That such a complex industrial plant has almost vanished is an example of how quickly history itself can vanish.

A good video Martin thanks

Enjoyed this video Martin. Amazing how young the girls are working the lathes in WW1 at the locomotive works.

Fascinating vid mate. The tile wall showing the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway lines. Still had Douglas and Ramsey as destinations for the isle of man, great stuff. Regards Paul.

Hi Martin Used to live down there at 204 Station Rd from 1954 (was 2 years old) until about 1972 when i moved to Manchester. used to play all round that area many happy memories..Where you was at the bridge underpass ( was just known locally as the Iron Bridge ) you could go under it and take the path going to Horwich or if you went Straight on through the fence ( trespassing ) you could get to the back of Horwich Loco Works Also going that way there was the remains of some old works and i think it was a Old Pit Head Shaft. Then from there moving along the back of the works you came to what we called The Peat Moss with its Light Railway for the Peat Trucks. Can't remember how many times me and my mates where chased of there for pushing the Trucks along the lines and then riding in them. HAPPY DAYS. Thanks for bringing back so many Memories.

Thanks Mart, lots of questions but I won’t bore you with a long message but keep taking us to these places, be nice to see inside the remaining buildings and so much of our industrial history being lost.

Thanks for the video it was very interesting.

Now our old building and industrial history is slowly disappearing great video from Martin

Thanks for a great video Martin. When I heard your disclaimer about there being "nothing" I wondered what the rest of the video would be about. Well, you definitely found "something" even though it wasn't what you wanted!

Really interesting video, Martin, I always like a bit of historical railway related stuff, that looked like an inspection pit, may have originally been inbetween a section of track where the engine would have been worked on from underneath. A 1,000 locomotives in 15 years, wow, they'd struggle to get that many made, even today!

HEY, Marg, put the kettle on... Martin Zero.... He's back..... Oh, so glad to see another video Martin.... been waiting to discover on your legs.....All Fascinating. Changes for ever.

BRILLIANT!!!!

Another great video Martin it is such a shame that a site like that which was so important to Britain that there is just nothing left to remember it, keep the video's coming Martin.

At last something proper on youtube

Another great video Martin - also love the Space 1999 desktop

We have a locomotive works that still stands in my area - Interestingly in Manchester, NH, USA! Search 675 Canal Street, Manchester, NH USA using Google street view. Its a very long, low red brick building. I've been inside, it was very interesting!

Loved this Martin, such an interesting journey and your inspiring story of the light railway and engines, I will have to go to York to see 'Wren' ...you did it again with your wonderful poignant music, the backdrop for the images of the once great works ...a fascinating video expertly produced, pure entertainment' thank you for sharing.

Excellent, and you did manage to find quite a few things of interest in the end! Nice to see Conner back - he should add Welly Bobs to his Christmas list!

man that place looked just like the crewe railway works i worked there years ago lots of it is still standing thanks