THE dedication of a Cowdenbeath man to preserve Fife's mining heritage has been recognised.

Iain Chalmers has been selected as a member of the National Mining Museum of Scotland Collections Trust which aims to maintain, protect and extend the collection for the benefit of future generations with coal mining roots and the Scottish public.

The National Mining Museum Scotland cares for the Lady Victoria Colliery and the national coal mining collections which boast over 100,000 items including objects, archives, photographs and books.

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Iain was pleased to be appointed to the trust.

"I have had a long relationship with the Lady Victoria stretching back to the 1970’s when it was a working Colliery and I was part of the last official underground visit," he said.

"Over the years after it became a museum I collected, and still do, with the history attached, many documents and some artefacts which were relevant to mining in Scotland, any items relevant to Fife."

Iain set up the Save the Cage project which is set to bring mining heritage items to Lochore Meadows where artefacts will be installed close to the Mary Pit Head.

It is hoped that the project will be completed by the summer to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1984/1985 Miners' Strike.