Wet Earth Colliery was begun in 1751 when Heathcote sank a deep shaft to the seam about half a mile to the south-east but he ran into technical difficulties and had to call on the help of Matthew Fletcher.

It had to overcome several obstacles, not least that there was no flowing water on the site to power a pump and that the pithead was 23 feet (7 m) above the level of the River Irwell.

Drawing water from the east side of the Irwell, Brindley then drove a tunnel 800 yards (732 m) long through shale and sandstone across a large bend in the river as far as Giant's Seat.

At the top of the southern shaft, an open leat or head race was dug southeast along the west bank of the Irwell.

This small feeder canal flowed 235 yards (215 m) until just past the Wet Earth Colliery and then sharply west to enter the mine through a short tunnel.

Entering the pumping chamber next to the pit head, the water turned a 23-foot (7 m) diameter overshot waterwheel that powered a nodding donkey or pumpjack.

[1] At some point between the 1750 pit closure and the 1756 reopening, John Heathcote signed over ownership of Wet Earth Colliery to Matthew Fletcher.

At the same time, a small canal was cut to connect to a basin constructed inside the mine next to the shaft to enable coal to be loaded directly onto barges and then to Manchester.

In 1835, a year after his father John died, Ellis Jnr lost interest, barely keeping the pit going until his own death in 1854.

A succession of family, cousins, uncles and sons of these relatives variously owned or worked the mines for the next few years.

The brothers deepened the shaft sunk by Ellis Fletcher, to reach the Trencherbone mine at a depth of 607 feet (185 m).

William and John Ivill (father and son) came to his aid, but during the descent of the shaft were overcome by blackdamp and fell 300 feet from the cage to their deaths.

[7] The area around Wet Earth Colliery was abandoned, leaving much of the Gal Pit and surrounding buildings intact.

Salford City Council has designated the area part of the Clifton Country Park and made efforts to restore what is left and laid out a trail to guide visitors along Fletcher's Canal,[8] past the river valley workings connected with Brindley's inverted siphon to the now capped Gal Pit.

Wet Earth Colliery Exploration Group has excavated the old penstock and turbine house and some restoration has been completed.