The famous Rainhill Trials took place along a level stretch of railway line 1 mile and 7 furlongs long, east of the Skew Bridge. A prize of £500 was offered to the successful locomotive completing a total run of 70 miles (the distance from Liverpool to Manchester and back) which entailed forty trips along the test length.
The trial of different locomotives was held over several days in October 1829 and attracted people from all over the country. Robert Stephenson’s Rocket locomotive won. These trials were of great importance, establishing the steam locomotive as the only motive power on railways for the rest of the century.
The railway line east of Rainhill Station looking towards Manchester