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Photos - Longannet Mine, Fife, April 08
Visited with nic22, maden_2 and Sonorg.
The last deep mine of any significance in Scotland, Longannet is the remnant three mines which were established in the 1960's. The original mines were developed to provide fuel for the 2,400MW Longannet power station.
The Castlebridge site forms the main administration and access site, and the Longannet portal is the delivery point for all output from the mine.
Two other sites make up the entire complex, these being the Castlehill and Solsgirth drifts.
Scottish Coal acquired the mine in 1995, the in March 2002 A terrible tragedy led to the premature closure of the Longannet complex.
Millions of gallons of water flooded into the underground workings, effectively ending coal mining in Scotland. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, and those who were down the mine at the time escaped safely.
Most of the metalwork at the site is twisted and destroyed, so be very careful if you are exploring up here. Also there is a camera mounted high on the side of the building which we presumed was dead when we went in due to the state of the site, but as we came out of a building and saw it tracking us we decided to beat a sharp exit due to the proximity of the power station, so a return visit to finish the site will be in order!
Pictures:
~Shepy
Visited with nic22, maden_2 and Sonorg.
The last deep mine of any significance in Scotland, Longannet is the remnant three mines which were established in the 1960's. The original mines were developed to provide fuel for the 2,400MW Longannet power station.
The Castlebridge site forms the main administration and access site, and the Longannet portal is the delivery point for all output from the mine.
Two other sites make up the entire complex, these being the Castlehill and Solsgirth drifts.
Scottish Coal acquired the mine in 1995, the in March 2002 A terrible tragedy led to the premature closure of the Longannet complex.
Millions of gallons of water flooded into the underground workings, effectively ending coal mining in Scotland. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, and those who were down the mine at the time escaped safely.
Most of the metalwork at the site is twisted and destroyed, so be very careful if you are exploring up here. Also there is a camera mounted high on the side of the building which we presumed was dead when we went in due to the state of the site, but as we came out of a building and saw it tracking us we decided to beat a sharp exit due to the proximity of the power station, so a return visit to finish the site will be in order!
Pictures:
~Shepy
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