Bilston Glen Colliery

Overview

A National Coal Board superpit sunk at Loanhead in 1952 to work the Midlothian coalfield far deeper than the old pits could reach. It employed well over two thousand men, replaced the collieries around it, became the focus of Scotland's bitterest picketing in 1984-85, and closed four years after the strike ended.

History

Coal had been worked around Loanhead since the 1680s, and by the end of the Second World War the town had two pits — the Ramsay, working since 1850 with about 350 men, and the Burghlee, from the 1860s, with about 770. In 1952 the National Coal Board began sinking Bilston Glen just west of the town, a modern superpit designed to reach seams some 750 m down in the Midlothian basin. Production began in 1963 and both older pits closed within two years. Bilston Glen employed around 2,200 men, averaging 2,154 over its life and peaking at 2,367 in 1970, and sent roughly 45 per cent of its coal to power stations. In the strike of 1984-85 the pit became the focal point of picketing in Scotland, with men attempting to stop colleagues going in and flying pickets arriving from northern England. Midlothian's miners were dismissed at roughly twice the English rate — close to 25 per thousand — and over a hundred Lothians men never got their jobs back even after winning at tribunal. The colliery was closed as uneconomic in 1989.

Geology

Bilston Glen worked the Limestone Coal Formation seams of the Midlothian coalfield, in the deep centre of the basin — ground the older, shallower pits around Loanhead could not reach.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Two shafts, sunk from 1952 and equipped for a scale of output the older Midlothian pits could not match: one wound coal in skips, the other carried men in double-decked cages. Coal was worked at around 750 m, and a coal preparation plant on the surface handled the output before it went out by the colliery's own rail branch.

Closure

Closed as uneconomic in 1989, four years after the strike. The colliery buildings were demolished and the site cleared.

What remains

Nothing of the colliery stands. The site is an industrial estate, its rail branch partly converted to a walking and cycling route and its bing still visible as a mound in the landscape. A black marble monument, The True Price of Coal, stands in Loanhead town centre to the fifteen men killed in accidents at the pit between 1957 — while it was still being developed — and 1986.

An industrial estate on the colliery site, the spoil bing, the converted trackbed of the colliery branch, and the memorial in Loanhead.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Work began in 1952 on a superpit to exploit coal seams some 750 m underground; production started in 1963 and the Ramsay and Burghlee pits closed within two years. (high) ¹
• The new pit employed around 2,200 men, and about 45 per cent of its coal was burned in power stations. (high) ¹
• Bilston Glen was the focal point of picketing in Scotland during the 1984-85 strike; Midlothian miners were dismissed at nearly 25 per thousand, roughly double the English rate, and over 100 Lothians miners never returned to work despite winning tribunal cases. (high) ²
• A black marble monument in Loanhead commemorates the fifteen men killed in accidents at the colliery between 1957 and 1986. (high) ¹
• BGS and the Coal Authority hold 26 catalogued plans under Bilston Glen, including plans of the No. 1 and No. 2 tips. (high) ³

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Loanhead — Undiscovered Scotland
2. (secondary) 40 years on: how the miners' strike reshaped Midlothian — Edinburgh Inquirer, March 2024
3. (primary) BGS mine plans catalogue: Bilston Glen (record 21856872) — British Geological Survey / The Coal Authority

Record created: 25 August 2026 · Last researched: 25 August 2026