Eight officials from the water board joined them on the visit, the idea of which was to allay fears that the station was responsible for flooding the village.
But as the pumping plant chugged into action there was a massive explosion. Eight people were killed instantly and a further eight died later, the last, Edith Tyson, 13 weeks after the explosion.
All of the 28 survivors needed hospital treatment, mainly for burns suffered when the fireball ripped through the pumping house.
Despite extensive media coverage at the time memory of the Abbeystead Disaster, as it became known, has been largely swallowed by the mists of time.
MICHAEL HILL looks back 20 years at one of the biggest disasters ever suffered in Lancashire and how The Visitor covered the event

WHEN the Lancashire Conjunctive Use Scheme was opened by the Queen in 1980 it was hailed as a marvel of modern engineering.
The multi-million pound scheme was designed to transfer water from the River Lune to the Wyre.
But unknown to the designers, builders and operators, it harboured a deadly secret.
Drought conditions in early May 1984 meant a pumping station at Abbeystead had not been active for 17 days.
Methane gas formed at the end of the Wyresdale Tunnel, accumulated in a water pipe.
So when 36 villagers from St Michael's-on-Wyre visited the station on May 23 for a demonstration of the system, the gas was pumped into the underground valve house, where the group was assembled.
When the pumps were switched on nothing happened – no water was pumped. The engineers then switched a second set of pumps on. Something somewhere emitted a spark and this ignition caused an explosion.
A fireball swiftly erupted through the complex. The buried concrete roof was blown off, and people were subjected to blast injuries, crush injuries and burns.
Some were blown through into water chambers. One man was blown back outside and landed on the ground as a car which had also been lifted by the blast landed on top of him.
In the chaos that ensued it soon became apparent that eight people, including 12-year-old Mark Eckersley, had not survived the initial blast.
Another died soon afterwards.
Ambulances quickly rushed to the scene and the survivors were taken to hospital in Lancaster and Preston.
The May 30 edition of The Visitor reported on the rescue operation.

"Off-duty staff poured into the Royal Lancaster Infirmary on Wednesday to help with its biggest emergency in 20 years.
"The hospital's major incident plan was 'running like clockwork' within an hour of an explosion at the water pumping station at the water pumping station, Abbeystead.
"Doctors, nurses, catering and administration staff, hospital chaplains and any other off-duty workers were contacted. Two site medical teams, each consisting of two doctors and two nurses, were sent straight to Abbeystead, while other consultants toured the wards to decide which patients could be discharged or transferred to make beds available for the injured."

As the dust settled the human side of the disaster shone through.
Take Tim Eckersley. He had gone to visit the plant with his wife, Pauline, 12-year-old son Mark and brother Peter.
Mark was killed instantly in the blast and the three other family members were left fighting for their lives.
Mark's parents were still in hospital when his funeral took place and an audio tape was made so they could listen to the service.
Tragically, Pauline never got to hear it – she died just hours later.
Tim and his brother survived and were eventually discharged from hospital.
Then there was Pat Seed, a much-loved local cancer campaigner. Her husband, Geoff, was one of the water board officials who led the visit.
He was one of the first victims and Pat, who was awarded the MBE for raising more than £3.5 million to fight cancer, consoled herself with raising money for the disaster appeal.
Just months later she lost her own battle with cancer.
Bert and Edna Tomlinson had been due to go on holiday to the Midlands on the day of the disaster. But they were so concerned about the flooding of their home in St Michael's that they postponed the trip.
Both died from injuries sustained in the explosion.
Many of the survivors were left with terrible burns which required months, sometimes years, of treatment.
Some still bear the scars to this day.
It was quickly established by the Health and Safety Executive that methane gas was the cause of the explosion.
Controversially the investigation failed to lay blame for the disaster and it was left to the survivors and families of the victims to fight a protracted legal battle for compensation.
In March 1987, at Lancaster High Court, a judge ruled that the designers, Binnie and Partners should bare the brunt of the blame – 55 per cent – for being negligent in failing to exercise "reasonable care" in assessing the risk of methane.
The North West Water Authority (NWWA) was found to be 30 per cent to blame for failing to ensure the plant was safe for visitors and employees by testing for methane. And the plant's builders, Nuttalls Ltd, shared 15 per cent of the blame for negligence in failing to carry out systematic tests for methane.
But the legal battle did not end there. All three companies appealed. While Nuttalls and the NWWA were cleared Binnie and Partners was not, leaving the company to shoulder the blame.
The company again tried to appeal but were denied by Law Lords. Eventually the company came to an out of court settlement with a consortium of 26 for £2.5 million.
* The victims: James Rowland Birtwistle, Frank Coupe, Mark Edmund Eckersley, Pauline Elizabeth Eckersley, Herbert Charles Gardner, George Alan Lacey, William Mason, William James McGarry, John William Myerscough, Ralph Trevor Rawlings, Geoffrey Seed, Geoffrey Standing, Albert Tomlinson, Edna Tomlinson, Edith Freer Tyson and Penelope Ann Weild.