Land Use Around Ormiston
Reviewed by Admin on Jul 3
Rating:
Agriculture was a prominent use of land until the unearthing of coal, nowadays, agriculture has reverted to being the most common land use.
As mining methods improved, coal was extracted from the surrounding seams around the village. The village changed in size and character and many new houses were built. The Miners Welfare Institute was built in the village and is still in use today. Mining occurred from the middle 1800’s until the mid 1900’s.
As mining developed the local Railway Company formed and rail travel was a useful means of transport between the villages and the City of Edinburgh. Passenger traffic stopped long before goods traffic. Goods traffic was still feasible and two trains ran in both directions every week day carrying agricultural produce mainly northward. The line below the junction on the railway up from the Station to the northeast of the village carried coal from the Limeylands and Tynemount pits. Three coal trains ran daily carrying about a hundred wagons of “dross” (fine coal particles) to destinations in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The former railway is now a walkway and cycleway.
