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Today Bestwood Country Park is a peaceful green oasis, but once this area was a sprawling industrial site. At its heart stood Bestwood Colliery - one of the busiest coal mines in Nottinghamshire.
The Winding Engine House is the last remaining part of that vanished colliery. The winding engine lowered colliers into the mine shaft, and winched mined coal up to the surface. The tall brick building houses a huge winding engine. Originally it was powered by steam, but today's visitors see the massive engine moved by an electrical motor. The engine dates back to 1876, the heyday of Victorian industrial engineering.
You can also take a self-guided tour by entering the building and accending in the glass sided lift. A recorded audio commentary will tell you what to look out for, explain how the mighty engine worked, and tell you a little about life as a miner.
If volunteers are available to take you around the building, you will move up the various different levels of the building to the top where you can experience the sheer size and power of the winding engine. You will hear how coalminers descended into the darkness of the mine, lowered in a metal cage, controlled by the Winding Engine Driver.
Tours are free, and led by members of the Winding Engine House Volunteer Group - a local community group dedicated to the preservation of this wonderful piece of industrial heritage.
The Winding Engine House volunteers aren't around every day, so if you'd like to find out more about open days or tours, please telephone the Bestwood Country Park Rangers on tel: 0115 927 3674 (Daily, 10.30am to 4.30pm).
* The Engine House opens to the public on Saturday mornings between 10am and 12noon all year.
Bestwood Winding Engine House Leaflet
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