Remembering miners - interactive memorial commemorates miners in Blackridge

A Blackridge Community Fund grant of £5,495 has helped create a permanent interactive digital memorial to the men of Blackridge who have lost their lives in mining accidents since the 1880s.

The communities of Blackridge and Westrigg grew in the late 19th century on the foundations of the developing mining industry.  The livelihood of the local community depended upon the pits, but the work was notoriously dangerous. Workplace injuries were common, and 37 men and boys were known to have lost their lives in the pits.  

To commemorate the importance of mining to the communities, and particularly the men who lost their lives, Blackridge Community Council teamed up with West Lothian Council (WLC) Museums Service to develop an interactive, digital memorial to be situated inside the Blackridge Community Museum, which is located in the village's Craiginn Centre. 

In November 2020, Blackridge Community Council was awarded a grant of £5,495 towards a total project cost of £15,495, with the balance of £10,000 from West Lothian Council’s Capital Fund.  The project was successfully completed in Spring 2022.  

The memorial consists of three complementary parts situated in the local community museum in the Craig Inn Community Centre:

• A high-quality bronze memorial plaque on the external wall
• An updateable interactive digital memorial featuring the names and stories of the men who lost their lives
• An accompanying interpretation panel.

Forty pupils at Blackridge Primary participated in museum learning sessions about mining heritage and went on to complete a co-curation project to create the interpretation content for the new displays.  These sessions were delivered online as a result of Covid restrictions.  A range of volunteers also researched and developed the interpretative script for the digital interactive feature.  This material included information provided by members of the public as well as research material from newspapers.  An initial community sharing event couldn’t go ahead due to Covid restrictions, but material was collected via word of mouth and following a social media appeal.  

A community unveiling and celebration event was held in March 2022, attended by over 40 people from the area including pupils involved in the co-curation activities.  The memorial was unveiled by one of the pupils from the school, who was the grandchild of the last miner to be killed.  Now that restrictions have eased, volunteers continue to research and add new content to the digital memorial, enabling residents to bring along images and information to be added to the interactive.

The project has brought about an increased awareness of Blackridge's local mining heritage and of the dangerous reality of this work for the local people who worked in the mines.  It has meant that the names of the fallen men have been recorded together in one location for the first time as a lasting memorial. The project has also brought about increased interest in the Blackridge Community Museum, and successfully involved local children in the area’s heritage as well as the associated educational benefits of the co-curation work.  

The museum is free to visit and open to the public at specified times - checkout the museum's opening times on the West Lothian Council website.