Milliken pits
An index of mine abandonment plans lists:
- abandonment of coal workings at Milliken in 1880
- abandonment of coal & shale workings at Milliken No.1 in 1885
Newspaper accounts (see snippets below) refer to an ironstone pit at Milliken opened by S. Dixon in 1873, and No.1 Milliken pit, owned by James Scott of the Clippens Shale Oil Co in 1878. Ordnance survey plans provide no clues as the the location of the Milliken pits: it might be that this was used as an alternative name for the Barbush pits.
Messrs. S. Dixon, mine owners, have opened a new ironstone mine on Milliken estate, at Johnstone possessed by Sir Robert Napier of Milliken and Napier.
Dundee Courier, 7th March 1873
.......
JOHNSTONE.--Clippens Collieries - On Saturday afternoon, at No. 1 Mill ilk en Pit, belonging to Mr. of James Scott, of the Clippens Collieries, in presence of a large number of gentlemen connected with the collieries in the district, King's patent detaching hook for preventing overwinding, and its destructive and frequently fatal consequences, was put to the test. Mr. Archibald, the manager, gave the signal for an overwind, when the cage ascended at the rate of 525 feet per minute, when the detaching hook attached to the rope passed through the catch-plate, and the rope at once disengaged, leaving the cage securely suspended with but a very slight shock apparently. The detaching hook. was then examined in all its parts, the cage again connected, and everything in working order in 6 minutes. This trial, which was we understand is the first to have taken place in the West of Scotland, gave entire satisfaction.
The Glasgow Herald, 20th August 1878