A COWDENBEATH man will lead a Save the Cage group which aims to raise £15,000 to buy three “important mining artefacts”.

Robert Chalmers said an old coal cutter, a mine car that was used to transport materials underground, and the cage from the Frances Colliery in Dysart are being kept in a yard in Leven.

He wants the newly formed group to buy them and put them on display to keep the area’s mining heritage alive – and give visitors a sense of what it was like to work below the surface.

Robert told the Times: “To those who have never been underground, you will be able to stand on the bottom deck of the cage and close your eyes and imagine travelling through the shaft to the pit bottom.”

A meeting was held at the Willie Clarke Centre, at Lochore Meadows, to progress the plans and a number of heritage groups were represented. It was agreed to form the Save the Cage group with Robert as chairperson.

He said: “The group is in the process of having a bank account set up and as soon as it's active we will apply to any organisation that provides funds for heritage projects.

“We will also set up a crowdfunding page and appeal to the people of the Fife coalfields to help preserve their heritage by Saving the Cage.

"The projected cost of purchasing the artefacts, transporting and repairing the cage, and the plinths to display them on, is £15,000.”