The Miners and the ‘Goths’

"How a 19th Century Swedish scheme to control alcohol consumption was adopted in Scotland with the additional aim of supporting communities’.
The Miners and the Goths was the title of a talk by Mike Dow. Mike explained how Goth pubs were set up in many Scottish mining communities in the early part of the 20th century. The term Goth came from Gothenburg, Sweden, where in 1855, in a bid to combat excessive drinking especially of spirits, pubs were set up with 95% of profits sales of alcohol went community improvements. In Sweden the business model led to a 33% reduction in consumption of spirits and the idea was then exported to Scotland and in 1896 the first “Goth”, the White Elephant pub, was set up in Hill of Beath. The Fife Coal Company believed that the austere establishments would help control drinking among the miners and in 1900 three Goths appeared in Kelty and by 1914 there were 20 in Fife. Profits helped provide district nurses, bowling greens and improvements to parks among the mining communities. There are still four functioning Goths in Prestonpans, Newtongrange, Armadale and Fallin, all helping their communities. 

Mike was thanked for his most interesting talk by President George McIntosh.