national mining museum scotland

Lovely and in my view, an underestimated local attraction, the two exhibition rooms give you a feel of a working mine (in terms of machinery in past years, different types of carbon, chemical reactions and so on) and how the workers and their families live in the local area. There is a quiz in which children have to spot 6 cats so that will keep them amused for a while (they will get a badge if they find them all). The tour lasted about 1 hour and 30 minutes, our guide Mr. Watson was extremely friendly, informative and passionate about how live in the mine was at his time. Definitely a highly recommended visit and don't miss the tour as that will put you into perspective. There is also an interactive room for the wee ones, a sofplay and a coffee shop. Also cinema session at weekends.

Had a great day! Went with my teenage boys and they immensley enjoyed this informativ day out. Very impressed by the tour guides which worked at the "Lady" many years ago. We did the 'big stuff' tour first which gave us an interesting insight in the machninery and after that we had time to walk through the exhibitions. We then went to the pithead tour and all came together. So much to see, listen and learn! I've got a completly different view on the subject of coal mining and I'm so glad that we did the tour. Respect to the miners and thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us! And we will be back to hear more stories!

Went here with my family and have to say what's fantastic day out! There is a tour that you can go on and I would really recommend that you go on this with the tour guide who believe it or not is an ex-miner!!! Our guide was very good. Also would recommend that you take a look in their gift shop as they have some lovely ornaments which are made out of coal but not only that the reception staff are very friendly and happy to help with any questions that you have!!

An amazing experience had by all!.The tour guide John, an ex miner himself was informative, friendly, and gave you a real sense of what working down the mines must of been like, he's an amazing guy!.Then went to the cafe inside and had lunch, where again the staff were friendly and keen to help.To top it all the food was freshly cooked, tasty, and fantastic value for money!.We can't recommend this place highly enough, and advise anyone to make the effort and visit soon!. Thanks guys!!.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post your lovely review! We're delighted that you had such a great experience when you visited and we've passed on your kind comments to Tom! Keep an eye on our website and Facebook page for forthcoming events! We hope to see you back again soon.

Thank you so much for taking the time to review National Mining Museum Scotland. We are delighted that you enjoyed your visit and hope that you will come back again soon!

Thank you for your comments regarding the Hogmanay Party. I'm extremely sorry to hear how disappointed you were with the cost and set-up of the bar on the night. I've passed your comments to our caterers, Saltire Hospitality, so that they are aware and can improve their service for future events.I'm glad you still had a great night and enjoyed the music. I'll pass your lovely comments to our DJ, Ryan Sturrock. I do hope you'll come back to our 2015 Hogmanay Party!

Thanks for taking the time to write such a glowing review of National Mining Museum Scotland. We're delighted that you enjoyed your visit so much and we hope you'll tell all your friends and family to come and visit soon. We'll also pass on your lovely comments to Alex and Mark!

We spent close to five hours here recently, the time flew by. The exhibits are excellent - every interactive exhibit actually worked! - and the tour was also thoroughly enjoyable. The history of coal and coal mining you might not think would make for a topic covering two floors but it does, and it's done very well. There's discussion of things which I'd never known about, such as what was essentially slavery in the early days of coal mining. It's perhaps not suitable for young children but otherwise would be an excellent, and different, family day out.

Thanks for your lovely review! We try our best to make sure there are plenty of activities to amuse the little ones so that the 'grown ups' have time to appreciate the content of the exhibitions! It's lovely to know that it's working! Since your last visit we have also added a new trail which was designed by a Primary 6 class from Rosewell Primary School and we're constantly moving and hiding our colliery cats for the children to hunt for.We've also introduced Cinema Sundays and Wacky Wednesdays! Please take a look at our website and/or Facebook page for more info.We hope to see you back again soon!

This was our first visit although we live fairly close to the site. We took a friend who was visiting and we all found it really interesting. We had plenty of time to look around the displays on the history of mining in Scotland before joining the tour at the pithead. The guide was an ex-miner who had worked there and he was very knowledgeable and entertaining. The highlight was a simulated coal face which gave an excellent impression of what it must have been like to work underground. Good cafe as well and plenty of free car parking. Discount available for Historic Scotland members.

Thanks for taking the time to write such a positive review of National Mining Museum Scotland. We're delighted that you enjoyed your visit and got so much out of it. Please keep an eye on our Facebook page and website to see what events are coming up. We hope to see you back again soon!

Enjoyed our visit here. There is plenty of parking and the staff are friendly. We took a guidedtour with John who was an ex-miner and found him really entertaining. He kept the children on the tour amused too. We learnt quite a lot but hadn't really allowed enough time for our visit as there is lots to see in the museum .Well worth a visit.

A great place and more than just a museum, has a soft play area, cafe and a small cinema. cafe might be a bit pricey but everything else is well worth it/

I've passed this place so many times but decided to visit after a colleague at work told me that the soft play was brilliant and I got an email offering a discount. I have to say 2 things after my visit: my colleague's expectations/experiences are much more limited than mine and I'm glad I didn't buy the annual pass!It's not that it was terrible because it wasn't. But we arrived about 1pm to be told they were operating 'winter hours'. While this was totally my fault for not checking, it did mean that once we'd looked round the museum, we had to choose between the tour and the soft play. With a 3 year old in tow it was a no brainer. I'm sure the tour would've been great but sadly I can't guarantee that. The soft play is small. My grandson may only be 3 but he's used to big, rambling soft plays like those in New Brighton, Fort William, Glasgow and Carlisle. This was just a bit boring and surprisingly busy. Some of the other kids seemed unsupervised which I know can be a problem anywhere but adults are discouraged from going into the soft play so this is going to exacerbate the problem. I love playing with my grandson and feel this rule diminishes the experience for both child and adult. Certainly does for us anyway.The museum was ok and I'd be tempted to give it another chance on a nice day, in the summer with enough time to do the tour. Then I'd take my grandson to Vogrie Park for a proper run around and play.