Lancashire Mining Museum CIO

Astley Green Colliery Museum is the last surviving headgear and winding house in the entire Lancashire coalfield, sitting on fifteen acres of a Victorian colliery site on the edge of Chat Moss. The centrepiece is a 3,300 hp twin tandem compound steam winding engine, and the 98ft lattice steel headgear is visible for miles around. Both the engine house and headgear hold scheduled monument and listed building status, so this is genuinely irreplaceable industrial heritage.

Entry is free, with donations warmly welcomed, and the whole place is run entirely by volunteers who are consistently brilliant with children and adults alike. You can wander the site at your own pace, take in the mining memorabilia and machinery, grab lunch or a cream tea in the on-site café, and find a picnic table if the weather is kind. The last Sunday of each month is the highlight, when the winding engine is fired up and the narrow gauge pit railway runs passenger trips around the site.

The museum is open Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 1pm to 5pm. There are wheelchair-accessible entrances, toilets, and accessible facilities throughout the site. Events through the year include plant sales, a bonfire and fireworks night, and a Santa train, so it is worth checking what is on before you visit.