'National Mining Museum Scotland', Don Mockett
Wed, Oct 16th 2013 at 12:00 am - 2:00 am
Don Mockett, National Mining Museum Scotland, Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange
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Don gave the Club an excellent and informative talk about the history of coal mining in Scotland including the development of the National Mining Museum at Newtongrange.
Don spent most of his working life as an engineer in the coal industry and since 1987 has worked tirelessly as a volunteer to help create and improve the Museum. He explained how coal was created and how the excavation of coal developed over the past 200 years using the benefits of mechanisation and safer working practices.
Peak output was achieved in 1913 when over 200 million tons of coal was excavated to power the industries of war. In 1946 the National Coal Board was formed and this resulted in 1,000 mines being taken over at a time when 750,000 people were employed in the industry. The advent of North Sea oil and gas and our drive to achieve smokeless cities since the 1960s has seen the demise of the coal industry in the UK and many of the large collieries have since been closed.
Don then gave a detailed account of how the museum at Lady Victoria Colliery, from small beginnings at its opening in 1984, has been developed into a unique venue and first class visitor attraction. As well as housing collections of over 60,000 items, including objects, archive material, photographs and books, the museum facilities can now accommodate weddings, conferences and receptions. In September of this year the UK's first National Mining Memorial Centre was officially opened at the museum.
The vote of thanks to Don for an excellent talk was proposed by Andrew Howard.
Report by Graham Low
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