In 1871 two cottages in the hamlet of Stubshaw Cross were destroyed in an explosion and one of the inhabitants later died from injuries sustained. The cause was the accidental ignition of a barrel of gunpowder, it being the practice for colliers to prepare their own charges at home for use in the local colliery. A number of local residents were retailers of gunpowder and were permitted by law to store up to two hundred pounds of it without a licence, while any person could carry up to fifty pounds. The explosion occurred in the home of one such retailer when a spark from a lamp fell into an open barrel containg twenty-five pounds of gunpowder. Following expression of concern by the Coroner a public enquiry was instituted, and discovered that a number of cottages in Stubshaw were storing large amounts of explosive, not to mention further properties between Stubshaw and Ashton. This eventually resulted in the Explosives Act of 1875 which introduced a system of licensing and inspection for the sale of gunpowder. Supplied by Ian Winstanley. Source: The Ashton Powder Keg by Bob Blakeman. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries local residents established and supported charities for the relief of the poor in Ashton-in-Makerfield. These provided an annual supply of clothing to the needy of the district. The charities were the Ashton Linen Stock, the Ashton Coat Stock and the Ashton Breeches Stock, and their accounts were recorded in four tablets of stone which were removed from St Thomas's Church when it was rebuilt in 1892-3, and are now located in the stairway entrance to Ashton Town Hall. The accounts record that a substantial proportion of the charitable assets were derived from fields at Stubshaw Cross. David McKendrick

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