Benarty coal mining historian was fully booked during lockdown

Chris Sparling, who taught chemistry at Dunfermline High School before his retirement, has long had an interest in the history of the Kingdom's collieries, from Blairadam and Bowhill to Rosewell and Westfield and everywhere in between, and aimed to write a comprehensive guide.

Since 2000 he's also been the 'webmaster' of Michael Martin's Fife Pits and Memorial Book website, a popular site for those who want to know more about the days when thousands of men toiled underground to win black gold.

It's been a real labour of love for Chris, who kept adding to the online content through regular visits to the Times and Dunfermline Press offices, sifting through previous editions as part of his diligent research which also included delving into local library archives and those held at the National Mining Museum in Newtongrange.

Back in the 19th century our pages were full of coalfield news, such as new seam discoveries and shaft sinkings, pit accidents and fatalities, mine closures, disputes and strikes.

Now a member of Benarty Heritage Preservation Group, his articles appeared in our papers and his first book in 2004 provided an account of the many coalfields, pits and mines across the county.

Encouraged by the response, he went on to produce many more publications and decided to use the time spent at home over the past 12 months to complete his book project.

Chris, who used to live in Glencraig and Ballingry, explained: "With the introduction of the first Covid-19 lockdown imposed in March 2020, I began the long task of converting the remaining content of the Fife Pits website into book format.

"The years of research, begun in the 1990s by the website originator, the late Michael 'Mick' Martin, and continued to this day, has provided sufficient content to prepare reference books on the history of Fife coalfields and their many individual collieries and coalworks over several centuries."

The latest books span the Kingdom and the lockdown publications for Central Fife, featuring those sites not represented before, include Alice Pit, Arthur (Newton) Colliery, Benarty Colliery, Blairadam, Blairenbathie, Bogside (Kinglassie), Bowhill, Capledrae, Cardenden, Cowdenbeath, Cowdenbeath No. 7, Cowdenbeath (Kirkford) No.10, Craigend, Crosshill (Easter and Wester), Dalbeath, Donibristle, Dora, Dundonald, Foulford, Henderson Mine, Hill of Beath, Jenny Gray, Kinglassie, Kinninmonth, Lassodie Mill, Little Raith, Lochgelly, Lochhead, Lochore Colliery, Mary (Lochore), Mary (Lochgelly), Minto (Brigghills), Mossbeath, Rosewell (Lochore) and Westfield.

And that's not to mention another 50-odd locations in east and west Fife he's written about in the last 12 months.

It completes a project that began 15 years ago when he presented his first book on mining to Dunfermline Carnegie Library.

Chris explained: "The publication was based on a series of articles which first appeared in Dunfermline Press issues of 1888-89, and is titled 'Notes on the Western Coalfields of Fife'.

"The book describes the individual coalfields and collieries in and around Dunfermline at that time, as observed by the author of the articles who referred to himself as 'The Rambling Miner'."

He added sketch maps and other items from the Fife Pits website to help illustrate some of the descriptions and said it "proved to be a suitable template" for future mining books.

Chris went on to donate several more titles to the reference and local history section of the Dunfermline library.

They included: 'Coal Working From The Earliest Times'; 'The Story of Coal - Buried Sunshine'; Fife - The Kingdom of Coal'; 'The Sinking of Valleyfield Colliery'; 'Ventures on Preston Island - Coal, Salt and Whisky'; and 'The Mary Pit Explosion : February 1908'.

The books proved popular enough that the library's management agreed to start selling them with the proceeds going to the Queen Margaret Hospital's Haematology/Oncology ward fund.

A member of the Benarty Heritage Group since 2016, he also produced, for the local commemoration event, a publication marking 50 years since the closure of the Glencraig and Mary collieries.

Due to more enquiries and requests, many from ex-miners themselves and visitors to the group's exhibition in the Lochore Miners' Institute and Benarty Centre, Chris went on to produce more books.

They included 'Longannet Mining Complex : Of Mines and Men', 'Bogside Mine', 'Solsgirth Mine', 'Castlehill Mine' and 'Castlebridge Colliery', followed by books on Aitken Colliery, Cowdenbeath Central Workshops, Mining on the Estate of Glencraig, Lindsay Colliery, Mining at Lochore, Lumphinnans Colliery, Lassodie Colliery and Nellie Colliery, among many others, in 2019.

A limited number were donated for the Valleyfield Disaster commemoration exhibition in October 2019 – the 80th anniversary of the explosion which killed 35 men – and a mining conference event which was held the following month in Kirkcaldy.

Proceeds from sales of Chris' donated books in Benarty were contributed to the heritage group's fund to help finance annual trips to the National Mining Museum for pupils from St Kenneth's and Benarty primary schools.

The titles were also kindly made available for sale in the Willie Clarke Centre at Lochore Meadows Country Park.

Inspired to keep going and cover the pits he hadn't featured before, Chris churned out an incredible amount of material over the past year to complete his book project on mining in the Kingdom.