1936 Priory Colliery.

John Cowan, a 16 years old youth, residing at Baird’s Rows, Blantyre, had a narrow escape from death on the afternoon of Sunday 21st March 1937.

Cowan, was employed as a surface worker at Priory Colliery Blantyre, and was caught in the driving shaft of a machine at the pithead, and only the timely appearance on the scene of a married man named James Cornfield prevented a fatality.

James Cornfield, who was employed underground, had occasion to come to the surface just when the incident occurred and acted quickly in pulling the lad from his precarious position.

Although the youth escaped death narrowly, part of his clothing was ripped off in the machinery and, in addition to having his arm broken he also suffered from severe bodily injuries. A doctor was summoned and after receiving attention at the colliery ambulance room, Cowan was removed to Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Priory colliery is pictured, a year earlier.

Source: The Gazette. 27/3/1937. Shared here by Wilma Bolton.