2013

NT0676 : Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway

taken 10 years ago, near to Old Philpstoun, West Lothian, Scotland

Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
The view from the bridge at Stonecouple, with a train travelling towards Edinburgh. To the right (north) of the railway line is a flooded quarry, its presence betrayed only by the reflections of dead trees. I thought perhaps it was for material for building the railway, but it isn't marked on the 1856 six-inch map, though there is a smaller quarry shown south of the railway here. This quarry is on the 1895 edition of the six-inch map. It is unnamed on both.

Writing in 1922, Henry Mowbray Cadell, in his 'Rocks of West Lothian' says that the Pardovan Sandstone was quarried here, but that the quarry was abandoned and flooded. The sandstone is at least 220 feet thick, and dips westwards at about 25º. The stone is easy to work, but has not proved durable; Cadell says that the NT0077 : Victoria Hall (built in 1888-9), and the gates of Linlithgow Academy, were built of it, but even by Cadell's time, just three decades later, the stonework was crumbling.

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Anne Burgess and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Quarrying, Mining Railways
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Trees [11] · Edinburgh Glasgow Railway [4] · West Lothian [3] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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NT0676, 64 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Anne Burgess   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 29 September, 2013   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 3 October, 2013
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 0676 7672 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:58.4630N 3:29.7366W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 0682 7670
View Direction
West-northwest (about 292 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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