Tribute to victims of Plean pit tragedy
Plean Mining Memorial
Not so long ago Stirling, like lots of Central Scotland was mining country, and the remains of the pits and their bings still scar the countryside.
I had lots of relatives who worked the pits, my grandad never talked about it but he had nightmares about being trapped underground in the dark.
At the side of the road in Plean is this small discreet and understated monument dedicated to the 12 men and boys (look at the ages) who died in East Plean Pit on July 13, 1922 in an explosion a mile underground.
The memorial, however, reveals nothing of the details, all of which were chillingly recorded afterwards in interviews with the survivors.
Mr Frank McCann’s always sticks in my head, he was with his son Bernard who was 30.“‘I… immediately picked up my light and shouted up to the two boys that it was gas. We had only 100 feet to go to reach the level road, but on getting about halfway we were knocked down in the dark.
“We had a terrible struggle to get into the level road and after that I could not tell any more. It was an awful explosion. I don’t understand why my son Bernard did not escape. I lost him at the foot of the heading ... No one has any idea of what it is unless he has come through it.”
Can there be any more poignant example of survivor’s guilt and pain? Groping blind and panicking in the choking dark for the son you would never hold again and can you imagine having to return to work, to the thing that took your son and nearly claimed you? There was a brave man.