Polmaise Past and Present 

The company which signed mineral rights with the Murray family, who were the principal land –owners, were the well-known Lanarkshire firm of coalmasters, Messrs Archibald Russell, Ltd. The mineral fields comprise the following leaseholds— Polmaise, 2100 acres; Townlands, 600; BIackgrange and Westgrange, 400; Stewarthall, 270; Broadleys, 125; and Clayslaps, 30 — a total area of 3525 acres. [i]

The first Archibald Russell was born in Clackmannan but began business in 1843 at Cambuslang. His son, also Archibald developed the business and eventually owned 21 pits, mostly in Lanarkshire; 17 in Lanarkshire and 4 in Stirlingshire. Polmaise remained owned by the Russell family until 1920.

The sinking of Nos. 1 and 2 pits, Polmaise Colliery, at Millhall, about a mile from Stirling, commenced in December, 1902, and finished in June, 1904. Sinking of the shafts was difficult due to the soft nature of the ground there, together with an ingress of water every high tide from the River Forth.

The sinking of Nos. 3 and 4 pits at Bandeath was begun in August, 1904, and finished in April, 1906. There were less problems here, and when the two mines eventually met up underground the Millhall shafts were closed.

With the company being based in Lanarkshire, and the engineering skills being required to sink the first mines shafts, it was natural that the first miners would also come from the same area. Miners and their families came principally from Blantyre, Uddingston and Coatbridge, as well as some from pit villages in Fife and Ayrshire.[ii] Many of the miners from these areas had already faced a number of pit closures, and were determined not to go through a similar experience again – this led to the reputation of Polmaise being a militant pit.

In Lanarkshire there was a significant religious sectarian rivalry, in part caused by an influx of Irishmen escaping the starvation in that country from the 1850’s onwards; this was one surviving relic that the Lanarkshire miners brought with them. Even today, the only church in Fallin is the Parish Church (built 1908 near to the site of the pit and the original miners blocks) which is Church of Scotland, and linked to the churches at Cowie and Plean.

[i] From Mining Around Stirling: Polmaise and Bandeath Collieries, Extracted from Industries of Stirling and District, originally published in the Stirling Observer, 1908:

http://tompaterson.co.uk/mining/Polmaise.htm

[ii] From High G Kerr: Fallin – Tales from a Mining Village, Published Stirling District Libraries 1991