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Wullie Baillie

Wullie Baillie was the NCB area manager of the New Cumnock and Sanquhar  collieries in the 1960’s. Part 1 of the interview is a remarkable story about growing up in pre-1st world war Dalmellington and the small mining communities that once flourished in the hills above the Doon Valley in Ayrshire. In the Part 2 of the interview Mr Baillie talks about being a 14 year old miner at Beoch mine, working to his step-father drawing hutches from a 32 inch Coalface and getting a lecture from a Mines Inspector. In Part 3 of the interview Mr Baillie talks about the conditions at the Blind Pit Barony and breaking his neck in an accident at Kirkstyle Colliery Kilmarnock More

 

 

Knockshinnoch Disaster

1950 Cover of Coal MagazineOn Thursday 7th September 1950, an inrush of peat and moss engulfed the workings of Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery, trapping 129 miners. Over the next 36 hours, a huge rescue operation was mounted involving hundreds of miners and the Mines Rescue Brigade service. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the disaster on 7th September 2010 I've some of the few remaining survivors More

 

 

 

Welcome to the Miners Voices Website

Barony A Frame

Miners Voices is a unique project dedicated to record the living history of the Ayrshire miners their families and communities. Using modern technology and the internet, the project aims to give people the opportunity to share their life experiences with the wider community. More

 

For the information and education of future generations.
Kames Disaster

Kames Colliery MuirkirkOn 19th November 1957 a coaldust explosion rocked Kames Colliery. In 2007 I digitally recorded the memories of the miners who were underground on the night of the explosion and who were involved in the rescue and recovery operation that followed. More.

If you have any photographs of Knockshinnoch or Kames Colliery, please get in touch. More

 

 

 

 

 

Alex Mills Auchinleck NUM

Alex Mills

Union Man

Alex Mills is one of the last great trade union men to represent the Scottish miners, their families and communities. More

The 1824 Kilmarnock Address

When this pamphlet was originally published in 1824; Coal miners were emerging from over 200 years of slavery. This was 32 years before the birth of Keir Hardie and almost 70 years before the creation of the Labour Party in 1895. More