The Astley Green Colliery Museum is a museum run by the Red Rose Steam Society in Astley near

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, southeast of Wigan ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England. () Before becoming a museum, the site was a working

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

that produced coal from 1912 to 1970; it is now protected as a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The museum occupies a site by the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...

which has the only surviving pit headgear and engine house on the

Lancashire Coalfield The Lancashire Coalfield in North West England was an important British coalfield. Its coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago. The Romans may have been the fir ...

History

Astley Green Colliery Astley Green Colliery was a coal mine in Astley, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It was the last colliery to be sunk in Astley. Sinking commenced in 1908 by the Pilkington Colliery Company, a subsidiary o ...

exploited deep

coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s of the

Manchester Coalfield The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South Lancashire Coalfield, the coal seams of which were laid down in the Carboniferous Period. Some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages, and extensively from the begi ...

underneath the

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

known as

Chat Moss Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up part of the City of Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It also makes up part of Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside and Warrington ...

, and was driven by the high demand for coal during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the exhaustion of supplies of coal in the

Irwell Valley The Irwell Valley in North West England extends from the Forest of Rossendale through the cities of Salford and Manchester. The River Irwell runs through the valley, along with the River Croal. Geology Shallow seas covered most of south-east La ...

. Shaft sinking began in 1908 by the Pilkington Colliery Company, a subsidiary of the

Clifton and Kersley Coal Company The Clifton and Kersley Coal Company or Clifton and Kearsley Coal Company was a coal mining company that operated in Clifton and Kearsley on the south side of the Irwell Valley, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. Its collieries ex ...

, and the pit began production in 1912. In 1928 the colliery was amalgamated with other local collieries to form

Manchester Collieries Manchester Collieries was a coal mining company with headquarters in Walkden formed from a group of independent companies operating on the Manchester Coalfield in 1929. The Mining Industry Act of 1926 attempted to stem the post-war decline in coal ...

. The mine was modernised when the coal industry was nationalised in 1947. Astley Green Colliery was closed in 1970 and was subsequently opened to the public as a museum.

Museum

Monstrous steam engine, Astley Green, Lancashire

Astley Green Colliery has the only surviving

headgear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, de ...

and engine house on what was the Lancashire coalfield. The headgear is made from

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

lattice girders with rivetted plates at the joints. It has two large and one small wheel mounted at the top. It is nearly high and was built by Head Wrightson of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

and completed by 1912. In the winding house there is a twin tandem compound steam engine made by Yates and Thom of

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

who supplied 16 Lancashire boilers. Its engine house has the largest steam winding engine used on the coalfield. The 3,300 horse power twin tandem compound engine was built by Yates & Thom in Blackburn. The museum also has a collection of 28 colliery locomotives, the largest such collection in the UK.

Railway

As of Summer 2019, a roughly 200m section of track has been restored and built by volunteers. One locomotive is currently operational with another due to under essential maintenance, before passenger services can start on the railway.

References

External links

Astley Green Colliery Museum website History of Astley Green Coal Mine
{{authority control Mining in Lancashire Railway museums in England Museums in Greater Manchester Mining museums in England Scheduled monuments in Greater Manchester Tourist attractions in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Coal mines in Lancashire Underground mines in England

History

Museum

Railway

See also

References

External links