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Solsgirth Colliery
Colliery (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Solsgirth Colliery
Classification Colliery (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 72769
Site Number NS99SE 6
NGR NS 9839 9469
NGR Description Centred NS 9839 9469
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/72769
- Council Clackmannan
- Parish Fossoway (Clackmannanshire)
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Kinross-shire
NS99SE 6 centred 9839 9469
SOLSGIRTH Colliery
Previous Owners: National Coal Board
Sinking Commenced: 1965
Production Commenced: 1969
Year Closed: 1990
Average Workforce: 917
Peak Workforce: 1,007
Peak Year: 1975
Shaft/Mine Details: 2 surface mines, each 4.87m by 3.66m, dipping at 1 in 4, and approximately 1,600m in length
Other Details: all production dedicated to supplying Longannet Power Station via a 8.85km-long tunnel (said to contain the longest conveyor belt in the world), opened in 1970. Previously renowned for high output per face, winning British and European productivity awards (1975). Plans to link underground with Dollar mine [NS99NE 31] to the north-west was never realised. Closed in 1990 but retained as ventilation for Castlebridge [NS99SW 41] (also part of the Longannet Complex).
M K Oglethorpe 2006.
The Longannet Complex (NS 945 863) commenced production in 1969, closing in 2002. Mining the Upper Hirst coal, it comprised Bogside [NS98NE 193], Castlebridge [NS99SW 41], Castlehill [NS99SE 5], Solsgirth [NS99SE 6] and Longannet Mine [NS98NW 65] collieries, directly serving Longannet Power Station and designed to supply 10,160 tons of coal per day. The 8.8km tunnel between Solsgirth and Longannet contained what was claimed to be the longest underground conveyor belt in the world at the time. It was described as a blueprint for modern mining, and many aspects of the development were duplicated elsewhere in the UK (e.g. Selby), and overseas. Despite geological problems, its miners regularly broke productivity records for output from single faces. The last deep coal mine in Scotland, it closed after a catastrophic flood in April 2002.
M K Oglethorpe 2006.
