Winding House - September 9th 2010
Following months of careful work by specialist company Cyrus-RW and thanks to a generous £10,000 grant from SITA Trust, the Grade II listed Victorian engine house at Woodhorn once again contains a working winder.
Work began back in February to re-commission the gearbox and now the huge winding engine is back in action. Visitors to the museum will get their first opportunity to see the massive machine at the forthcoming Heritage Open Day weekend (11 & 12 September 1pm – 4pm).
Woodhorn Director Keith Merrin is delighted that the massive machine has been brought back into working order. “The winding engine is central to the operation of a deep mine by providing the means to move men, equipment and of course coal up and down the shaft. We hope that visitors who experience the Winding House will develop a greater appreciation of the workings of a coal mine and the scale of the whole operation.
“We are most grateful for the support of SITA Trust,” said Keith. “Without the grant we would not have been able to undertake the work and our visitors would not have the chance to see and appreciate how the engine fits in.”
Jools Mackin, Communications Manager at SITA Trust said '”We were delighted to be able to provide funding to Woodhorn for such a fantastic project. This great attraction offers hundreds of thousands of visitors the opportunity to explore the heritage of Northumberland. It is a superb resource for both the local community people and visitors to the area. We hope that the revitalised machinery at Woodhorn will excite and inspire a whole new generation of budding engineers and give an insight into the clever folk who lived and worked in the north east in years gone by.”
Pictured are John Browne-Swinburne the Chairman of Woodhorn Trust, Keith Merrin the Woodhorn Director, Paul Halliday from SITA UK and Ray Wilson from Cyrus-RW.
Following the Heritage Open Days, Woodhorn hopes to be able to offer timed demonstrations of the winding engine at weekends. Full details will be available on the website: www.experiencewoodhorn.com