The Prestongrange BathHouse since 1954

The building of Pithead BathHouses at British collieries was one of the earliest welfare goals of the National Coal Board (NCB) when all the nation's mines were taken into public ownership under the Attlee Government immediately after World War II. The BathHouse at Prestongrange, which still stands although callously allowed to fall into bad repair and recently delisted by the local Council, was in its time a show piece for that goal. At the time of its construction it was described by the NCB as a 'Standard-type installation for long life collieries'. It is pictured below next to a Briefing Note on the occasion of Sir Robert Houldsworth's visit to Newtongrange to open their own Pithead baths, canteen and medical centre.

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The Showers' Interior at Prestongrange in 1954 & 1999

The same report in 1954 showed the showers' interior at Prestongrange which Janice MacNab's artistic eye viewed and painted in 1999 for the 14th Baron on his accession at Prestoungrange.



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