Woodend Mining Museum

About

Woodend Colliery was a small pit in the Burnley Coalfield, it opened in 1912 and closed completely in 1959 and it was in fact the last vertical pit shaft to be sunk in the area.

Although there were a lot of pits in this area there is unfortunately little left on the surface to see and so when Harry and Carole Johnson bought the site little did they know of the history it held. As the site was cleared small artefacts were discovered and as the saying goes “from little acorns do mighty oak trees grow” in this case from a few rusty tools has a small museum grown.

The site is now home once again to all manner of mining equipment dating from Victorian Britain to the recent past. Also in the collection are social history items which serve to remind us all of the hardships endured by families not that long ago in fact well within living memory for a lot of people.

Although most of the Museum is dedicated to the Burnley mines there are also artefacts from other mining areas and any donations of information or memorabilia will always be gratefully received.

There is also a small caravan and campsite available and a tea room serving light lunches or a superb cream tea with home-made scones and their own strawberry jam.

They attract guests from as far afield as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Australia and most of Europe as well as people from within a 10 mile radius.