Bilston Glen

A pleasant wooded gorge in N Midlothian, Bilston Glen lies to the east of the village of Bilston and a half-mile (1 km) south of Loanhead. Extending to 1½ miles (2.3 km) in length, it conveys the Bilston Burn to fall into the River North Esk. The gorge is crossed by the spectacular Bilston Glen Viaduct which once carried the Edinburgh, Loanhead & Roslin Railway. Evidence of coal mining can be found all around, with a spoil heap spilling across the glen, adits in its sides and tunnels beneath. Immediately to the north was the most recent mine, Bilston Glen Colliery, one of the National Coal Board's super-pits began production in 1963 but closed in 1989, with the surface complex having been redeveloped as Bilston Industrial Estate. Much of the glen is now protected as the Bilston Burn Site of Special Scientific Interest, noted for its geology and upland mixed ash woodland vegetation.


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