THE 75th anniversary of one of West Fife’s greatest industrial tragedies will be remembered in the village where it happened this weekend.

On 28th October 1939, an ignition of firedamp and coal dust caused a devastating explosion in Valleyfield Colliery, killing 35 men.

The village will remember on Sunday with a commemoration at 2pm at the memorial in Valleyfield Avenue, followed by afternoon tea in the community centre.

And at 7pm on Tuesday – exactly 75 years to the date of the tragedy – Ian Headrick and Robert McKenzie, of the Valleyfield Mining Disaster Project Group, will give a presentation on the history of the disaster and mining in the area.

The families of the victims have been invited for the events, but the group’s spokesperson Tim Collins said, “The knowledge of the tragedy in the village is quite extensive but there are not many of the families around.

“There are very few surviving relatives and a lot of them are elderly and not very mobile.

“Those who are around are very keen to to see it remembered for future generations.

“It was not just Valleyfield that was affected but surrounding areas, like Culross, as well.

“The incident had a major impact at the time and any kind of industrial accident with that level of fatalities needs to be remembered.” Dunfermline MP Thomas Docherty and Cara Hilton MSP will attend the commemoration on Sunday and take part in the wreath-laying ceremony.

Mr Headrick will also give an illustrated talk on ‘Valleyfield, The People and the Pit Disaster’ at the Torryburn History Group on Thursday 30th October, at 7.30pm at Torryburn Hall.