Barrencraig Wood

View south towards Swineburn Wood.

Looking west.

The M9, Edinburgh to Stirling motorway, runs for approximately 30 miles in a roughly north-westly direction with two lanes each way for most of its length. It starts at Newbridge on the outskirts of Edinburgh and bypasses the towns of Linlithgow, Falkirk, Grangemouth and Stirling before ending at a roundabout on the A9 at Dunblane. A short dual carriageway spur runs from the M9 to the Forth Road Bridge at South Queensferry. The M9 and A9 together form the major trunk route from Scotland's capital city to the far north of the highlands. Link Chris's British Road Directory

The trackbed of an electrified railway network serving oil shale mines.

This obviously isn't the sharpest of images, having been taken ten minutes or so after sunset, but due to the fact that this bridge may not be here for much longer, I think it is worth putting online nonetheless. Of course the bridge might stay, but it is hard to know what will happen what with Winchburgh's neverending expansion - the fields on both sides of the railway are earmarked for development shortly. Nobody local can say it has caught them by surprise as there is mention of proposals for 10,000 new houses to be added to the former large village alongside a shot of this area in a picture on this site uploaded in 2009. I only pass through this way every few months or so though, and always find the pace of development quite startling - Winchburgh might even be bidding for city status in a decade's time! The name of the bridge caught my eye. I checked old maps but couldn't find anything called 'Armours' in the vicinity. Further investigation though, brought to light a Mr John Armour, who lived at Niddry Mains House - which sits about a third of a mile SouthWest of the bridge - in the late 1800s. He was managing director of Hermand Oil Company, a fairly big player in the shale mining boom at that time. They didn't have many mines or pits around this area though; their workings were mainly in the Livingston and West Calder area. It seems likely that the Armour family were here for a while before this, but I only base this on the fact that an Alexander Armour was one of the great and good consulted on the spellings used on the initial 1850s maps of the local area. The always informative Scottish Shale Mining website mentions that John Armour previously worked in a more junior position at a mine in Ayrshire, so it is hard to say whether he was there to gain experience, or originally hailed from there. Armours do though get regular name-checks as obviously very important people in the area in local newspapers well into the 1900s (two are also listed in the fallen on the Winchburgh cenotaph), so I am confident that the bridge is named after the family. But as to why I have no idea!

This castle has been being renovated for about 20 years and still has a lot of work to be completed

The embankment to the right, becoming a cutting in the middle distance as the field rises, is shown on mid-20th century O.S. maps as an electric tramway. It was actually an industrial line of 2ft 6in (760mm) gauge and linked shale mines between Newton and Hopetoun with an oil works at Winchburgh. The pinkish bing (waste heap) of the rock from which the oil has been distilled is in the left background. The small electric locomotives that transported the trucks of ore from the mines to the works had a trolley pole on the roof and took their power from an overhead wire.

With the Pentland Hills in the distance, and the M90 middle right, just in front of one of the famous West Lothian shale bings.

A farm once upon a time, I suspect, but possibly more residential now.

The sign directs anglers to the Hopetoun Fishery, a flooded quarry referred to as Paddy Higgins Quarry by locals.

Looking from the roadside by Duntarvie Castle towards Hopetoun Fishery hidden behind the trees in the middle distance and the snow-clad Pentland Hills beyond.

The afternoon 'Forth Circular' steam enthusiasts excursion has just left the Glasgow to Edinburgh main line at Winchburgh Junction and is heading for Dalmeny at the approach to the Forth Rail Bridge.

Looking east across the fields. The line of trees at the far side marks the route of a former railway line.

This old flooded quarry is known locally as Paddy Higgins Quarry and has a sinister past. In 1911 two young boys were tied together and drowned by their father, Patrick Higgins. The bodies were found in 1913 and later that year Patrick Higgins was hanged for murder at Calton Jail in Edinburgh. These days the water is a popular fishery.

The track is the trackbed of an early 20th century tramway which served the oil shale mines around Newton.