BOLTON Steam Museum will open its doors this weekend to give engine buffs and enthusiasts the opportunity to see engines in action.

The museum, which is operated entirely by volunteers from the Northern Mill Engine Society (NMES), aims to preserve some of the stationary steam engines which drove the cotton mills of the North of England.

The collection of 30 engines are housed in an original warehouse which used to store the bales of raw cotton for Atlas Mills.

The mills in Bolton were, in their heyday, one of the largest concentrations of cotton spinning capacity on one site in the country, with over 400,000 spindles in use and employing 2,000 staff to operate them.

The steam engine collection is now one of the largest in the country and gives those attending a chance to glimpse machines which helped power the Industrial Revolution.

The larger engines include a giant 40-ton McNaughted beam engine, a very rare 1840 twin-beam engine one off built by Musgraves of Bolton.

A number of other engines are also on display, including a small engine 'Caroline' that used to drive Fred Dibnah’s workshop. It was named after Fred’s youngest child.

The NMES was formed in 1966 by a small but extremely dedicated band of enthusiasts who decided that something had to be done to preserve the steam engines from the textile industries of Lancashire and Yorkshire before they were all scrapped.

People can visit the open days for free on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.

The museum is close to the town centre in Mornington Road. Visitors can use the large Morrisons Supermarket car park for free. The museum is in the large Victorian cotton warehouse building next to the petrol station.