Upper Hirst
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The Upper Hirst is a
coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...
in
central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
that was mined in the 1950s through to 2002, mainly to supply
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 ...
, and later,
Longannet Power Station Longannet power station was a large coal-fired power station in Fife, and the last coal-fired power station in Scotland. It was capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station stood on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, ...
, in
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 ...
. This was a low-quality coal, unsuitable for most other purposes, and had mostly been disregarded previously. Its low
sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
content made it very suitable for power station use. The Upper Hirst coal is found within the Upper Limestone Group of strata, above the Limestone Coal Group, but below the Productive Coal Measures. The latter two groups of strata may be separated by up to 1,000 metres. In the Central Coal Field, which is in the form of a basin, the Productive Coal Measures, if they were ever deposited, have been lost by erosion except near the centre, where they outcrop near
Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot wher ...
and
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 ...
, and have been mined until recently. The Limestone Coal Group of strata have been mined only around the edge of the basin, although in the 1950s there were plans for deep mines at
Airth Airth is a Royal Burgh, village, former trading port and civil parish in Falkirk, Scotland. It is north of Falkirk town and sits on the banks of the River Forth. Airth lies on the A905 road between Grangemouth and Stirling and is overlooked by ...
, where two large shafts were constructed to rockhead and then abandoned, and at Gartarry Toll, which was not begun. At
Manor Powis Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...
, for example, the useful seams in the Limestone Coal Group were at a depth of about 400 metres, and included valuable anthracite; the Upper Hirst was above this and as well as being mined at mid-shaft in the old colliery, was reached by a pair of sloping adits constructed near the bank of the
River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...
. The slope of the seam was followed for some distance down the dip of the basin, to the east. The Upper Hirst was initially mined experimentally at the site of
Bannockburn Bannockburn (Scottish Gaelic ''Allt a' Bhonnaich'') is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing int ...
colliery by a small drift mine, then at mid-shaft in
Polmaise Fallin () is a village in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It lies on the A905 road 3 miles east of Stirling on a bend in the River Forth. The United Kingdom Census 2001 recorded the population as 2,710. It was formerly a pit village ...
3/4 (commonly called Fallin), Manor Powis, and later the drift mines at
Dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...
and Bogside, to supply
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 ...
, but when
Longannet Power Station Longannet power station was a large coal-fired power station in Fife, and the last coal-fired power station in Scotland. It was capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station stood on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, ...
was built, an innovative scheme was developed to mine the coal at Dollar, Castlehill and Solsgirth, and bring the coal from Solsgirth, Bogside and Castlehill to the surface by conveyor at Longannet, immediately adjacent to the power station. Bogside, on the eastern extremity of the basin, could access the coal at no great depth, and it was worked down the dip to the west, via a large, deep shaft at Castlehill, which was latterly used for personnel access, the coal all emerging at Longannet, except that from Dollar, which due to faulting could not be economically linked to the main conveyor system. This scheme was a great success, although the focus of mining shifted to the south as the Dollar basin was exhausted. Eventually coal was being extracted from south of the
River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...
, and there were adequate reserves to last for at least the predicted lifetime of
Longannet Power Station Longannet power station was a large coal-fired power station in Fife, and the last coal-fired power station in Scotland. It was capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station stood on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, ...
. A disastrous flood on 23 March 2002 terminated production of the Upper Hirst coal, and brought deep mining in Scotland to an end. The source of the flooding was allegedly the failure of a dam constructed to keep water which accumulated in the old workings to the north out of the working part of the mine, but there are substantial gaps in the known facts. A local mine manager claimed that the water, about 20 million gallons (a small amount in mining terms) could be pumped out for £55,000, which is probably much less than the redundancy payments to the approximately 200 staff when the company went into receivership in indecent haste. The investigation by
HM Inspectorate of Mines The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-depar ...
is thorough and meticulous, but does not conceal the fact that nothing has been proved about what really happened underground. Meanwhile, many tens of millions of tons of Upper Hirst coal remain inaccessible, the water level has reached the now closed adit entrance at Longannet, and the UK imported large quantities of foreign coal to burn in
Longannet Power Station Longannet power station was a large coal-fired power station in Fife, and the last coal-fired power station in Scotland. It was capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station stood on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, ...
until its closure in 2016.


History

One of the few successful early workings of the Upper Hirst also ended in a flood. The eastern outcrop was mined by Sir George Bruce, using methods technically advanced for the time, such as a horse-powered bucket and chain pumping system. But the finest achievement was the Moat Pit, a shaft (actually two concentric shafts, for ventilation) constructed in an artificial island in the
River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...
, where ships could directly load coal from the mine. On one occasion the mine was visited by King James, who entered from the shore and emerged on the artificial island. But in a great storm on 30 March 1625, coinciding with high tide, the colliery was flooded. Sir George Bruce died later that year, and no attempt was made to rescue the colliery.


References

{{reflist Economic history of Scotland Geography of Fife Underground mines in Scotland Coal mines in Scotland