All pumped up over bit of history Ford knew wasn't bunk

But the Newcomen beam engine on the old Elsecar colliery site in Barnsley is a unique relic of the Industrial Revolution which even attracted the attention of Henry Ford.

Now Barnsley Council intends to capitalise on its overlooked asset, with a new attempt to promote it as a major visitor attraction.

Work is planned to coincide with 2012, the 300th anniversary of Thomas Newcomen's invention.

Without Newcomen's breakthrough, deep coal mining would have been impossible because his simple but reliable steam powered engine was used to pump water from colliery workings.

The engine at Elsecar was installed in 1795 and now is the only one of its type worldwide to still occupy the site where it originally worked.

That was enough to attract the interest of Ford, who produced a blank cheque in an attempt to buy the pump and take it to the United States early last century.

Even then, the historic significance of the machine and its surroundings was recognised and the motor magnate was turned away.

Newcomen realised that steam could be used to create a vacuum and that was used to operate a pump which hauled water to the surface, leaving underground workings dry enough for miners to work. So effective was the invention that it kept Elsecar Colliery dry for more than 130 years before being replaced in the 1920s by electric pumps.

Even then, it was pushed back into service a few years later when the mine was overwhelmed by flood water.

Its capacity to move 600 gallons a minute helped to clear the problem.

The machinery remained operational and film footage still exists of it being used as recently as the 1950s.

Elsecar Colliery closed as the Yorkshire coalfields were wound down following the 1984 miners' strike and the pit has now vanished.

The beam engine and its pump house remained, however, having been given the status of a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1972.

Now they form part of the Elsecar Heritage Centre,

based in the old colliery workshops.

They were set up as an ironworks and colliery workshops by the Fitzwilliam family which owned the mine until the industry was nationalised.

The workshops then became a National Coal Board site but have since been restored and now house a range of businesses and attractions. There is also a preserved railway on the site.

Barnsley Council's museums officials have now launched an initiative to give the site increased prominence as the 2012 anniversary of Newcomen's invention approaches.

At present the engine-house is opened up only on special occasions, so it is normally out of bounds for casual visitors to the heritage centre. It is expected that it will be opened up on a regular basis in future, with plans under way to improve information about the site's international significance.

A new Friends of Elsecar Heritage Centre group is also being formed and is expected to start functioning in the autumn.

One of its primary objectives will be to support Barnsley Council in its work to improve the engine as a visitor attraction within the centre.

Barnsley Council's museums officer, John Tanner, said it might even be possible to get the engine back into a condition where it could be operated.

That would take significant restoration, however, and would need extensive discussion about whether it was the most appropriate way to develop the site and preserve the engine.

"We will be trying to realise Elsecar's potential over the next few years," he said. "We already have a new visitor centre on the way, which is being transformed now and should be complete by the end of the summer.

"That will provide a visitor reception with interpretation about the whole of Elsecar."