Pond at North Edge of Kingshill Local Nature Reserve

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 12 Jun 2021

Kingshill Nature Reserve is essentially situated on the grounds of the former Kingshill Colliery, situated just South of the village of Allanton, by neccesity as much as anything else. Due to the damage done by the mining operations, along with the fact that the mine was situated in a peat bog, there is little chance of this land having the potential to be used for profitable farming or residential use anytime soon. This isn't meant to sound scathing - the fact is that, quite rightly, these days spoiled land must be made better by whichever council oversees it. So North Lanarkshire Council have to do their best with whatever they have been left with, which in this case isn't a great deal. Not that it's a bad place, it's just run-of-the-mill countryside now termed a nature reserve! This largish pond is, in my opinion, its best feature. The pond is roughly in the same position of one of the mine ponds shown on a 1950s OS map, when the mine was still operational.

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