Henry MCLeish (Chair)

Henry McLeish was born in Methil, Fife into a mining family and played professional football for East Fife FC and Leeds United before taking up lecturing at Heriot-Watt University and later going into politics.

He served as a Councillor and Leader in Fife Regional Council, part of which was during the Miners’ Strikes. Henry was elected as labour MP for Parliament in 1987 and joined the Scottish Office in 1997.

On the establishment of the Scottish parliament, Henry was elected as MSP for Fife Central in 1999 and became First Minister in 2000. Since leaving main stream politics in Henry has lectured widely, particularly in the United States, and published several books.

Henry is currently involved with consultancy work including with Halogen Communications Ltd.

Colin Beattie

Colin joined the Trustees in 2007. An elected member of Midlothian Council, he spent 23 years as an international banker (1972-1995, followed by a career as an investment banker in the City of London from 1995 until 2006. In October 2006 he became a full-time politician, and has held the office of SNP National Treasurer since 2004. In May 2011 he was elected MSP for Midlothian North & Musselburgh.

Besides the SNP, he is a member of the National Trust for Scotland, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and Historic Scotland. His hobbies and interests include politics, reading, gardening, movies and classical music.

Dennis Canavan

Dennis joined the Trust in 2007. He was born and brought up in the mining community of Cowdenbeath, where both his grandfathers were miners. Before his electionto Parliament,he worked in education, including posts as Principal Teacher of Mathematics at St. Modan’s High School, Stirling, and later Assistant Head of Holyrood High School, Edinburgh.

He has represented mining communities in Parliament as MP for West Stirlingshire(1974-83) then MP forFalkirk West (1983-2000)then MSP forFalkirk West (1999-2007). In 2018, he was appointed by the Scottish Government to be a member of a panel to review the policing in Scotland of the 1984-85 miners’ strike.He is an Honorary Life Member of Bannockburn Miners’ Welfare Club.

Sir David Hamilton

David left school in 1965 and worked in Easthouses Colliery, Bilston Glen Colliery, Rufford Colliery (Nottingham) finishing at Monktonhall Colliery.  He became NUM Union Delegate in 1976 until 1985 when he was unfairly dismissed following the miners’ strike.

He has had a variety of jobs – landscape gardener, promoted to Charge-hand then Supervisor,Placement Officer, Training Officer, Manager then taking the position as Chief Executive.

In 1995 he was elected to Midlothian Council and served as Chair of Strategic Services covering Strategic Planning, Transportation and Economic Development.

In 2001 he was elected as Member of Parliament for Midlothian serving in the Procedure, Broadcasting, Work and Pensions, Scottish Affairs Select Committees and Vice Chair of the Defence Select Committee.  He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ed Miliband from 2007 to 2010 and latterly Senior Opposition Whip until retirement in 2015.
Throughout his working life he’s been involved with numerous Midlothian organisations.

Robert Tarbert Dodds

Robert is the son and grandson of former miners who worked at Lady Victoria Colliery. Married with one son he worked for the Department of Social Security and Benefits Agency for about 40 years. Elected to the Trust in 2003 his wide range of experience and local contacts are useful to the museum. He is a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Dalkeith, Treasurer of Oxfam Dalkeith and a past captain of Melville Golf Club. His hobbies and interests include hill walking, Tai Chi, golf and reading

Dr C J Mills

Catherine was born in north west Leicestershire and worked for many years as a nurse before opting for a major career change.  After completing her PhD at the University of Exeter, she moved to Scotland in 2009 to take up the post of lecturer in environmental history at the University of Stirling.

Her research interests and activities have a strong interdisciplinary and community facing emphasis and are firmly located under the broad over-arching themes of ‘marginal landscapes’. They primarily consist of three interrelated strands all linked by ‘coal’, the historical development of health and safety regulation in the mining industries, the regulatory politics of clean air with a focus on industrial and domestic coal smoke emissions and more recently the social and cultural value of mining landscapes.

Catherine is project lead for Landscape Legacies of Coal, a series of co-produced and curated heritage walks available on a free to downland mobile phone app. The walking routes highlight  the surviving landscape features and industrial archaeology of former colliery sites to tell the story of Scottish coal and the communities that built the industry.

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