Wide Ridge of Substantial Spoil Heap, Addiewell
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Wide Ridge of Substantial Spoil Heap, Addiewell by Ian Dodds as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Wide Ridge of Substantial Spoil Heap, Addiewell
Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 27 Jun 2021
Accessible by path from either the back of the school or the two gates to the West of Addiewell Farm. Not much re-landscaping going on here! The fairly rectangular bing is first shown on an 1890s OS map. The previous map from the 1850s shows nothing at all. So obviously between the two maps a fairly large mining operation was present close to here. Bits of the flat wide ridge round here looked at first glance as if some structures had been built on top of it at one point, but the ground wasn't hard. If it isn't dark earth on the surface it may be some kind of coal dust. In the period it was formed, though, shale was being mined in this area far more than coal. It may of course, just have been a general tip - one for the experts, as online investigations reveal nothing.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
55.845623
Longitude
-3.615722