Dalquharran Colliery

Overview

A National Coal Board steam-coal colliery at Dailly in the Girvan Valley, begun in 1951, which employed 237 people at its peak in 1958 and closed in 1977, after Parliament had heard its future was threatened.

History

Dalquharran Colliery, Nos. 1 and 2 mines, stood at Dalquharran in the Girvan Valley, in Dailly parish, South Ayrshire. The National Coal Board began it in 1951, the Northern Mine Research Society dating it from April 1951, and it produced steam coal, which was washed at Killochan. Its average workforce was 144 and its peak was 237 in 1958.

In July 1973, when the nearby Maxwell Colliery was closing, a member told the House of Commons that Dailly's mining hopes would stand or fall on Dalquharran, warning that the heating which had closed Maxwell was a phenomenon long associated with the pits at Dailly. In February 1977 a member said Dailly's life was threatened by the possible closure of Dalquharran, which would push unemployment in the Girvan exchange area from 14.3 per cent to about 18 per cent. The colliery closed in 1977 and was abandoned in the same year.

After closure and the cessation of pumping in 1977, water drained from the entire basin into Dalquharran and highly polluted water overflowed from the mine into the River Girvan. The National Coal Board solved the problem with an award-winning scheme that tapped purer water in the strata, reducing the water draining into the mine and greatly reducing the flow of polluted water into the river.

Geology

Steam coal was worked; the seams are not named in the sources on the record.

Workings

Nos. 1 and 2 mines, with coal washed at Killochan.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1977 and pumping stopped; water then drained from the whole basin into the workings and polluted the River Girvan until the National Coal Board's scheme tapped purer water in the strata.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Killochan Colliery — Killochan washed Dalquharran's coal as well as Maxwell's.
• Maxwell Colliery, Dailly — Dalquharran and Maxwell tips are shown together on one abandonment plan, both belonged to the National Coal Board and heated, and Dalquharran was Dailly's only remaining pit when Maxwell closed in 1973.

Recorded claims

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

• The National Coal Board began Dalquharran Colliery in 1951, the Northern Mine Research Society list giving April 1951. ^1,2
• The colliery produced steam coal, washed at Killochan. ¹
• The average workforce was 144 and the peak, 237, was reached in 1958. ¹
• The colliery closed and was abandoned in 1977. ^1,2
• In February 1977 Dailly's life was said to be threatened by the possible closure of Dalquharran, which would raise unemployment in the Girvan area from 14.3 per cent to about 18 per cent. ³
• In July 1973 a member told the Commons that heating, which had closed the nearby Maxwell Colliery, had long been associated with the pits at Dailly. ⁴
• After pumping stopped in 1977 polluted water overflowed from the mine into the River Girvan until a National Coal Board scheme tapped purer water in the strata. ¹
• The British Geological Survey catalogues abandonment plans for Dalquharran, including tips at the closed Maxwell Colliery. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Dalquharran Colliery, Nos. 1 And 2 Mines (Canmore / trove.scot) — Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore)
2. (secondary) NCB Collieries - Scotland (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Coal Mining (Ayrshire), Hansard, 2 February 1977 — Hansard
4. (primary) South Ayrshire (Employment), Hansard, 2 July 1973 — Hansard
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: DALQUHARRAN (& MAXWELL) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 30 September 2026 · Last researched: 30 September 2026