Torry Mine

Overview

A National Coal Board surface drift mine at Newmills, West Fife, driven from 1951 to work the Blairhall Main coal and linked to Valleyfield Colliery by a tunnelled railway. It employed about 190 and closed in June 1965.

History

Boring between Blairhall and Valleyfield in 1950 proved virgin ground west of Torrie golf course, about half a mile north of Valleyfield Colliery, and the National Coal Board's Fife and Clackmannan Area planned a new surface drift mine there to employ 160 men for over fifteen years. It was designed to leave the countryside almost untouched: there were no buildings of note at the mine, only the drift mouths, and instead of a screening plant the coal went in two-ton mine cars, hauled by 65 hp diesel locomotives through a tunnelled route over the Bluther Burn and under the Dunfermline to Kincardine road, to the pit yard at Valleyfield, whose baths and canteen the men were to share.

Work began in 1951, A. Gibson was appointed manager in 1952, and production started about 1953, with output planned at 400 tons a day. Two parallel drifts were driven west, No. 1 for about 1.4 km, and the Blairhall Main coal was worked by longwall, much of it north of the Bluther Burn. The mine employed 183 people in 1957 and 194 in 1961, raising gas, household, industrial and steam coal. It was a short-term development, meant to satisfy demand until the Coal Board's new sinkings came into production, and it closed in June 1965; the plan of its Blairhall Main workings is dated 1966. The drift portal has since been treated and the site is wooded waste ground.

Geology

West Fife coalfield: the Blairhall Main coal (the Lowrie Graham and Milton Main were the seams proved by boring).

Workings

Two parallel surface drifts, Nos. 1 and 2, No. 1 about 1.4 km long; longwall faces; coal hauled by diesel locomotives through tunnels to Valleyfield Colliery for screening.

Closure

Closed in June 1965 as a short-term drift that had served its purpose; the Blairhall Main abandonment plan is dated 1966.

What remains

The drift portal has been treated and the site is wooded waste ground.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Valleyfield Colliery — Torry's coal ran by tunnelled railway to Valleyfield for screening and washing.

Recorded claims

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

• Torry Mine was sunk from 1951 and closed in June 1965. ^1,2
• In 1950 the Coal Board planned the Torrie surface mine, west of Torrie golf course, to employ 160 men for over fifteen years. ²
• Torry was linked to Valleyfield Colliery by a purpose-built railway with an 800 m tunnel, and its coal was screened and washed at Valleyfield. ^1,2
• It was a short-term drift developed to satisfy demand until the Coal Board's new sinkings came into production. ¹
• Torry employed 183 people in 1957 and 194 in 1961, working the Blairhall Main. ²
• Two parallel drifts ran west, No. 1 for about 1.4 km, and the Blairhall Main was worked by longwall. ³
• Torry's Blairhall Main workings were abandoned in 1966. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Torry Colliery (NRHE 131535) — Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot, formerly Canmore)
2. (secondary) Torry Mine, Newmills — Fife Pits
3. (secondary) Torry Mine (No.1) (site 10665) — Grampian Speleological Group: Scottish Cave and Mine Database
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Torry, Blairhall Main, abandoned 1966 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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