On the border of Greater Manchester and Merseyside lies the former coal mining village of Bryn. Like many northern mining towns it bears the scars of its industrial past - while retaining a tight knit community keen to build a brighter future.
According to locals here, the name Bryn comes from a village in Neath Port Talbot in South Wales, which also became synonymous with heavy industry. But it could also come from the Welsh for 'hill' or Old English for 'burning fire'.
The Bryn Hall Colliery employed over 500 people at its peak in the early 1900s, but was abandoned shortly after WWI. While the remains of the colliery are now under private land, it sits under the northeast corner of the town's nature reserve which the community has helped to transform into a pretty visitor attraction.
