The Hour

The Auchengeich Colliery disaster went down in history as Scotland’s worst mining disaster, claiming 47 miners died, widowing 41 women and depriving 76 children of their fathers.

Pat Doyle worked in the Auchengeich mine and lost a lot of dear friends on the morning of September 18, 1959.

“I remember arriving at the pits and going to my lockers. In my row, there were five men who were killed in the disaster.

“We left the baths and made our way to the cabin to get our lamps and ID disks. After that, we went away up to the pit head and in the gate.

He continued: “This is where we separated. They went left to the round pit and I went right to the square pit.”

Bill Adair, Scottish singer/songwriter was just a young boy when the event occurred but can still remember the silence that rippled through the community following the event.

“The day shift had been taken down the mine to start their work and the bogies ran into smoke and fumes that had been caused by an underground fire from a faulty fan belt.

“48 men were in the bogies and 47 of them were killed as a result of the smoke and fumes.”

He continued: “It would seem that almost all of the men died instantaneously in the bogies because there was something like 45 bodies that hadn’t moved.”

Fifty years on, Bill has decided to mark the tragedy by creating a tribute to all those affected.

“With the advent of the 50th anniversary, I thought it would be good if I could create a trust fund for the two primary schools to give something back into the community.

“I created a project called ‘along the minor’s rows’ which is a series of songs and narratives which tell the story of the Auchengeich disaster and the effect it had on the community.”