Stepping back in time

We paid a visit to Astley Green Colliery Museum. It's little more than 15 minutes from home but until recently we didn't even know it existed. We had spotted the 98ft headgear from the main East Lancs Road on numerous occassions and had assumed it was just left over from the mining era, which was prevalent in this part of the UK up until the early 1970s. We spent a couple of hours mooching around the site, which is funded by grants and donations, and manned by volunteers, mostly from ex mining families. There is a massive building that still houses the No.1 engine that drove the headgear; it is still in working order, and is powered up once a month, unfortunately that was not today! It's well worth a visit and surprisingly there is no admission charge!