Bolton Steam Museum

Bolton Steam Museum

A 'prize exhibit':
an inverted vertical compound engine rescued from Hardman and Ingham's Diamond Rope Works at Royton, near Oldham

View from above the Park Street Mill non-dead-centre engine

Bolton Steam Museum is a museum in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which houses a variety of preserved steam engines. It is owned and run by the Northern Mill Engine Society (NMES).^[1]

Overview

The NMES is a registered charity (No 532259) and the museum has received Registered museum status from Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), the government body responsible for museums and libraries policy. Due the fact that work is still very much in progress, it is unfortunately not yet possible to open the museum to the public on a regular basis, although special Open Days are held each year. However, visits by genuine enthusiasts or organised groups can always be accommodated by prior arrangement. (See website).

Steam engines

The following is a list of the mill engines that have been preserved and are on show at Bolton Steam Museum. For further details of the engine types, see steam engine.

Crossfield Mill Beam Engine

• A twin-beam engine, of unknown make, with gear drive flywheel, circa 1840, from the Crossfield Mill, Wardle, Lancashire

Wasp Mill Tandem

• A tandem compound engine with Corliss valve gear built by J & W McNaught Ltd of Rochdale in 1902 for the Wasp Mill, Wardle, Lancashire

Parks St Mill NDC

• A "non-dead-centre" inverted vertical compound engine, built by John Musgrave and Sons of Bolton in 1893, using Fleming and Ferguson patents, for Park Street Mill, Radcliffe, Lancashire

Diamond Rope Works

• An inverted vertical compound engine with Corliss valve gear built by Scott & Hodgson Ltd of Guide Bridge in 1914 for Hardman and Ingham’s Diamond Rope Works, Royton, Lancashire

Cellarsclough Beam Engine

• A McNaughted compound single beam engine (originally c 1870) modified by Woodhouse and Mitchell of Brighouse in 1908 for Cellarsclough Mill, Marsden, Huddersfield, Yorkshire

Robey Uniflow

• A single-cylinder horizontal Uniflow engine built by Robey of Lincoln in 1926, originally for the Baltic Sawmills, Ammanford, South Wales.

Robey Cross Compound

• A twin cylinder cross-compound engine built by Robey of Lincoln in 1935 for the laboratories of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.

Barraclough Vertical

• A single cylinder "A-frame" vertical engine built by Joseph Barraclough of Barnsley in circa 1860 for Redfearn's Glassworks, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Chadwick Vertical

• A vertical engine built by John Chadwick Ltd of Manchester, that was used to pump water in Cellarsclough Mills at Marsden

Browett & Lindley

• A high-speed compound inverted vertical engine built in 1900 by Browett and Lindley of Patricroft driving an early two-pole dynamo by J H Holmes of Newcastle, from Lakefield Mill, Farnworth, Bolton

Tangye Horizontal

• A single-cylinder horizontal engine by Tangye of Birmingham from Vantona Textiles Ltd of Farnworth

Langbridge Diagonal

• A twin–cylinder diagonal engine built by Lang Bridge Ironworks of Accrington for textile printing machinery driving, from Bollington Printworks, Cheshire

Walker Fire Pump

• A single cylinder horizontal rotative fire pump engine built by Walkers of Radcliffe circa 1890 for the Fern Mill, Shaw, Lancashire

Other Engines

• A further 12 smaller steam engines of different designs by various makers
• A rare Musgrave barring engine, used to turn the large mill engines into the start position, a procedure that was originally done by "Barring" the flywheel by hand. This engine was in the Bolton Museum's collection but has been transferred to this museum which is only a few yards from its original working place.^[2]

See also

• Bolton Museum

References

1. ^ Northern Mill Engine Society (NMES) official website
2. ^ Bolton museums site

External links

• Northern Mill Engine Society (NMES) official website
• BSM's inclusion in the CaM-Guide History section^{[dead link]}
• Collection of photos on Flickr

Coordinates: 53°35′06″N 2°27′17″W / 53.5849°N 2.4546°W / 53.5849; -2.4546