History of Thistle Industrial Estate commemorated with Cairn

Following the demolition of Thistle Industrial Estate, a local community project in Cowdenbeath has been underway to build a cairn to ensure the history of the former Northern Coal Board workshops and its workers are not forgotten. The project was the idea of local historian and former miner Iain Chalmers and In-site Property Solutions were more than happy to grant permission for the cairn to be erected to commemorate the history of the industrial estate in such a fantastic manner.

The cairn stands proudly within the former NCB site and was officially revealed to the public on Saturday 28th June 2025, which coincided with the exact date of the Royal Visit to the workshops 77 years ago.

The bricks used to build the cairn are the old bricks that formed the industrial units. The Royal plaque that commemorated the Royal Visit in 1948 was salvaged from the demolition and now forms part of the cairn. The names etched onto the bricks are of different brickworks associated with the coal industry in Scotland.

A wonderful article on the history of the Northern Coal Board workshops and how the idea to erect a cairn to honour the local history can be found below:

CAIRN CELEBRATES HUGE CONTRIBUTION OF NCB CENTRAL WORKSHOPS ENGINEERING PAST – My Cowdenbeath CIC