Our first Open Day of 2018 took place on Saturday, 7th April.

We had fine weather for our first Open Day of the year.

Almost 200 visitors attended and enjoyed exploring the Dragline inside and outside. The Giant Bucket was a favourite spot for group photos. In the Substation, visitors could watch working models in action, which helped them to understand exactly how Draglines walked and worked. To take the memory home, many people purchased DVDs of historic footage of Draglines at work. Souvenir Mugs featuring “Oddball” were also very popular.

Most of our visitors came from the local area, although one had come from Vietnam! Making a group visit were some enthusiasts from Huddersfield. Local Artist, Joe Bean, from Colton, was busy with pen and paper, making drawings of various scenes, including a Member of the Friends of the Dragline who was busy working to keep the site in good order for our visitors.

We had a visit from a film crew who enjoyed mingling with visitors and talking to Members of the Friends prior to making a film the next day. This footage is due to be aired on “Discovery” and “Yesterday” channels.

Another attraction was a Vintage Tractor on which a former Driver of the Dragline had driven to St Aidans. This was also very popular for photo opportunities. A photo of this Tractor will shortly appear in the “Gallery” section of our Website.