The history of the black gold of the Doon Valley
More than 60 members of the Arran Antiquarians met to hear Donald Reid speak to the group on The Last Miners of the Doon Valley, his latest book, writes Norma Davidson.
Donald was born and educated in Dalmellington and lived in Beith for more than 20 years. He joined the Ayrshire Constabulary in 1967 and retired 32 years later as a superintendent, a subdivisional officer responsible for Glasgow City Centre.
He is past-president of the Barrmill Jolly Beggars Burns Club and Garnock Valley Round Table. He is a regular after-dinner speaker and was Beith and district correspondent for the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald. He was Beith citizen of the year in 1994.
An accomplished bandsman, he has played trombone with the Dalmellington and Dunaskin Doon bands.
He has a total of 19 books to his credit about the Doon and Garnock valleys and used to be a keen walker and cyclist in his younger days. His philosophy is ‘to live life to the full every day’.
Both Donald’s parents came from Doon Valley mining villages and his father and uncle worked in the coal mines.
Just three months ago Longannet, the last coalfired power station closed and left Scotland vulnerable to future power shortages. The Doon Valley was rich in minerals, and ironstone and coal were heavily mined. The last deep mine was closed in 1978 and the speaker felt a great need to compile a history while the miners were alive.
Much research and a Heritage Lottery grant of £10,000 brought this about. A hint to applicants to the HLF is to keep it simple: one sheet of A4 with the aims, context and conclusion defined.
Donald showed the audience maps of the Doon Valley pits area, which were too many to list. He detailed several mining disasters at Little Mill, New Cumnock and Muirkirk which were graphically reported in the Glasgow Herald, illustrating that the true price of coal was the lives of miners. In Dalmellington, there is a mining memorial bearing an inscription of the industry’s icon, the miner’s lamp.
Miners arrived in the area after the war from Ireland, England and Spain and were housed in hostels. There were big ironworks at Muirkirk, Dalry and Kilwinning but today very little remains to show the extent of these industries. Steam at this time was a major power source so this necessitated coal production on a grand scale.
A mine was a big employer, needing miners, engineers, joiners and blacksmiths, as well as management and clerical staff. An Ayrshire pit could employ 450 men and rail tracks ran from the pit head to Ayr Harbour where coal was sometimes sent to Northern Ireland.
A lot of opencast mining was done above Patna and the workings were not backfilled so reparation is now taking place. Nature has now claimed most pit land back for her own since the closures in the 1970s.
The group saw pictures of the last shifts coming to the surface, the mine rescue team from Kilmarnock, miners working at the coalface and the last pit horse ‘Rattler’ in 1948, who had his annual holiday above ground every Fair Fortnight.
The pictures showed some boys as young as 10. A sad fatality in 1905 was a 13-year-old boy on his second day at work, and first day on the coalface. Sadly, no compensation was paid as culpability was usually laid at the victim’s door.
Most of the miners’ cottages are now closed, and mines are derelict and overgrown, but family members still leave flowers and messages.
The pits had football teams and brass bands and some still exist today.
In 1947, the mines were nationalised and the inception of the National Coal Board was celebrated but not much changed for a long time.
Apparently there remain millions of tons of coal in the Doon Valley, but moves away from fossil fuels means it will likely stay there.
A serious subject but one bit of humour, pictures of a derailed steam engine with an interested onlooking ‘three men and a dug’.
Next month’s meeting will be in Brodick Hall on Monday June 20 when Christina Quarrell will talk about ‘The Glasgow Rent Strikes’. Visitors are always welcome. Anyone wishing to join the visit to Drumlanrig Castle on Friday June 17 please contact Colin MacKenzie on 01770 302329.