Free Colliers take to the streets in the Braes for annual Pinkie March

The Pinkie March always takes place on the first Saturday in August and this will be the 163rd time the event has taken place.

Members of the Sir William Wallace Grand Lodge of Scotland Free Colliers based in Redding were the first and now the last in existence after being set up across the country’s coalfields to promote the rights of the working man.

From noon when the marchers leave their lodge rooms in Reddingmuirhead Community Centre, resplendent in their top hats and tails, the Free Colliers will proudly take the ten-mile route that has been followed down through the generations with pinkies linked in a symbolic gesture.

They will make their way along the streets to Redding Cross and the memorial dedicated to the 40 miners who perished in the 1923 disaster, where wreaths will be laid.

From there it will head to The Quoit in Main Street, Redding, then the Tam Bain in Mary Street, Laurieston, before heading up through Westquarter with a stop at the Unity club for a meal.

Next marchers will head to Brightons Masonic Hall and then to Wallacestone where there will be speeches.

Then it will be back down Wallacestone Brae finishing back at the lodge rooms in the community centre.

Last year, the organisation was granted the Freedom of Falkirk to mark its members tireless support for miners and efforts to keep the traditions of their communities alive.