Addiewell bing to Muirhouse Mains
See index map showing all footpaths.
A ramble of about 2.5 km takes you along a series on informal paths through woods and across meadows on the rehabilited site of the Addiewell oil works bing. We choose a lesser-used route that follows a rough track beside quiet pools that were created as reserviors to serve the oilworks. The path emerges from woods onto the well-maintained grounds of Addiewell prison, from where quiet public roads are followed south to Addiewell station, and onwards beneath the railway to meet the A71 at Muirhouse Mains.
From the 1870's through to the 1920's, the farms and fields to the east of Addiewell oil works were progressively consumed beneath an advancing mountain of spent blaes. These towering bings were quarried away during the 1980's, leaving a raised bank marking the original perimeter, rather like the crater of an extinct volcano. The sloping banks are now woodland, while much of the interior is shrubland and meadows, rich in wild flowers. Wooded banks also enclosure the site of the mighty Addiewell oil works, now occupied by Her Majesty's Prison. Addiewell, which was opened in 2008.
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There are a number of informal entrances to the paths around the bing site. When walking west from Tenantsmarch, the first is this "hole in the hedge" sited dangerously close to the blind corner. Please take care if you choose to take it, July 2021
The path climbs up the steep face of bing, July 2021
Swathes of red clover, July 2021
Orange Hawkweed? July 2021
The meadowlands and the five sisters in the distance, July 2021
We take a path that descends the steep side of the bing, July 2021
This bridge beneath the railway was once the course of a public road linking to the A71, July 2021
A view of the reservoir, July 2021
A view of the reservoir, July 2021
The remains of a valve-house, now a fine spot for a barbeque, July 2021
The remains of a valve-house, July 2021
A view of the reservoir, July 2021
The smaller pond to the west of the main reservoir, July 2021
The smaller pond to the west of the main reservoir, July 2021
A view across the railway to oil company managers houses at Muirhall, July 2021
A rose garden and a prison, July 2021
Well kept grounds of HMP Addiewell, July 2021
Heading south towards Addiewell station, July 2021
The road to the manager's houses at Muirhall, July 2021
Muirhall cottages, once property of Young's oil co., July 2021
Looking back towards Addiewell station, July 2021
The North British Distillery Co. began construction of the Muirhall bonded warehouses in 1968. This barrel mountain would not be out of place in a shale oil refinery. July 2021
The farmhouse at Muirhall Mains, once the property of Young's oil Co., July 2021
The sign once read "private road" July 2021