Oops: A Zeppelin pilot followed the Irwell in WW1 thinking it was the Rochdale Canal to Manchester. He dropped two devices within a mile of Springhill (one incendiary and one explosive). Thankfully neither went off.

Oops 2: Dec 2010, a gas explosion in New Hall Hey took out the gas and electricity to Springhill (together with much of the surrounding area). The electricity came back on after a few hours, the gas after a couple of days. The work was undertaken cautiously as the explosion was just above the water main from Haweswater to Manchester. Had that been fractured, half of Manchester would be without water and a fair part of the lower Irwell valley would have flooded.