Coal

Coal is found outcropping to the east of Towers Road, Poynton which corresponds to the line of the Red Rock Fault; that is at the surface. It has been worked from early times. The earliest record to be found is a lease dated 28 February 1589, which talks of the "Coal pit at Wourthe lately occupied by George Finche". This was originally worked on the surface then by shallow shafts, and later by deeper shafts with waterwheels or steam engines operating pumps and winding gear. In the later 18th century, the Warrens of Poynton co-operated with the Leghs of Lyme to work the Cannel and Sheepwash seams at Norbury Hollow.^[1] Output in 1789 was over 23,586 tonnes (26,000 tons) rising to a peak production of 221,056 tonnes (243,673 tons) in 1859.^[2] The Poynton Colleries were substantial, and the coal rights were held by the Warren family who leased them the Wrights and the Claytons. In 1826 the estate passed to George John Venables Vernon, 4th Lord Vernon who decided in 1832 to manage the mines himself.^[1] In 1856 it was estimated that there was a reserve of 15,163,027 tons which would supply 245,000 tons for 61 years. This was to be supplied by the Park Round Pit,^{[lower-alpha 1]} and the Park Oval Pit both working the Four Foot and Five Foot Seam and the Anson Pit and the Nelson Pit which were working the Accommodation Seam.^[3] The closure of the Norbury Pits resulted in a constant ingress of water. In 1926 production was down to 80,146 tons. The collieries closed on 30 August 1935; 250 men were made redundant.^[4]

Museum

The museum is the result of years of work by Les Cawley and Geoff Challinor who began collecting and showing stationary engines for a hobby. When the number and size of engines they collected increased, they decided to start the museum. A charitable trust was formed and work began on the first building in 1986. The museum first opened to the public in 1989. For many years it opened only on odd days and times to suit their hobby and the small number of visitors that dropped in to see the collection. In July 2002 Les Cawley died and Geoff Challinor dedicated himself to making the museum into an attraction that would bring visitors from around the world.

Crossley, Mirrlees and Gardner engines

Among the earliest engines are the original number 1 engines built by Crossley and Mirrlees. Manchester became predominant in the development and manufacture of stationary engines, and by the 1900s, there were over 20 engine makers in existence within 20 miles of the museum.

Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day, in Hazel Grove, concentrated on developing the light and heavy oil diesel engine and L Gardner & Sons of Patricroft become known the world over for their role in bringing the small high-speed, quality diesel engines to the industrial and marine markets and Crossley Brothers in Openshaw took up Nicolaus Otto and Langen patents. Local manufacturers are the prime focus of the museum exhibits.

Top attractions

Today the museum has one of the largest collection of engines in Europe and attracts stationary engine enthusiasts from around the globe. Over the past few years it has picked up awards^[6] for its displays, volunteers and for some of the engines.

Among the top attraction engines are:-

• Largest running example of Crossley Atmospheric gas engine;
• Award Winning, original L Gardner & Sons L series engine along with Engineering Heritage Hallmark Scheme (EHHS) plaque ^[7] from Institution of Mechanical Engineers;
• Oldest diesel engine in the UK - Mirrlees No1;
• Original Crossley No1 engine;
• Steam engine area with a Stott cross-compound mill engine and a Fowler beam engine;
• Very rare Griffin 6-stroke engine;
• Rare Atkinson cycle engine;
• Crossley over-hung crank;
• Hugon gas engine;
• 63 ton Ruston & Hornsby used at Ealing Studios.