Westrigg Colliery

Overview

The first colliery at Blackridge, sunk about 1886 on the Lanarkshire side of the county march and once one of the largest in the district, with coke ovens and later the power station for United Collieries' eastern pits. A roof fall in January 1920 buried seven men and killed three. It closed in 1930; Blackridge station now stands on the site.

History

Westrigg was the first colliery sunk near Blackridge, about 1886, after the Airdrie and Bathgate railway of 1862 made the local coal worth working. It lay in Shotts parish, on the Lanarkshire side of the boundary with Linlithgowshire. Its first proprietor, Mr Moir, worked it on a limited scale; in 1888 James Wood of Bathville took it over, working a good steam coal, six feet thick, near the surface, pushing down to a lower seam at 45 fathoms and putting up 24 coke ovens. The No. 2 pit was 62 fathoms deep by 1897.

In 1895 the miners struck against a quarter-hundredweight added to the hutch tare, the coal being too dirty to fill cleaner for the coke washer. In 1902 the colliery, raising about 700 tons a day, was sold to John Nimmo and Sons. Under United Collieries it was reopened in 1915 after seven idle years to work the Main, Ball and Mill coals. On 29 January 1920 a heavy fall of roof buried seven men, three of whom died (see Disasters, below).

Westrigg closed in April 1925, reopened that summer, and was closed for good in August 1930, idling about a hundred men. Its power station, serving all United Collieries' eastern pits, ran on into the 1950s under the National Coal Board. The bing has been landscaped and wooded, and in 2010 Blackridge station opened on the colliery site.

Geology

A good steam and coking coal, six feet thick, near the surface; later the Armadale Main, Ball and Mill coals and the Lower Drumgray.

Workings

Nos. 2 and 3 pits, 24 coke ovens at the pithead and a coal washer, and later a colliery power station.

Closure

Closed in August 1930, after a closure in April 1925 and reopening that summer; its Armadale Main, Mill and Ball workings, with Southrigg's, were abandoned in 1930. The power station passed to the National Coal Board.

What remains

The bing has been landscaped and wooded; Blackridge railway station, opened in 2010, stands on the colliery site.

The landscaped bing and an explosives magazine beside the old colliery housing.

Redevelopment

Blackridge railway station (2010) on the colliery site.

Disasters & major incidents

• Westrigg Colliery roof fall, 1920
  29 January 1920 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 3 fatalities
  On 29 January 1920 a heavy fall of roof in United Collieries' Westrigg Colliery at Blackridge buried seven men. When they were dug out John M'Garrity was dead; Peter Marshall and George Sneddon, taken with James Watson to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, died later, Sneddon on 24 March. Three others were less seriously hurt.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• In 1902 the colliery, with an output of about 700 tons a day, was bought by John Nimmo and Sons. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• Westrigg was opened about 1886, the first colliery near Blackridge. ^1,2
• In 1888 Mr Wood of Bathville took over Westrigg from Mr Moir and built 24 coke ovens near the pithead. ¹
• In 1902 the colliery, with an output of about 700 tons a day, was bought by John Nimmo and Sons. (disputed) ¹
• A roof fall at Westrigg Colliery on 29 January 1920 buried seven men; three died. ^3,4,5,6
• United Collieries closed Westrigg in August 1930. ¹
• Blackridge railway station opened in 2010 on the site of Westrigg Colliery. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Scottish Shale: Westrigg No. 2 & 3 pit — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry)
2. (secondary) Wikipedia: Blackridge, West Lothian — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Lothians accidents 1915-1920 — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Westrigg, 1920 (McGarrity) — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Westrigg, 1920 (Marshall) — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Westrigg, 1920 (Sneddon) — Northern Mine Research Society
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Westrigg and Southrigg Nos. 3, 4, 7, 8, Armadale Main, Mill and Ball, abandoned 1930 — British Geological Survey
8. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Westrigg, Lower Drumgray, abandoned 1903 — British Geological Survey
9. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Lothians accidents 1871-1900 — Scottish Mining Website

Record created: 13 October 2026 · Last researched: 13 October 2026