Black Gold : The First Railway in Scotland Traditional Cache
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Karen
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Black Gold : The First Railway in Scotland
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The East Lothian town of Tranent has it's history steeped in coal mining. It is believed by some to have been host to the first industrial coal mining in Great Britain when the Lord of Tranent gave over lands to the monks of Newbattle Abbey in the 13th century.
In 1722 a wagonway was constructed by the York Buildings Company to transport coal from to Tranent to Cockenzie harbour for export. The first incarnation was a very primitive affair with rails constructed of wood.
The railway took a gentle downhill route from Tranent, via the Heugh, to Cockenzie Harbour. Each wagon, carrying a load of coal would be pullled down the slope by gravity and controlled by a brakeman to the bottom of the hill where horses would be used to pull the empty wagons back up the hill, three at a time.
Use of the railway was temporarily disrupted by the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745 when Johnny Cope's forces lined up again those of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
In 1815 the wooden rails were replaced with iron, these new wagons could carry up to two tons of coal per trip.
A lot of the route can still be followed down the Heugh and there are plans to reconstruct parts of the railway. The area now occupied by Meadowmill Sports Centre, Bowling Club and playing fields was once a coal mine - the large pyramid-styled hill was a bing/overburden that is now used as a view point of the Battle of Prestonpans battlefield - and until recently had a ski-slope on the southern side.
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haqre pbapergr
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