The Alloa Coal Company was founded as a partnership in 1835 between

William Mitchell William Mitchell may refer to: People Media and the arts * William Mitchell (sculptor) (1925–2020), English sculptor and muralist * William Frederick Mitchell (1845–1914), British naval artist * William M. Mitchell, American writer, minister ...

, John Moubray, John Craich and David Ramsay. The partners obtained a lease to mine coal and ironstone on the lands of the

Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. The ...

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the hi ...

. In the 1840s, Alloa coal was exported to Canada by the

Ben Line The Ben Line or Ben Line Steamers, Limited was a Scottish shipping company based in Leith, Scotland founded in 1825 which was primarily involved in the Far East to Europe trade. A private company, it was largely owned by members of the Thomso ...

in which Mitchell was a partner; the ships returned with Canadian timber. The partnership was later managed by William Mitchell's sons Andrew and Alexander and had pits in Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire,

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

and Perthshire. The partnership became a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

in 1898, and was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

by the British Government in 1948. Mines and pits operated by the Alloa Coal Company Ltd. included Zetland and Craigrie Collieries near

Clackmannan Clackmannan ( ; gd, Clach Mhanainn, perhaps meaning "Stone of Manau"), is a small town and civil parish set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated within the Forth Valley, Clackmannan is south-east of Alloa and south of Tillicoultry. Th ...

, Devon Colliery and Meta Colliery, near

Fishcross Fishcross is a small village in Clackmannanshire in central Scotland, situated to the north of Sauchie at a crossroads just south of Tillicoultry. Formerly a mining village, the population is 484 as at 2003. A golf course and equestrian centre a ...

, King o'Muirs Colliery near

Tullibody Tullibody ( gd, Tulach Bòide), is a town set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth near to the foot of the Ochil Hills within the Forth Valley. The town is south-west of Alva, north-west of Alloa and east-nor ...

, Tillicoultry Colliery. at Devonside, and Dollar Colliery (West Pitgober Mine) east of Dollar village. Dollar Mine, as it was known under

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

management, was the last survivor, continuing to supply coal by rail to

Kincardine Power Station Kincardine power station was a 760 MW coal-fired power station on the shores of the upper Firth of Forth by Kincardine on Forth, Fife, Scotland. History The station began construction in 1952 and started generating electricity in 1958. At the t ...

until 1973. Delivery_Note_for_Alloa_Coal_Company_Craigrie_Best_coal

Bannockburn Colliery at

Cowie Cowie may refer to: People *Cowie (surname) Places *Cowie, Aberdeenshire, an historic fishing village located at the north side of Stonehaven, Scotland **Cowie Castle, a ruined castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland ** Chapel of St. Mary and St. Natha ...

(Stirlingshire) lay outside the Company's Clackmannanshire roots, and was formerly owned by Carron Company (ironworkers), presumably for assuring a supply of coking coal for their cupolas at Carron Works near

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, although the mine also produced house coal and steam coal. This colliery had a later lease of life as a drift mine between 1953 and 1964. Before the advent of the railways, coal was transported from various of the Clackmannanshire mines to the Port and Glassworks in Alloa by the Wagon Way. Constructed by the Erskines of Mar in 1768, the Wagon Way was an early attempt at railway engineering using horse-drawn wagons running on wooden rails, later replaced by Swedish iron in 1785.

References

*{{cite book , last = Carvel , first = John L. , title =One Hundred Years in Coal , publisher = T and A Constable , date = 1944 , location = Edinburgh Coal companies of Scotland Companies based in Clackmannanshire Mining in Scotland Non-renewable resource companies established in 1835 Energy companies established in 1835 1835 establishments in Scotland Defunct companies of Scotland 1948 disestablishments in Scotland Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1948 British companies established in 1835 Energy companies disestablished in 1948 Alloa British companies disestablished in 1948 Defunct energy companies of the United Kingdom