Balmore Colliery

Overview

A colliery near Torrance, north of Glasgow, lying below Bargeny Hill and served by a mineral line from the Kelvin Valley Railway. Owned in 1945 by R. Forrester and Co. and nationalised in 1947, it raised household and industrial coal until April 1960.

History

Balmore Colliery lay below Bargeny Hill, near Torrance in the Kelvin valley, north of Glasgow. The NCB's list dates it from 1940. In 1945 it belonged to R. Forrester and Co. Ltd, with James Reid as manager, 111 men underground and 24 on the surface. The colliery was reached by a mineral line that diverged from the Kelvin Valley Railway east of Balmore station, which had served the coal mining area and the village since 1879.

Under the National Coal Board it employed 102 in 1947, raising 25,000 tons of household and industrial coal, and 127 in 1954. Its plans record the Cadder and Balmore Main seams with ironstone, abandoned in 1951, the Possil Wee in 1952 and the Meiklehill Main in 1956. The colliery closed in April 1960, its shale workings abandoned the same year, and the railway from Torrance to Balmore closed in 1959.

Geology

Limestone Coal Formation of the Kelvin valley: the Balmore Main, Cadder (Meiklehill Wee), Meiklehill Main and Possil Wee coals, with ironstone and shale; DMM gives the Bannockburn Main in 1954.

Workings

Served by a mineral line branching off the Kelvin Valley Railway east of Balmore station.

Closure

Closed in April 1960; the last plans, of shale workings, are dated 1960. The freight line past Balmore closed on 31 July 1961.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Whitrigg Colliery — R. Forrester and Co. collieries.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• In 1945 Balmore Colliery, Torrance, belonged to R. Forrester and Co. Ltd, with James Reid as manager, 111 men underground and 24 above ground. ¹
• A mineral line diverged from the Kelvin Valley Railway east of Balmore station to Balmore Colliery, lying below Bargeny Hill, which closed in 1960. ²
• Balmore, Torrance, is listed from 1940 to April 1960. ³
• Balmore employed 102 in 1947, raising 25,000 tons of household and industrial coal, and 127 in 1954. ⁴
• Plans of the Balmore Main, Cadder coal and ironstone workings were abandoned in 1951, and of the shale workings in 1960. ^5,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Mining in Stirlingshire: list of mines, owners, managers and workers — Tom Paterson
2. (secondary) Balmore railway station — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) NCB Collieries - Scotland (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) Balmore Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Balmore, Balmore Main, Cadder, coal and ironstone, abandoned 1951 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
6. (primary) BGS mine plan: Balmore, shale, abandoned 1960 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026