Cash crisis for 'jewel' of mining heritage

But the future of one of the last remaining mines open to the public and an integral piece of the country's manufacturing heritage is under threat from spending cuts.

Birkhill Fireclay Mine, near Bo'ness, is a historic site which allows visitors to experience first-hand the dank and claustrophobic conditions of life underground.

The owner, Falkirk Council, wants to keep it open as a tourist attraction but faces expensive exploratory work to ensure that the mine remains safe. It also says it needs to demolish outbuildings which have fallen into dangerous disrepair.

Supporters, however, say the mine, one of only two in Scotland which allows visitors to explore original underground shafts, should not become a victim of cutbacks in public spending. More than 600 have signed up to a campaign calling for Birkhill to be kept open.

Rowan Brown, director of the Scottish Mining Museum at Newtongrange, said: "Birkhill is an important part of our mining history and it enables people to get the experience of being underground. It's difficult to communicate that effectively without seeing what it was like, feeling the damp, the cold, and the general fear which comes from working in that kind of environment. That's a very powerful and unique selling point.

"It's good to be able to access that heritage, as there's so many people with mining in their ancestry. In fact, you'd be hard-pushed to find someone who doesn't in Scotland."

Birkhill was opened in 1932, with trams used to haul the fire-resistant clay up the Avon Gorge. Work expanded after the war and by the 1970s the network of tunnels extended to six miles.

Demand gradually decreased, and the last tram came to a halt in 1980. The site lay derelict for seven years until it reopened as a heritage site alongside the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. Visitors to the old workings can also see the imprint of ancient riverbeds in the excavated roof of the mine and locate 300 million-year-old fossils, laid down in the Carboniferous Period at the same time as the clay.

However, the attraction has suffered a slow decline. Although it was due to reopen for the summer season next month, Falkirk Council decided the "significant risks to staff" due to the "dangerous" state of the buildings on site meant it should stay closed.

The local authority will spend 150,000 demolishing the outbuildings and a bridge linking the mine with the station is also in poor repair.The mine itself is believed to have a geological fault, where rockfall has been taking place.

The local authority points out that the facility - which attracted less than 5,000 visitors last year - costs 50,000 a year to run.

Even so, more than 600 people have signed up to a Facebook page calling for Birkhill to be saved, a view shared by those with a keen interest in Scotland's mining history.

Brown said the fireclay industry - predominantly based in the west coast with firms such as the Glenboig Union company of Coatbridge - was integral to the production of steel, a major export. The country also exported fireclay bricks themselves to South America and Russia.

Iain Anderson, a curator with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, who has been helping to survey Birkhill, said: "Birkhill is a rare and important surviving example of a fireclay mine, and that's why we've been dedicating resources to surveying it."

Adrian Mahoney, who represents Bo'ness on Falkirk Council, said his father's family came to the town to find work in the mining industry, a legacy that has left him with a deep appreciation of Birkhill's heritage.

"I know how important sites like this are, because much of the old industry has simply disappeared, and we want to protect what's left if we can," he explained. "Coming from a mining background, I think it's important to get an experience of what it was like underground."

Lesley O'Hare, cultural services manager at Falkirk Council, said the local authority was hoping to open the mine next year, but could not be certain.

She said: "The key thing for us is underground safety. The mine is relatively stable as it has a sandstone roof, but we've found a small area where there's a geological fault and there's been some minimal rockfall, and that requires costly exploration."