IT may not look too enticing to us but back in 1953 these were state-of-the-art facilities for miners working at the Huncoat Colliery.

The showers were part of a new bath house which had been extended as the pit was experiencing something of a boom time.

In 1950 a new shaft had been sunk to meet the demand for coal and new diesel locomotives were brought in to pull the coal carts. Larger cages which took the miners down to the coal seams were also introduced increasing the pit’s productivity.

The Huncoat pit, one of several that made up the Burnley coalfield, closed down in 1968 after its workable reserves of coal were exhausted after 76 years of mining.