Astley Green: Volunteers Brought the Mine’s Giant Engine Back

An engine and a tower

Astley Green’s winding engine ran again in 2013, more than forty years after the mine closed. Volunteers had saved the machine while most of the other colliery buildings disappeared. Its return to working order gave the museum a way to show how the engine lifted coal and carried workers up and down the mine shaft.

The engine turned a drum holding the lifting ropes. Wheels on the tall steel tower above the shaft guided those ropes down into the mine. The tower is called the headgear; it worked with the engine as part of the same lifting system.

Today the engine uses compressed air instead of steam. A listed demonstration shows its moving parts, but the mine itself remains closed. Before the colliery could begin producing coal in 1912, workers had faced another difficult task: sinking a shaft through wet, loose ground.

• Historic England — Astley Green Colliery: engine house and headgear ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
• Lancashire Mining Museum — colliery history ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
• Lancashire Mining Museum — events ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13

Digging through wet ground

Workers began sinking the shaft in 1908. Wet, loose ground made excavation difficult, so they needed a lining that would hold it back as they dug towards the coal.

Workers used powerful jacks to push iron rings down through the ground. The rings formed a lining for the shaft. The jacks pushed against a concrete support that later held the tower. Coal production began in 1912.

• Historic England — Astley Green Colliery: engine house and headgear ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13

A house built for the engine

The brick engine house was built around the lifting work. Openings let ropes pass out towards the shaft. Historic England also records a smaller brake engine that helped control the lift.

Arched windows and tiles survive around the machinery. The lifting ropes passed from the engine house to wheels on the tower and down into the shaft. A smaller brake engine helped control that movement. The building and tower were parts of one system, rather than two unrelated structures.

• Historic England — Astley Green winding house, 1163357 ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13

Volunteers saved it

Yates and Thom of Blackburn built the engine for mine work. Volunteers later gave it another purpose: showing how that work was done. Bringing it back into motion in 2013 did not reopen the colliery.

It now moves using compressed air rather than its old steam supply. A demonstration lets visitors see the parts work together. Check the events list for a running day. The engine does not run every time the museum opens.

• Lancashire Mining Museum — colliery history ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
• Lancashire Mining Museum — events ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13

The people who worked here

The museum also records the lives of the miners. Five men died in an underground explosion on 6 June 1939. Displays cover that loss and the wider working community alongside the machinery.

Some displays have been recreated. The miner’s cottage is inside the former manager’s office. A planned display of coal extraction at ground level is still listed as work in progress. Do not expect it to be ready.

• Lancashire Mining Museum — colliery history ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
• Lancashire Mining Museum — what to see ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13

Visiting the museum

The museum currently lists free general entry and a separate charge for its railway attraction. Check opening days and events before travelling. Ask about steps, surfaces or a display if those details affect your visit.

Stay within public museum areas and follow staff advice near machines. Visits do not descend the mine or climb the tower. On a listed running day, you can watch the engine’s moving parts and see some of the work volunteers have done to restore it.

• Lancashire Mining Museum — visitor information ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
• Lancashire Mining Museum — what to see ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13