Collecting the Coal
Documentary series. Fred visits an open cast mine near Wigan to get coal to power his engine, then goes to Astley Green Mining Museum in Lancashire.
Documentary series in which Fred Dibnah travels around Britain in his restored traction engine in search of engineering skills and technology from a bygone age, a journey that will take him to ancient iron foundries, industrial sites and little workshops.
Coal was one of the essential raw materials needed to drive steam engines, and it is coal that will
power Fred's UK tour on board his traction engine.
Stocking up with coal is his first task but as there are no coal merchants left in Bolton, an open cast mine near Wigan is his destination. It's an uphill struggle as the engine runs out of steam and water just a few miles from home.
Fuelled up at last, it's off to Astley Green Mining Museum near Manchester. It houses Lancashire's only surviving pit headgear and engine house. Fred takes a look at Europe's largest steam winding engine and some Lancashire boilers.
Lancashire was the first area in the UK to become heavily industrialized due to its cotton mills and coal mining. Some 50,000 men were once employed in its collieries but now only Astley Green remains.
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