Peter Lazenby
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A CELEBRATION of Lancashire’s coal mining heritage was held bythe county’s last surviving pithead gear on Saturday.
The former Astley Green colliery in Greater Manchester is home to the Lancashire Mining Museum.
The pit’s winding gear and engine house have been preserved and overlooked the museum’s first Mine is Yours festival, beginning with a procession of National Union of Mineworkers branch banners from former collieries followed by a day of music, craft activities, theatre and creative performances.
Lancashire’s last pit, Parkside at Newton Le Willows, closed in June 1993. Astley Green itself shut in 1970 but its winding engine, the largest working machine of its type in Europe, was fired up during the festival.
Martin Green, project manager at Healthy Arts group, which was involved in the festival, said it aimed to “help sustain the museum in the long run; generating future income to support and redevelop the site and look after the important headgear and the winding engine — key historical landmarks of our industrial heritage.”
