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Bo'ness
Pit Prop Industry
Compiled by Ken Wright |
1870's Pit
Prop Industry. From about 1840 the stoop and room method
of mining which left pillars of coal to hold up the mine roof
was replaced with the longwall system.
This system replaced the pillars of coal with timber props (pit props)
which meant a much greater yield of coal from the seams. The drawback was
that before each shift each miner had to cut his own props from imported
tree trunks which left a considerable amount of waste wood: a practice
that may have been deliberate since the miners were allowed to keep the
waste as firewood.
Grange Colliery cashier and future Bo'ness Provost George Cadell Stewart
noticed this waste and went into partnership with James Love, a Glasgow
business man, setting up the first pitwood yard in Bo'ness on reclaimed
foreshore. They imported the props in a variety of lengths and diameters
from Scandinavia and other Baltic countries.
Other companies soon followed and this led to the new dock being built
by the North British Railway Company, to be completed in 1881. In its
hay day there were 120 acres of storage yards served by ten miles of railway
sidings employing about 1,000 people. Eventually the yards were fitted
with cutting equipment capable of producing vast quantities of mining timber
at short notice.
By 1935 more than 140,000 tons of pit props were imported per annum. |
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The Battle of Slaghill
Cable
layers for the new electricity scheme pause in front of some of
the hugh stacks of pit props, which made Bo'ness famous at the turn
of the century and on until the 1930's.
The pit prop industry was founded in Bo'ness when a young colliery clerk
George C Stewart noticed the time taken at the start of each shift by the
miners chopping timber for roof supports needed for the new Shropshire
or Long Wall system of mining, which as the latter name suggests did away
with the stacks left to support the roof of the workings under the traditional
Scottish stoop and room method.
Stewart decided it would be more efficient to import lengths of timber
ready cut and so formed a partnership with a Glasgow businessman, Mr. Love,
to ship over cargoes of props from Scandinavia.
At Bo'ness the props were stripped of their bark by an army of women workers
and as the resin oozed out it was said that it was possible to smell Bo'ness
before you saw it.
Bo'ness and pit props became so identified that the town was nicknamed 'Pitpropalis'.
Extract from Bo’ness in old picture postcards by William
F Hendrie. |
It is probable
that more Bo'nessians fought in this battle than in any other battle
in history.
For more than two decades each spring, when the Baltic ice melted, pit
prop boats from Russia, Finland, Sweden, etc., were always welcomed into
Bo'ness Harbour, laden with pit props destined for collieries throughout
Scotland.
This year was different!
Propyard workers had had a reduction in salary from 6d to 5d/hour, but
only in Bo'ness: Alloa and Grangemouth were still being paid 6d. The 600
Bo'ness workers became more disgruntled until by the end of May, when their
petition through their union was refused without consideration, it resulted
in them striking.
On the day of the Battle of Slaghill several hundred blacklegs
were brought in from Glasgow by train arriving just before 6 a.m.
A strong police presence was evident and although the blacklegs were greeted
with jeers and shouting the strikers soon dispersed, much to the relief
of the police. This was however only a temporary lull. Led by two pipers
they marched through the streets of Bo'ness to gain sufficient support
for the impending battle. By mid-morning they had gained the required support
being joined by several hundred foundry workers.
There was a brief pause, when the police drew the truncheons, but urged
on by their women they charged the police who were quickly brushed away.
The ensuing battle resulted in the Glaswegians sustaining 50 serious injuries
and 200 minor injuries before the employers agreed to the Bo'nessians terms.
Bo'ness GP, Dr. Fischer made the Glaswegian injured as comfortable as possible
before they left to be treated at Glasgow Infirmary.
Many of the participants including future Provost "Jake" (John)
McKenzie were charged and several received prison sentences. Alas the outcome
was not a total success for the workers as they only received half of the
money they had expected and gone on strike for. |
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