Today, we remember the 215 Blantyre men and boys who lost their lives in the Blantyre Pit Disaster of 1877.
To this day, it remains Scotland’s largest mining accident. In one instant moment at 8.45am on 22nd October 1877, 145 years ago today, almost 6% of Blantyre’s entire population at the time was wiped out in an instant…. by an almighty explosion at Dixon’s Collieries 2 and 3 at High Blantyre.
Families and communities were ripped apart, the youngest victim only 12 years old.
As the last 11 years, Blantyre Telegraph marks the event annually on behalf of all the Blantyre Community. This year, it was our fantastic Supporters Group who used some of their subscriptions to commission a local craft company to make wreaths for the base of the memorial obelisk at High Blantyre Cemetery and also at the Memorial at High Blantyre Cross. Supplied from “Dreams to Themes Creations”. ….Don’t they look great?
We also placed pieces of coal at the memorial, which is placed just fifty yards from where many of the miners are actually buried.
Protecting and exploring Blantyre’s heritage around the disaster needs careful attention. For the last decade, our sister website, Blantyre Project has embarked on a mission to tell the life stories of every one of those men and boys, dozens of which have already been exclusively researched here: https://blantyreproject.com/blantyre-pit-disaster/ .
On this day, the 145th Anniversary of the disaster, we remember those brave, hard working tragic souls. May they rest in peace.
