Continuing the story of the Blantyre Pit Disaster memorial. Today, we explore how the design came to be.
When giving consideration to the form of a memorial which would aptly and fittingly commemorate the lives of the men and boys who lost their lives, Mr Robert Sim in Summer 1977 enlisted the help of his neighbour, Mr Hugh Orr, who was an accomplished artisan, a man who loved a challenge. Also brought into the equation at this point was local Blantyre historian Neil Gordon, who was also a fine amateur artist.
Between the men, a total of 8 different designs were put forward, with themselves having to choose the most suitable, taking into account design, manufacturing, affordability and availability.
The story goes that one night, a number of weeks later, Robert Sim sat at home with his family, and in front of him the 8 designs were now down to a short list choice of three designs submitted to him by Mr Orr and Mr Gordon, “We need to decide” he said. Robert had spent many hours deliberating between two in particular, one was in the form of a brick built arch, drawn up by his neighbour Hugh Orr, and the other one depicted a coal heap with a pit whorl on top, offered by Neil Gordon. At length, he rose from his chair with the selected blueprint in his hand and declared purposefully “I’m going to go with Neil’s.” Robert Sim felt the image of the vast lump of coal would resonate more effectively with the people of Blantyre, many of whom came from a mining background.
On the first Friday of September 1977, Hamilton District Council’s Leisure and Recreation Committee met and approved the memorial, recommending that the council lease land at High Blantyre Cross. This followed planning approval, where there had been fears again about the use of the new material, fibreglass. A slight reduction in height was asked for from 20 foot down to 18 foot, which didn’t present any issues considering it would actually save costs.
Work started at the Pit Disaster Memorial site at High Blantyre Cross, Kirkton in September 1977 with a foundation and base laid in concrete. As the work got underway, the wider curious public learned of the plans which had been afoot for all those previous months, in an article in the Hamilton Advertiser newspaper. The newspaper report credited Neil Gordon ultimately with the 20-foot-high design and the others partly with design and fully with manufacturing.
Also plans were announced to involve schools and local organisations with competitions to be held in advance of the unveiling, scheduled for the 22nd October 1977, a hundred years to the day of the disaster. Another event was added to the schedule, when Dr George Maxwell, a Senior Lecturer on Mining Engineering at Strathclyde University was invited to give a detailed talk on the disaster on 17th October at Blantyre Miners Welfare. This was to be a week of commemoration and reflection for all!
To be continued….
