Poynton is a town in Cheshire 7 miles north of Macclesfield, 5 miles south of Stockport, and 11 miles south-east of Manchester. Nowadays Poynton is also known as a commuter town but it has an industrial heritage. Coal had been mined here since the 16th century and later, the Poynton collieries were in operation until the mid-1930s.

David Kitching has studied in detail in the industrial archaeology of the coalfield, its pits, its owners & workers, machinery, the colliery railways and links to the main lines and canals