Soup kitchen, Bridgend

Photo taken at corner of Auchengeich Welfare Hall. The soup kitchen began during the 1926 Miners' Strike. According to the book 'Bridgend: A Scottish Colliery Village' (1984), local butchers and grocers donated meat and vegetables which the miners' wives cooked and distributed to local families. Bridgend village was built to house the Auchengeich Colliery workers. The houses were erected by the owners of the colliery James Nimmo and Company Ltd. The village, close to Chryston, was begun in the early 1900's and continued in existence until a disastrous fire in the pit in 1959. Forty seven miners lost their lives in the Auchengeich Mining Disaster on 18 September 1959.