George Johnstone Centre, Tranent

Tranent's library and council office building, named in 2012 after George Johnstone, the 27-year-old Fleets miner who on 1 March 1929 struggled through a flooding road to warn about fifty men and helped bring them all out alive.

The mining history in this record

On Friday 1 March 1929 George Johnstone and his neighbour John Harkness were driving towards old workings in the Fleets pit of the Edinburgh Collieries Company, near Tranent, when water burst in, followed by black damp. Both could have got out, but some fifty men were working three-quarters of a mile further in and knew nothing of it. Warned that he would be lost with them, Johnstone went in, holding an overhead electric cable against the current with the water at times up to his mouth. With the way to the pit bottom cut off, they followed a sixteen-year-old's memory of an old road to a higher seam and tried one old road after another, all blocked by falls, until they found a hole and worked it open in relays to be pulled through by rescuers. All came out after some five hours in peril.

The East Lothian Education Authority commended him and sought the notice of the Carnegie Hero Fund, at the prompting of the MP Andrew Clarke. In April 1929 he was given the Daily Herald Order of Industrial Bravery certificate and medal before an audience of MPs and councillors, and three months later the certificate of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and a silver watch from the Carnegie Trust Fund, inscribed 'for saving human life on 1st March 1929'. Two colliery agents were later found guilty of technical offences over the bore holes ahead of the working. Johnstone never went underground again; he drove buses and played with his father and brothers in dance bands through the 1950s and 1960s, broadcasting on the BBC; his father Jim played with Jimmy Shand, though none of them could read a note of music.

People

George Johnstone, miner at the Fleets pit, later a bus driver and dance-band musician; John Harkness, his neighbour in the working; Andrew Clarke, MP, who brought the deed to notice.

Legacy today

In October 2012 the new building on Winton Place housing Tranent's library, the local area office and council housing teams was named the George Johnstone Centre. It was commended for public architecture at the SCALA awards.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Tranent's new library building was named the George Johnstone Centre in October 2012 in his honour. (documented fact) ^1,2
• On 1 March 1929 George Johnstone went through the flooded workings of the Fleets pit to warn about fifty men who did not know of the inrush, and they were all brought out alive. (contemporary account) ^1,3
• The water broke in when a shot fired by Johnstone and John Harkness, driving towards a disused road above, opened into old flooded workings. (later recollection, disputed) ¹
• Their place was approaching an old working when there was a sudden burst of water followed by black damp. (contemporary account, disputed) ³
• The George Johnstone Centre at 35 Winton Place houses Tranent's library, the local area office and council housing staff. (documented fact) ^2,4
• In April 1929 Johnstone received the Daily Herald Order of Industrial Bravery, and three months later the Order of St John of Jerusalem certificate and a Carnegie Trust Fund silver watch. (documented fact) ⁵

Mines

• Fleets Colliery — East Lothian
  The George Johnstone Centre is named after the Fleets miner who led about fifty men out of the pit when it flooded on 1 March 1929.

Disasters

• Fleets Colliery inrush, 1929 — 1 March 1929

Sources

1. (secondary) Looking back: the hero who risked his life to save miners, 90 years ago - East Lothian Courier — East Lothian Courier
2. (secondary) National commendation for George Johnstone Centre and John Gray Centre — East Lothian Courier
3. (secondary) Accidents 1921-1930 — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) Tranent Library — East Lothian Council
5. (secondary) George Johnstone (East Lothian heroes) — John Gray Centre (East Lothian Council)

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026