Polmont rail accident

The Polmont rail accident, also known as the Polmont rail disaster, occurred on 30 July 1984 to the west of Polmont, near Falkirk, in Scotland. A westbound push–pull express train travelling from Edinburgh to Glasgow struck a cow which had gained access to the track through a damaged fence from a field near Polmont railway station, causing all six carriages and the locomotive of the train to derail. 13 people were killed and 61 others were injured, 17 of them seriously. The accident led to a debate about the safety of push–pull trains on British Rail.

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Westquarter

Westquarter is a village in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Polmont and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) south-east of the town of Falkirk. Westquarter can be accessed from the north via the A803 road and from the south via the B805 road. At the 2001 census the village of Westquarter was recorded as having a resident population of 1,105. In 1876 George McRoberts who already manufactured detonators (for mining) at Westquarter, was joined by Alfred Nobel to build the Nobel Explosives Factory in Westquarter.

Reddingmuirhead

Reddingmuirhead is a village located in Stirlingshire, Falkirk council area, Central Scotland. A few hundred yards uphill from the village of Redding, it is between Shieldhill and Brightons. The village contains a large Co-operative Society building, the shops of which provide most everyday requirements, one small general store, and one licensed grocer who also looks after the post office, and a large secondary school, Braes High. It was notable in recent times for the success of its local Sunday football team, Blairlodge AFC, which competed in the Falkirk and District League. Reddingmuirhead is also the location of the Polmont Young Offenders Institution.

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Redding mining disaster

The Redding pit disaster was a coal mining disaster in September 1923 when an inrush of water trapped 66 miners underground at a mine shaft in the Central Belt of Scotland, with 40 fatalities.

HMYOI Polmont

His Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Polmont is the largest young offender's institution in Scotland. It is located in the village of Reddingmuirhead. HMP Polmont first opened as a Borstal in 1911 in the buildings of the former Blairlodge Academy. The Academy had been forced to close in 1908 due to financial difficulties and a subsequent outbreak of an infectious disease, and the Prison Commissioners bought the site in 1911. As of January 2024, HMP Polmont is no longer exclusively a young offenders institution; short-term, low-supervision adult males can now be transferred there and housed within the facility. Notable inmates have included murderer Luke Mitchell, Chris Cunningham, star of BBC Scotland's The Scheme, and Aaron Campbell, convicted of carrying out one instance of child abduction, rape and murder.