Westfield Opencast Coal Mine, 1977.

BGS image ID: P001513

Oblique aerial view of the Westfield Opencast Coal Mine from the north-east Fife Region. Cut to extract the abnormally thick development of coals (Boglochty Beds) in the Passage Group of the Namurian of the Scottish Carboniferous succession. The excavation is about 200 metres deep and has cut through strata from just above the top of the Middle Coal Measures (Westphalian B) down to the Calmy Limestone of Namurian (E2) age. At the top are the processing plants. The Westfield Open Pit was worked by Costain Mining Limited on behalf of the National Coal Board Opencast Executive.

Excavation commenced in 1955 on the site of the former Kirkness Colliery, production started the following year, 1956. It was regarded at the time as the largest opencast in the UK and possibly Europe.


Old photograph number: D02514

Photograph taken 1977.

Bob McIntosh