Greendyke Shale Bing

Day trip to Ayelsbury and on my flight down I saw one of the shale bings of West Lothian out the window so blipped it as they are an unusual sight in the relatively flat area. This is I think the largest shale bing in the area. These unique red heaps are clearly visible to both road and rail travellers between Glasgow and Edinburgh and also to me by plane today.

They are large heaps of spoil, between 30 and 90 metres high and are the result of the waste material from an industrial process to retort crude oil  from deep mined oil-bearing shale.  West Lothian is possibly the only place in the UK Shale bings are found. There are 19 bings still existing but work ceased in 1962.