Coal Miners' Memorial
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Coal Miners' Memorial by Lairich Rig as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Coal Miners' Memorial
Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 22 Aug 2011
The Johnstone and Elderslie Coal Miners' Memorial, to the left of the path, is located in Wee Wood, which is in the angle between Quarrelton Road (visible in the background) and Beith Road. For another view, see Image "This cairn commemorates the 7 miners who lost their lives in the Quarrelton Pit Disaster in May 1818 together with the 5 men who perished in the Benston Pit Disaster in October 1860." The "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland" (1885) describes Quarrelton as "a collier village in the SW of Abbey parish, Renfrewshire"; the memorial cairn is a reminder of the risks associated with that industry. In the disaster of May 1818, a pit was suddenly flooded; after more than week, two men were rescued. The circumstances are described in detail at http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/365.html (Scottish Mining website); there, seven men are said to have been trapped, of whom two were eventually rescued, and five died. Five men died in the Benstone Pit Disaster (also spelled Benston); again, the cause was flooding of the mine. For full details, see http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/283.html (again, at the Scottish Mining website).
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Image Location
Latitude
55.82825
Longitude
-4.516156