Winchburgh Water

One of the features I like about Winchburgh is the water. The Edinburgh-Falkirk canal runs through the village, and there are several burns that run down beside the houses.

Last week I finally managed to get a good view of the biggest water feature in the village. It's the old clay pit, as you can see above.

The clay was used to make bricks, and hundreds of thousands of bricks used to be shipped out to the growing towns in the Forth-Clyde valley along the canal, which runs nearby. The old railway station lies close to the far side of the water, but I don't think the bricks were ever shipped by rail.

In England many of the clay pits have been turned into water sports centres, or into wildlife reserves. The Winchburgh clay pit seems to be lying abandoned. It's a pity, because it could be a great attraction for the village.

In it's current condition, the flooded clay pit is rather a dangerous place, with steep drops into the deep water, and only a few small sloping edges where someone could get themselves out of the water. I'm surprised there are no warning signs or safety barriers. Perhaps there haven't been enough serious accidents for these to be erected.

But for the careful onlooker, it's a very peaceful, quiet, patch of water, with ducks, moorhens, and coots, paddling about. There's a coot in the photo above, if you look hard!

I'll be back in the summer to enjoy the view when the sun is shining. In the meantime, I hope you like the two photos here.