Big plan to paint Lancashire Mining Museum's headgear purple

Lancashire Mining Museum chairman Peter Rowlinson has had a big impact on the Astley Green site since taking up the reins in January.

The former pithead received more than £150,000 last year and will get £100,000 this year from various organisations, such as Wigan Council, the Arts Council and The Pilgrims Trust, for the restoration of its engine house.

The rusting headgear and its winding house dominate the skyline – a reminder of how coal fuelled industry before the world pivoted towards greener sources of energy.

TV viewers might have seen it used for filming for Peaky Blinders and Sherwood – the drama surrounding the trauma of 1980s miners’ strike and its aftermath. Episodes of 1980s comedy drama Brass, starring Timothy West, were also filmed there.

“Word has it that Timothy would arrive on set in a Rolls Royce after staying at a hotel in Liverpool during shoots,” said Peter.

Last year, 20,000 people visited the museum, including 31 school visits involving 852 children, and there have been 14 school visits already this year.

The first shaft was sunk in 1908 at what was then Pilkington Colliery Company.

The coal seams were very deep and overlain by 100ft of wet and unstable ground, making the sinking of the shaft very expensive. But it was viable because of the huge demand for coal.

Like many mines, as well as employing people and boosting the local economy, there was tragedy. In 1939 an underground explosion of methane gas killed five men and injured five others.

The colliery employed 2,000 people in its heyday, but it lasted only 62 years, with the pit closing in 1970.

Because of its short and relatively recent history, a considerable number of written and photographic records survived.

The museum also boasts the UK’s largest collection of underground locomotives.

Peter, a former chief planning officer for Wigan, is one of 100 registered volunteers.

“We’ve also got 204 members, one of whom is a 94-year-old ex-miner who regularly climbs on roofs to paint them and volunteers down the road at the East Lancashire Railway [in Bury],” he said.

“There are about 30 of us who are here all the time.”

Plans are afoot to launch a 1940s exhibition dedicated to the “Bevin Boys”, the young men – including comedian Eric Morecambe and Bolton Wanderers and England forward Nat Lofthouse – recruited to go down the mines instead of fighting in the armed forces during the Second World War.

“We are also looking to create a 1960s underground experience,” said Peter.

Elsewhere, there are intact air raid shelters from the war, just 100 yards from the Bridgewater Canal.

Plans to extend the 2ft 6ins light gauge railway are also in progress – but funding is tight.

Peter said the biggest challenge would be securing funding to restore the headgear, currently rusting.

“It would be great to see it restored,” said Peter. “It might seem strange, but it should be painted purple.”

In the shadow of the main headgear lies another smaller headgear, which belonged to Bolton steeplejack Fred Dibnah and was donated to the museum by his family.

“Fred famously had the headgear in his garden,” said Peter, “and we were delighted when his family offered it to us after he passed.”

The museum is open from 1pm to 4pm on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.