Web Site www.scottishminingmuseum.com
The Scottish Mining Museum since its establishment in 1984, has provided a great day out for all the family. The Scottish Mining Museum is a nationally registered independent museum which was founded to preserve and present Scotland's mining heritage.
They are based at one of the finest surviving examples of a Victorian colliery in Europe, the Lady Victoria Colliery at Newtongrange, just nine miles from Edinburgh on the A7.
A tour of the museum includes:
- a fully accessible, three-storey visitors centre
- two major exhibitions - 'The Story of Coal' and 'A Race Apart' - which feature interactive displays, reconstructions, sound, and visuals to describe the history and technology of coal and the story of the mining communities
- a hands-on Operations Centre
- the pithead, where generations of miners descended 500 metres down into the blackness of the 'Lady Vic'
- a re-created underground roadway and coalface where you will experience the atmosphere and noise of a working pit
- the massive winding engine - the largest in Scotland - which hauled men and coal up and down the pit shaft for nearly 90 years and is still in working order
- two audio-visual shows
- Big Stuff - Massive Mining Machinery tour*
- licensed restaurant with play and picnic area
- gift shop
On your tour you will use their unique 'magic helmets', which are fitted with remote-controlled headphones to describe what you are looking at on the site.
*The newly launched Big Stuff tour runs every Wednesday and Sunday at 11am and 2pm - call or e-mail ahead and book to avoid disappointment! Come along and see the 40ft coal shearer, the massive winding engine and drum from Frances Colliery in Fife, underground first aid carriages, cages, locomotives and much more!
And you can get the personal insights and anecdotes of our guides, all of whom are ex-miners!
Lady Victoria Colliery
Newtongrange
Midlothian
EH22 4QN
TEL: 0131 663 7519
FAX: 0131 654 1618
