Mine lads in training

A great bunch of Ayrshire lads doing mining training at Dungavel House, Lanarkshire, back around 1956.

The boys are aged 16 and 17, and would have had jobs at pits across Ayrshire. Theoretical training at Dungavel, bought by the National Coal Board from the Duke of Hamilton in 1947, was complemented by practical training at Kames Colliery, Muirkirk.