Pricing Change
New pricing for orders of material from this site will come into place shortly. Charges for supply of digital images, digitisation on demand, prints and licensing will be altered.
Polkemmet Colliery
Colliery (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Polkemmet Colliery
Classification Colliery (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 132674
Site Number NS96SW 24
NGR NS 9342 6398
NGR Description centred
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/132674
- Council West Lothian
- Parish Whitburn
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District West Lothian
- Former County West Lothian
NS96SW 24 9342 6398
centred on 9350 6350 Rig
(Location cited as NS 9341 6399). POLKEMMET Colliery (also known as THE DARDANELLES)
Location: Whitburn
Previous Owners: William Dixon Limited
Types of Coal: Coking and Gas
Sinking/Production Commenced: 1913-6, production from 1921
Year Closed: 1986
Year Abandoned: 1986
Average Workforce: 1,496
Peak Workforce: 1,959
Peak Year: 1960
Shaft/Mine Details: 2 shafts, both 6.1m diameter. No. 1 477m (upcast) sunk in 1913; No. 2 479m (downcast), sunk in 1916. Reconstruction completed in 1958 resulted in the replacement of steam with electric winders (No. 1 in 1955 and No. 2 in 1957), the introduction of skip winding in No. 2 shaft (with 8-ton skips), and the construction of a new fan house. Other improvements included a Simon Carves preparation plant, new compressor plant, locomotive shed, electrical workshop, and administration block.
Details in 1948: Output 1,320 tons per day, 330,000 tons per annum, longwall working. 981 employees. 4 screens. Baum-type washer (Simon Carves). Baths and canteen (1937), first-aid room. All electricity generated at mine. Report dated 30-07-1948.
Other Details: In terms of longevity and the number of people employed, Scotland's most important pit. Its baths were the second largest in Scotland. Latterly, a major supplier of coking coal for Ravenscraig steelworks at Motherwell. The boilerhouse chimney was demolished in 1970. The mine closed in controversial circumstances as a result of flooding which occurred during the 1984-5 miners' strike. After closure, persistent spontaneous combustion problems in the bing generated noxious fumes which, when propelled by a prevailing wind, were instantly recognisable to regular travellers on the M8 motorway.
M K Oglethorpe 2006.
