Scottish shale Scottish shale

Balbardie No.2 mine

Alternative names:
Balbardie Collieries Mine
Parish:
Bathgate, Linlithgowshire
Local authority:
West Lothian
Ownership:
Opened:
c. 1857
Closed:
c. 1910?
Current status of site:
Site landscaped as part of Balbardie park, no surface features remain.

A mine in the lands of Balbardie

Mineral Statistics for 1883 record Balbardie mine as owned by Henry Walker, manager James McPhail, working the Balbardie Coal by the longwall method, employing 19 on the surface and 80 underground, with downcast a mine 796 yrds. long, dipping at 1 in 4

Mineral Statistics for 1884 record Balbardie mine as owned by Henry Walker, manager James McPhail, working the Balbardie Coal 5'5” by the longwall method, employing 19 on the surface and 69 underground, with downcast a mine 940 yrds. long, dipping at 1 in 4

The 1885 List of Mines records records Balbardie mine as owned by Henry Walker, manager James McPhail, working the Balbardie Coal 5'5” by the longwall method, employing 19 on the surface and 84 underground, with downcast a mine 940 yrds. long, dipping at 1 in 4

  • Location map

    References

    The most interesting feature of Balbardie Colliery mine to north of the town. This pit has been working for forty-five years, and it is capable of being worked for number of years yet come. It is about the largest mine working from an outcrop in Great Britain. Known as ingaunee (in-going-eye) it is about 1 in 3 at outcrop and 1 in 5 at the bottom. The miners walk down morning and are hauled in the hutches when the day’s work is over. There are 75 men employed below ground and 25 the surface. The machinery consists of a winding engine with 22-inch cylinder diameter, a stroke of four feet and drum of six feet, hauling from depth of 200 fathoms.

    Linlithgowshire Gazette, 14th March 1902. See full reference