Museum trust to launch new fundraising appeal at popular gala event this weekend

For the Steam Gala weekend, steam engine owners from all over the UK will bring their large working steam engines to Blists Hill Victorian Town for visitors to see them in operation. The streets of the open-air museum will come to life with the sight of large engines, the sounds of turning cogs and wheels and the smell of billowing smoke.

To coincide with this special weekend, an annual highlight in the museum’s calendar of events, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, a heritage and conservation charity, is launching an appeal to raise £100,000 to repair its steam-powered winding engine, one of the earliest and most significant exhibits in Blists Hill Victorian Town.

Winding engines were used to carry people, equipment and horses up and down a mine shaft. The original mine shaft at Blists Hill Victorian Town dates from the 1780s; the wheel above it is a recognisable landmark for visitors to the open-air museum. The museum’s winding engine dates to the mid-19th century. It was originally used at Milburgh Tileries, a mine in nearby Jackfield. The cage on the end of the cable would have carried one tub of coal or clay at a time or six men at winding speeds of up to 30mph (44 feet per second) without men and about half that with men on.

Today the winding engine at Blists Hill Victorian Town is capable of winding empty tubs a short distance up and down the original mine shaft. However, due to normal wear and ageing (the winding engine ran most days from its installation in 1973 to 2018) and due to an overwind incident that occurred in 2018, it has not been in operation for the last six years.

Lauren Collier, Head of Interpretation at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, said: “When it is working, the winding engine exhibit helps bring the sounds, smells and sights of a working engine to life for our visitors. It also helps us tell the story of the men, women and children who worked in Shropshire mines, and the danger they faced every day. The winding engine was a vital feature of mining and the development of mining and engineering, so is significant in the story of the Industrial Revolution. Sadly, this engine, one of the very few preserved steam winding engines with the potential to continue to run regularly and in an original mine shaft, has now been out of action since 2018.”

Gayle Kelly, Head of Fundraising, said: “We need to raise £100,000 to repair and restore this incredible piece of machinery. We want visitors to Blists Hill Victorian Town to see the winding engine in action, and to be able to imagine what happened at a working mine. But it is wholly dependent on raising £100,000. We hope that seeing other steam engines in action at our Steam Weekend will inspire steam enthusiasts, companies and members of the public to give money and to help ‘Get Us Winding Again’.”

Once the funds have been raised, the work to refurbish the pit head, boiler house and engine house, inspect the mine shaft and refit the cage is expected to take approximately 18 months. To reduce costs, the work will primarily be carried out by the Trust’s Steam Team, expert volunteers, supported by their Steam Engineer and select external contractors.

Any company or individual that wishes to give to the initiative or find out more can go to the campaign website at: ironbridge.org.uk/about-us/support-us/get-us-winding-again/

By Sarah Watson - Contributor