A brief history of
Bank Hall Dry Dock
Originally known as “Birley’s Dock”, after John Birley, who built boats on the site in the days before the colliery opened in the late 1860s, the site later became a maintenance dock for the work boats that carried coal from the pit to the Whitebirk Power Station in Blackburn. It also serviced other working boat fleets operating in the area.
Among working boatmen it was widely regarded as the best Dry Dock on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
Bank Hall Colliery closes
The pit closed in 1971 and in 1973 the whole of the former colliery’s land was granted ‘change of use’ to amenity open space and recreation area, effectively becoming a public park.
From that point, the dock became an unofficial dumping ground for domestic & commercial waste and the structure deteriorated for four decades while a number of planning applications (for renovation) failed to gain approval.
You can watch the BBC’s coverage of the restoration here.
A new lease of life for a unique piece of Burnley’s waterway history
In 2014, after over 50 years of neglect, two semi-retired couples, Les and Angela White, and Brian Denison and Jane Garnett, approached the council with a plan to bring the derelict site back to life as a working dry dock for canal boat painting and repair.
Following several discussions and the development of a business plan for the new venture, the council agreed to lease the site for their new venture, and the hard work began.
After 60 skips of muck and rubbish were removed from the dock, they began restoring the dock to its former glory, working on advice from the engineers at the Canal & River Trust, who were delighted with the high quality of the restoration works.
2024 – New owner
After successfully operating the reopened dry dock as a canal boat painting and repair business called ‘Feather & Gaskell’ for a decade, the owners decided to fully retire and the dock was put up for sale. Ian Elsey purchased the business in 2024 and, with a relaunched website, is looking forward to taking the business and it historic location into a new chapter.
If you have a boat painting or renovation project you’d like to discuss get in touch today.
