Glenochil Colliery

Overview

A National Coal Board mine near Tullibody, begun in 1952 to raise 3,000 tons of coal a day for fifty years. It was in production from December 1956 and employed just over 900 in 1960, but there was less coal than expected and it closed in June 1962; HMP Glenochil stands on the site.

History

In early 1952 planning permission was granted for a new National Coal Board mine south of Alva, at Glenochil, expected to raise 3,000 tons of coal a day for the next fifty years. Simon Carves won the contract for the coal preparation plant, with the hoppers and bunkers beneath the tipplers and the conveyor to the plant, and work began in March 1954. West of the main entrance stood a two-storey building of offices, lamp cabins, stores and workshops, and pithead baths and a canteen followed in 1957. Coal production began in earnest in December 1956, and at its peak in 1960 the workforce was just over 900. Tullibody grew in the 1950s as new housing was built for a large influx of miners from Lanarkshire who came to work at the colliery. A new branch from the Alva Railway served it, with extensive exchange sidings to the west. A stone miner was killed there in February 1955 and a coal-cutting machineman in July 1957.

The mine was never viable. Much of the coal to be had at low cost had already been taken by the older King o' Muirs and Collyland pits, so there was less than expected; subsidence and compression made the seams hard and costly to work; and the demand for house coal was falling as electric and gas heating replaced coal fires. The last shift was called on 1 June 1962, and Glenochil was counted one of the Coal Board's largest failures. The branch line was lifted, and in the mid-1960s the Board sold the land: HMP Glenochil opened on it in 1966 as a detention centre, its first prisoners housed in the colliery's converted baths, canteen and medical room.

Geology

Clackmannanshire Coal Measures: abandonment plans name the Upper and Lower Nine Foot, the Forty Inch, the Upper and Lower Five Foot, the Diamond and Jewel, and the Yard.

Workings

A coal preparation plant by Simon Carves with tipplers, hoppers and bunkers; offices, lamp cabins, stores and workshops; pithead baths and canteen (1957); a branch from the Alva Railway with exchange sidings.

Closure

Last shift 1 June 1962; there was less coal than expected and it was never viable.

What remains

The site is occupied by HMP Glenochil; the branch trackbed is used mainly for farm access.

The colliery baths, canteen and medical room were converted for the prison's first inmates.

Redevelopment

HMP Glenochil, opened on the site in 1966 as a detention centre and since extended.

Recorded claims

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

• Glenochil was begun in 1952 and closed in June 1962. ^1,2,3
• The mine was planned to raise 3,000 tons of coal a day for fifty years. ⁴
• Coal production began in earnest in December 1956, and at its peak in 1960 the workforce was just over 900. ⁴
• Much of the coal had already been removed by older workings, and the mine was never viable. ^1,4,5
• New housing was built in Tullibody in the 1950s for miners from Lanarkshire who came to work at Glenochil. ⁶
• HMP Glenochil was opened in 1966 on land bought from the National Coal Board, the site of the colliery. ^4,3,5
• A stone miner was killed at Glenochil on 18 February 1955 and a coal-cutting machineman on 9 July 1957. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Clackmannanshire's Mines — Clackmannanshire.scot
2. (secondary) NCB Collieries - Scotland (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Glenochil — Clackmannanshire.scot
4. (secondary) Walk in the Past: Glenochil Prison, part one — Alloa and Hillfoots Advertiser
5. (secondary) Glenochil Mine — Railscot
6. (secondary) Tullibody Heritage Centre — Doors Open Days (Scottish Civic Trust)
7. (secondary) 1955 to 1959 Deaths — Scottish Mining Website

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