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Industrial museums in North England info

gassor

gassor

There may be more posts after this.
Myself and a long-suffering pal are planning a tour of industrial museums coming down from Scotchland as far as Bolton. We will be travelling by campervan - sorry motorhome - as his missus insists on calling it. So far we have an itinerary including:

Beamish Open Air Museum,
Great North Museum, Newcastle
Bolton Steam Museum and
Queen Street Mill Textile Museum, Burnley.

The jaunt is expected to last a week sometime in May or June. If anyone can recommend any further additions to the list above it might prevent us from spending most of our time in the local Wetherspoons!
 
Science And Industry Museum in Manchester, obviously! Lots of stuff including a lovely working valve computer!
 
Sounds like you're coming down the wrong side of the Pennines but, in Sheffield we have the Kelham Island Museum (conveniently located near the Fat Cat real ale pub) and the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet (where I once was an extra in a programme for schools about George Stephenson's Rocket).
 
Would recommend a trip on one of the following preserved railways,East Lancs, Keighley and Worth (could also do the Bronte museum at Haworth) or North Yorkshire Moors. Keighley is also close to Salts Mill at Saltaire which I have passed but not visited sadly.
 
Salts Mill is very good. Great art gallery too. In Leeds we have Armley Mills, which I have been round but I can't say I'd travel to. It's interesting and it has a working beam engine, but the old industrial kit is generally unrestored and so not particularly engaging. It needs a lot of work to get it to where a museum should be, and as with all these things it's about funding.

Don't forget Allendale Mill, in Milnrow. It has a bloody huge engine that they run up once a month, it's epic.

Edit, Ellenroad, not Allendale.
 
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Lots of good recommendations, much appreciated. Should get the route sorted in a week or two so you can plan where to avoid when the time comes. Pub guide may be requested at a later date.
 
Fanny's Ale House, Saltaire. Approximately 1/4 mile from Salt's Mill, Saltaire, Bradford. It's one of the few places in Bradford that's worth stopping for and where the seagulls don't fly upside down.
 
Less than an hour from Manchester or Burnley you could see Liverpool. Albert Docks with numerous attractions.. but might be better to dedicate a minimum of a long weekend to that.
 
Might be a little far south being near Manchester Airport, but Quarry Bank Mill is fantastic, with both beautiful grounds and a fantastic working cotton mill, stream engines and a water wheel. One of my favourite places to visit.
 
gassor said:
Myself and a long-suffering pal are planning a tour of industrial museums coming down from Scotchland as far as Bolton. We will be travelling by campervan - sorry motorhome - as his missus insists on calling it. So far we have an itinerary including:

Beamish Open Air Museum,
Great North Museum, Newcastle
Bolton Steam Museum and
Queen Street Mill Textile Museum, Burnley.

The jaunt is expected to last a week sometime in May or June. If anyone can recommend any further additions to the list above it might prevent us from spending most of our time in the local Wetherspoons!
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Will Mike Leigh be filming it? Last time I was at Beamish was about 28 years ago. They had a Vulcan bomber you could get inside. Couldn’t get the bloody thing to start.
 
lordsummit said:
Might be a little far south being near Manchester Airport, but Quarry Bank Mill is fantastic, with both beautiful grounds and a fantastic working cotton mill, stream engines and a water wheel. One of my favourite places to visit.
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Big thumbs up from me too for this, especially if working machinery is your thing.
 
Take5 said:
Big thumbs up from me too for this, especially if working machinery is your thing.
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It’s only an hour or so from Bolton.

There’s also the Lancashire Mining Museum at Astley Green. It’s fairly small, and not open every day, but it has the only engine house and winding gear in the Lancashire coal field - which is a sad indictment of our attitude to industrial heritage.
 
Blists Hill if no one has mentioned it. Victorian town. Not Beamish but pretty good.

And if you venture over this way, the Slate Museum in Llanberis is excellent.
 
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