OUT AND ABOUT
MINING BROUGHT
TO LIFE
Like the former mighty pithead frames that once bejewelled our region, a Very Important Visitor will be towering over the South Yorkshire skyline this June as the magnificent and monumental Man Engine drifts into Elsecar and Wentworth.
A colossal feat of engineering standing proudly at a height of 11.2 metres high – almost as tall as three double decker buses – the Man Engine will be touching base in Yorkshire for just two days as part of its resurrection tour.
On Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th June, Elsecar and Wentworth will unite for a spectacular two-day event that combines the past with the present; looking back at our incredible mining heritage while glancing into the future of the two interlinking villages.
The largest mechanical puppet ever constructed in Britain, the Man Engine is the brainchild of Cornwall’s Golden Tree Productions who were looking for a gargantuan way to celebrate their ‘tinth’ anniversary –ten years since Cornish tin mining received
UNESCO World Heritage Status.
The Man Engine takes its name from the invention used to lift miners in and out of the pits, a development which replaced two- hours of climbing ladders before and after a long shift.
Weighing in at over 40 tonnes, it was constructed by the Golden Tree team from pieces of old mining equipment and infrastructure and won Best Arts Project at the 2017 National Lottery Awards for its celebration of Cornish heritage and culture.
The neck is an old beam engine, similar to the one at Elsecar and was once used to pump water out of the pit. The Man Engine’s shoulders are two great sheave wheels reminiscent of the iconic pulleys which sat above the headgear. Its hands
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are 20th century excavators, or claw-like diggers, while the entire puppet is powered by a Volvo L220 wheel loader.
Following a year’s pilgrimage across its hometown of Cornwall, travelling the full 130 miles of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape heritage site in just two weeks, the Man Engine set off on an industrial tour of Britain in April, visiting a handful of towns and areas that were pinnacle to the Industrial Revolution.
During the initial two weeks in Cornwall, the Man Engine was seen by over 150,000 people, far exceeding the original 7,000 estimate.
After seven stops in Wales where coal mining was once prevalent, the Man Engine then travelled up the country
to Shropshire where it visited the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Ironbridge, known for its iron smelting. Following its trip to Elsecar and Wentworth this June, the Man Engine will then continue on its path up the country, stopping off at Hillhead quarry exhibition in Buxton before going up to fellow mining town, Durham.
For centuries, mining was the backbone of South Yorkshire and coal dust ran thick through the blood of our people. So what better Yorkshire stop-off than at Elsecar and Wentworth whose combined heritage made up the Earl Fitzwilliam’s industrial empire.
A spectacle of pyrotechnics, fireworks and music, have a blast as the event kicks off at Elsecar with the Afterdarker on Saturday
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