tarboat's photos with the keyword: museum

Whilst the old steam winder is still in good order at the National Mining Museum at Caphouse Colliery, it was deemed unsuitable for winding visitors going underground. This hydraulic winder was erected to handle the work having been built by engineering company Needham Brothers & Brown Ltd of Barnsley, a firm with a long history of working for the coal industry. It has now been taken over by Qualter Hall & Co Ltd.

This former co-operative shop in Longport now houses a fascinating museum of chimneypots. Pots are also for sale, so if you need to match what's on your roof then this is the place to start. The little lions are a bonus feature.

Night time in the square outside the heritage and visitor centre at Woomerra in South Australia. The area incorporates a large display of the various rockets that were tested on the Woomerra ranges and also a couple of aircraft including Canberra bomber.

Woodhorn Colliery in Northumberland was sunk by the Ashington Coal Company in 1894, with production starting in February 1898, and closed in 1981.The site opened as a museum in 1989.

In the engine house at Queen Street Mill is this 500 hp horizontal tandem engine. It is named "PEACE" and was built by William Roberts & Co of Nelson in 1894.

Bristol VRT - ECW WTU487W at the 2015 running day based at the Gladstone Pottery Museum.

Looking into the cockpit of Vulcan XM602 from the navigation seat. Five men were packed into this area for hours whilst on active service. Only the pilots got ejector seats. This is an exhibit at the new Avro Museum at Woodford which opened last week.

There are some things that are a must-see in our household, and the British Lawnmower Museum in Southport is one of these. The building is stuffed with every conceivable make and model of mower and there is a well informed commentary to accompany your visit. 5 Stars every time!

The colliery at Snibston saw its first shaft sunk in 1833 by George Stephenson and partners. Closure came 150 years later in December 1983 and the site subsequently became part of the Snibston Discovery Museum. This week Leicestershire County Council announced that the museum would close and some of the land would be sold off for housing. Whether the preserved colliery buildings will survive is yet to be seen. The future of the mining artefacts stored here from various opencast sites is probably not good. :-(

Head Wrighton No.1 shunts chaldrons under the screens at the Beamish colliery during the recent photo charter. This locomotive can be quite alarming as from certain angles it appears to be running without a driver!

Fine terracotta over the entrance to West Park Museum, Macclesfield. The profile sculpture of Queen Victoria marks her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The lettering represents the initials of Marianne Brocklehurst and her brother, Peter Pownall Brocklehurst who donated the museum "for the education, refinement and pleasure of the people for all time to come." The building was opened on the 3rd of October 1898.

The Anson Engine Museum is one of those special places, a museum run by enthusiasts rather than 'professional museums people'. As a consequence it is interesting and presented at a level that requires rather more intelligence than the average amoeba at which most museums seem to aim these days. This view shows just one of the halls in which a wide range of oil, gas, and even a few steam, engines are presented and run. They specialise in engines built in the Manchester area but this does not preclude examples from further afield. If you are in the area on one of their running days then it is a must see!

In 1984 I was able to accompany Les Cawley to the premises of Messrs A Barton & Sons, wadding manufacturers, of Hazel Grove, Stockport, where he was dismantling the steam engine that had driven the mill. This horizontal cross-compound was built in 1903 by Stott & Co of Haslingden and had operated until 1960. Today I had the great pleasure of seeing the engine reassembled and turning over at the excellent Anson Engine Museum in Poynton. Currently only being rolled over by electric drive, it is hoped to have it back in steam later in 2010.

One of the ambitious projects currently underway at the excellent Anson Museum , is the diorama of Poynton as it was in 1900. This is being undertaken by the local history volunteers who have already put in 1700 hours of work on the model. In this view the centre is occupied by the Lord and Lady Pits with the Newtown Houses to the right and Petre Bank cottages behind. To the right of this is the Quarry Pit and in the left background are the Park Pits.

Entrance to the Macclesfield Museum in West Park. This dates from 1897, a time when terracotta work was very popular for public buildings. This is the first time I have seen Queen Victoria featuring on a terracotta plaque.

Wellington Mill in Stockport has an impressive facade. It now comprises apartments and the hat museum along with a number of other uses.