Winter Hill – forever associated by those of a certain generation with the television announcement that “due to severe weather conditions” there would be no telly that night – has many stories to tell.

Earlier this year, we looked back at an infamous1838 murder that took place on Winter Hill.

The brooding, atmospheric hill, which is often cloaked in snow during the winter months, is also the setting for two other significant events in Bolton’s history…

At 9.45am on Thursday, February 27, 1958, a terrible air disaster happened there.

The shock of the tragedy was magnified, coming as it did just weeks after the Manchester United ‘Busby Babes’ Munich air crash.

A Bristol 170 Wayfarer, ferrying passengers on a visit to Manchester from the Isle of Man, crashed into Winter Hill in atrocious weather.

Just seven people survived.

Thirty-five representatives of the Manx motor trade – mechanics, engineers, and motor traders who were on their way to visit the Exide Battery factory in Greater Manchester – were killed in the disaster.

The passengers and crew had set off from Ronaldsway in the Isle of Man on a charter flight to Manchester Ringway. It was due to arrive at 10am. The pilot on that fateful day was Captain Michael Cairns, the first officer was William Howarth, and the flight attendant was Jennifer Curtis.

The badly cut first officer was able to free himself and crawl through thick mist and deep snow to the television mast and raise the alarm.

Local people joined the rescue party. John Sanderson, a licensee of the Jolly Crofters and a member of Horwich Rotary Club, along with sub-postmaster Jack Speight and local man John Shawcross, drove up George’s Lane to join a party of men from the quarry to dig through the snowdrifts to enable rescue vehicles to get to the site.

When they reached the wreckage, they realized there was little that could be done for most of those on board. Those still alive were given morphine injections and carried down the hillside on stretchers to waiting ambulances, which took them to the Royal Bolton Infirmary.

Captain Cairns and First Officer Howarth both survived, as did flight attendant Jennifer Curtis, who was discovered still strapped into her seat.

More recently, Winter Hill was in the national news again, this time because of the 2018 fires that burned for 42 days.

On Thursday, June 28, 2018, a fire was reported near the iconic television mast on Winter Hill, just four days after a devastating moorland fire erupted on Saddleworth. At approximately 3:30 pm, the fire service received reports of flames near the mast, triggering an immediate response. Fifty firefighters from Greater Manchester and Lancashire were dispatched to the scene, marking the beginning of a prolonged battle against nature’s fury.

As the weekend approached, the situation escalated dramatically. Two separate fires on the moorland converged, creating a massive, uncontainable blaze. The authorities declared a major incident as more than 100 firefighters from across the country joined forces to tackle the fire. The United Utilities helicopter played a crucial role, dumping hundreds of gallons of water to douse the flames from above.

Firefighters worked tirelessly in harsh conditions, battling against a combination of dry weather, high temperatures, and strong winds. These elements, coupled with human activity, had created a ‘perfect storm’ for such a disaster.

The prolonged heatwave and lack of rain had made the peatland exceptionally susceptible to ignition, and once the fire started, the strong winds fanned the flames, causing them to spread rapidly across more than 4,000 acres of moorland.

For weeks, plumes of smoke were visible from miles around, a stark reminder of the ongoing battle. It wasn’t until mid-August that footpaths around Winter Hill and Rivington Pike were reopened, signalling the beginning of the end.

After 41 gruelling days, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service began the process of closing the incident, officially standing down the firefighters who had worked relentlessly to extinguish the inferno.