The workers whose blood, sweat and tears created a reservoir system in Rivington , to channel water to a growing Victorian city will be honoured with a monument.
The 'Navvies', as they were called, were the foot soldiers who built the Rivington reservoir system, eight reservoirs which stretch from the north of Horwich and Bolton, up into Lancashire.
Construction started 1847 and finished in 1875, and provided fresh, clean water to the growing Victorian city of Liverpool.
Horwich Heritage and United Utilities worked together last year to install a memorial stone for Thomas Hawksley, the architect who designed the impressive reservoirs.
Now a monument for the Navvies who made Hawksley's vision come true has been installed.
Derek Cartwright of Horwich Heritage said: "It was mainly the Navvies that built the reservoirs, with some workers losing their lives following accidents in the workplace and others dying through natural causes. Babies were born, and at least one mother died during childbirth in a mud hut.
"I, like a lot of people, have grown up in the area and the reservoirs are part of the fabric of our life.
"The reservoir system provided vital clean drinking water for the growing city of Liverpool at a time when cholera and other water borne diseases killed hundreds a year.
"It showcases the engineering prowess of the architect and the quality of the navvies' work, it is all gravity, and it is still flowing now almost 125 years later, just as it did in 1850."
There will be an unveiling ceremony for the monument on March 22 at 9.30am - Horwich Heritage encourages anyone who would like to attend to head along.
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It is on Knowsley Lane, What3words code "peanut.bombard.reflector".
He added: "It is important we recognise the people who worked and put in blood sweat and tears to build this, which is still in place, a testament to their work.
"Thousands of Navvies would have been employed at the peak of the reservoirs' building, hardworking and hard drinking men who worked with picks, shovels and wheelbarrows, no mechanical diggers in those days.
"The only help would be the horse, cart and gunpowder, when required. 700 men were said at one point to be employed and working on the Yarrow Reservoir alone.
"It has been placed on Knowsley Lane. The monument is attracting a bit of attention, quite a lot of people are asking where it is.
"I drew it and said can you make this, and Roy Davies of Horwich Heritage got some metal and made it."
United Utilities landscaped the area and put the monument in place.
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