The Lady Vic

Work took me today to my old stomping ground, the Scottish Mining Museum (now called the National Mining Museum Scotland) based at the Lady Victoria Colliery, at Newtongrange in Midlothian. I was involved in setting up the Scottish Mining Museum and was its Director from 1988-96. It was indeed nostalgic to step into my old office, and also to meet one of my former colleagues who, after 20 years there, is surely worthy of accessioning into the collections.

Talking to one of the guides, it was bizaare to note how much information about The Lady's history floated up from the murky (certainly hazy) depths of my memory. Named after the wife of the then Marquess of Lothian, the owner of the Lothian Coal Company that sunk the pit in 1890-94, The Lady produced a Scottish record of 40 million tons of coal; a record that stands till to this day.

This view is of the front of the Winding Engine House, with William Arrol's winding tower soaring above it. The Lady recent won a competition as
Scotland's Most Treasured Place , based on the archives held in the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.