MORE than 80 visitor came to Barnoldswick's Bancroft Mill for its final steaming day of the year

Both its engines running were in action.

Several youngsters, and one young-at-heart visitor celebrating his 65th birthday, got to start the main Roberts engine.

Traditional Lancashire entertainment was provided by Sid Calderbank and friends from the Lancashire Society when the engine was not running.

The Roberts engine (pictured) is the original engine which powered the 1152 looms at Bancroft from its opening in 1920 to its closure in 1978.

The museum also houses a another engine rescued from a mill at Low Bradley near Skipton and restored by the mill's team of volunteers of a period of more than ten years.

Bancroft Mill Engine Trust was set up as a charity in the 1980's to preserve the Roberts engine, the boiler and a small number of buildings on the site.

Its treasurer Tony Nixon said; "It wss great to see so many visitors obviously enjoying themselves, admiring and learning about the technology which once powered the cotton industry of Lancashire. Last Sunday was our busiest day of the year."

The next steaming day at Bancroft will be March, but it is still possible to visit through the winter free of charge on a Saturday between 10am and 3pm except over Christmas and the New Year.