Parkneuk Colliery

Overview

The Glasgow Iron and Steel Company's two-pit colliery at Motherwell, west of Milton Street, worked from at least 1909 until its last seams were abandoned in 1945. In 1936 scaffolding in the shaft gave way under three men, and a mine-driver was killed shot-firing on the last shift of the year. The Parkneuk greyhound and speedway stadium was built on the site in 1949.

History

Parkneuk Colliery, Nos. 1 and 2 pits, lay west of Milton Street, Motherwell, near the Parkneuk steelworks. It belonged to the Glasgow Iron and Steel Co. Ltd from at least 1909. Its recorded accidents run from 1909, when an inexperienced miner was killed by overhanging coal the fireman had told him was unsafe, and 1912, when four unseen 'lypes' let a stone break over the timber at a stoop face, killing a seventeen-year-old; a man fell down the shaft with a hutch in 1919, and in 1928 a man was killed when the balance or bell hammer fell down the shaft.

In December 1936 scaffolding gave way under three workmen twenty feet below the surface; they fell twenty-five feet to a safety platform and were rescued. On the last shift of that year a mine-driver driving a mine from the Pyotshaw section to the Splint was killed in a shot-firing explosion. In 1938 a coal-cutting machineman struck by a stone had to be carried a mile to the pit bottom, and in 1939 a miner was run down by a hutch half a mile west of the pit bottom in the Blackband section.

The Main and Pyotshaw workings were abandoned in 1930, the Ell in 1943 and the Pyotshaw, Blackband and Virtuewell in 1945. In 1949 the Parkneuk Sports Stadium, a greyhound and speedway track, home of the Motherwell Eagles, was built on the site of the two pits; greyhound racing ended there in 1972, and the site is now a community centre and a primary school.

Geology

The Main, Pyotshaw, Splint, Ell, Blackband and Virtuewell seams.

Workings

Nos. 1 and 2 pits, with stoop working, coal-cutting machines and hutch haulage; workings reached a mile from the pit bottom.

Closure

The Main and Pyotshaw were abandoned in 1930, the Ell in 1943, and the Pyotshaw, Blackband and Virtuewell in 1945.

What remains

The site is occupied by the Daisy Park Community Centre and a primary school.

Redevelopment

Parkneuk Sports Stadium, a greyhound and speedway track, 1949-1972; now a community centre and a school.

Recorded claims

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

• Parkneuk Colliery belonged to the Glasgow Iron and Steel Co. Ltd in 1909-1939. ^1,2,3
• In 1912 a fall from four unseen lypes killed a seventeen-year-old at a stoop face. ⁴
• In December 1936 scaffolding in the shaft gave way and three men fell twenty-five feet to a safety platform. ¹
• On 31 December 1936 a mine-driver was killed in a shot-firing explosion in a mine from the Pyotshaw to the Splint section. ^1,5
• Parkneuk's Blackband, Pyotshaw and Virtuewell workings were abandoned in 1945. ⁶
• Parkneuk Sports Stadium was built in 1949 on the site of Parkneuk Colliery pits 1 and 2. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Accidents post-1926 (newspaper reports) — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Parkneuk, 1909 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Parkneuk, 1939 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Parkneuk, 1912 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Parkneuk, 1936 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Parkneuk, Blackband, abandoned 1945 — British Geological Survey
7. (secondary) Wikipedia: Parkneuk Sports Stadium — Wikipedia
8. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Parkneuk / Broadhurst, Main, abandoned 1925 — British Geological Survey
9. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Parkneuk, Ell, abandoned 1943 — British Geological Survey
10. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Parkneuk, 1919 — Northern Mine Research Society
11. (secondary) RailScot: Parkneuk Colliery — RailScot

Record created: 15 October 2026 · Last researched: 15 October 2026