The Bradley Engine

This engine, built by Smith Bros and Eastwood of Bradford is a two cylinder tandem compound (one cylinder behind the other) originally installed at Peter Green’s mill at Low Bradley near Skipton in 1901. This mill also closed in 1978, with the engine remaining in situ until the buildings were converted to housing in 2003.

When the mill at Low Bradley was converted to housing in 2003, the owner did not want to see the engine scrapped. It was rescued by an enthusiast who later gifted it to Bancroft, on condition that it was restored and run in steam for the public. So in 2003 the ‘Bradley Project’ began. Over the following years several grant applications had to be made, to enlarge the building in which it now sits, to cast a substantial concrete foundation block, and to replace several important parts which were missing or damaged.