In 1869, there were 87 listed collieries in Ayrshire.
In the 1913 report, Ayrshire had 14,000 coal miners producing 4 million tons annually.
In 1996 some 3.6 million tonnes was produced from Ayrshire's 10 opencast mines. No deep pits survived at that time.
In 2006 some 648 people were employed in Ayrshire's 8 opencast mines.
These changes have had a considerable impact on the Ayrshire Communities which had grown up in support of the Coal Mining activities.
Until recently, Drongan was a very deprived area with a collection of Local Authority Houses in the middle of beautiful countryside with no 'raison d'etre' and not much more.
However, now a considerable amount of private house-building is taking place, albeit for commuter families, and the village is beginning to live again
1 comment:
Wow, there was a lot of information packed into your post!It does appear that coal mining is on quite a downward spiral.
I need to find a good map of Scotland so I can see exactly where I am reading about.
I especially enjoyed reading about opencast mining. Here, we call it "strip mining". The thought of this type of mining seems so much safer. I suppose you heard about the 6 miners who are trapped underground in Utah? That is such a tragedy...I could never imagine going underground like that...
I only wish other forms of energy were more(readily) available. There are such heated debates over wind generators "littering" the hillsides. Solar energy is so expensive. What to do, what to do...
Thank you for this informative post. It does cause one to think a bit more deeply!
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