AFTER a lot of hard work by a team of dedicated volunteers the reason of Lochgelly's growth as a town is to be remembered by a special coal mining heritage trail.

Lochgelly Heritage Group are pleased to announce the opening of the Heritage Trail on Thursday September 28 at 11am by Provost of Fife Jim Leishman, himself a proud Lochgelly man.

The trail leads along the site of the old ‘pug’ line from the bottom of the Public Park to the side of Cartmore Industrial Estate.

The trail has five information boards and two benches. There are also directional yellow arrows to guide walkers.

Said the Heritage Group's May King: "The boards show the history of the area, in particular, its mining heritage and we hope this will inform future generations of Lochgelly’s past.

"A bench is placed at the beginning of the trail and one at the top of ‘The Wheel Brae’ (see picture), is where we hope visitors will stop at and admire the panoramic view all the way from Benarty Hill to the Forth.

"It will be perhaps also a good place to catch your breath if coming up the brae from the other direction.

"As a group we wanted to remember our past and share with others Lochgelly’s rich history".

Coal started to be won from the ground around Lochgelly more than 150 years ago but the two main collieries, which provided thousands of jobs as the town's population grew to well over 10,000 people, were the Nellie and the Jenny Gray.

The Minto, or Brigghills Colliery, on the road to Cardenden, was another which provided a lot of work in the Lochgelly area.

Although the pits had shut by 1970 coal mining continued for many years with opencasting taking place at Cartmore.