A Walk Up The Binn at Burntisland
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- A short hill-walk in Fife close to the town of Burntisland. The trek to the top of The Binn offers awesome views over the Firth of Forth and across the water to Edinburgh and the Pentland Hills. The Binn is only 191 metres high, but views of the surrounding land and water are out of this world, making this a little hike that will blow those cranial cobwebs away.
On the eastern side of The Binn are the remains of an abandoned village: Binnend. Binnend was linked to the Scottish shale oil industry, an industry that only lasted several decades in this area, from the 1880s to the beginning of the twentieth century. The village was created to provide a workforce for the shale oil works, but when the works closed down there was no reason for the village to exist, and over the years it gradually became abandoned.
The population of Binnend - sometimes referred to as High Bin - was over 500, while the nearby village of Low Bin, sitting on the east side of the oil works, was almost 200, so this was a sizeable settlement, complete with rows of stone-built housing, a school, mission-hall, football ground, and a couple of shops.
Nothing now remains of Binnend, other than a few stones and bits of wall in an overgrown woodland. It is one of many of Scotland's lost and abandoned villages, a casualty, like the many lost coal-mining villages, of the decline in Scottish industry.
Thanks for the video. I've lived in Canada for 50 years and I doubt I'll ever get up the Binn again but I played up there lots as a kid in the 1950s. I Particularly remember an old bomb shelter in the Binn village that we used to play in. It was deserted even then but the trees weren't that high yet. The village was mostly covered in "bomb site weed". As you say, the view from the top is spectacular and changes every couple of minutes.
A trip to Burntisland isn't complete without a trip to the chippy.
55 now but in my younger days loved going to the carnival in burnt island ❤
Great Music and video Eddy, and a nice piece of history too. I climbed up that hill when I was on holiday there around 1966. Don't remember a particular route but got to the top somehow, it stuck in my mind. I fancy doing it again now 57 years later, I reckon I can, and your encouragement is a help as you say ( and show) how nice it is up there.
Great views for such a little hill. The Landranger Ordnance Survey maps are always a good way of figuring out paths and things in the area. You can buy one in most outdoor shops. Burntisland creeps into the top right of OS Landranger number 66.
Great presentation……good views of an Edinburgh….distance lends enchantment 😊
Cheers Jim.
Beautiful scenery and I like your way telling stories.
Thanks.
Should have called this one 'The Binn at Burntisland & the Obliterated Quiche'! hahaha
Thanks Ed.
Went up walked The Binn last year on a particularly windy day and thoroughly enjoyed it. As you say, the views are tremendous.
Absolutely. Great views for such a small walk.
Thanks
Many thanks Colin.
Very good Ed, very professional. The big red hills are called Bings. If u fancy a pint in stumps o'er Christmas period, girl's a shout. In Saudi right noo, live in Renfra
Cheers Douglas.
Cracking video Ed have you been walkabout at whitelees wind farm some walking paths to explore cheers for now 🏴
Cheers Robert. I'll bear Whitelees in mind. I actually walked through that area when I walked out of Glasgow on a big adventure decades ago.
Very nice trip Eddy. Especially the ending with the overlay. I enjoy your perspectives, with each video being delightfully unique. Happy Holidays. Lynn
Thanks Lynn. I wasn't sure where exactly I was in the abandoned village, but just by sheer luck I think I was right where the old image shows - there's an old wall or boundary on the left that lines up pretty well.
Interesting. There was a Highland regiment that mutinied in 19th century and they camped out on the Binns until they negotiated. The ferry to Edinburgh was via Burntisland I believe.
The shale oil industry really centred on West Lothian rather than Fife - it lasted until the 1950s here (and the shale refining process was invented in Bathgate by John "Paraffin" Young). The bings (the piles of shale waste) are returning to nature now, and are registered industrial monuments. I climbed Philpston Bing during the lockdown, and was pleasantly surprised to find the summit was covered in wild strawberries.
We also have the Shale Trail, which is a walking route between West Calder and Winchburgh, which passes the shapely Five Sisters bing.
Incidentally, the word "bing" and the word "binn" (as in "The Binn") are both derived from the Gaelic word "beinn", meaning "hill". Cartographers, working under General Roy in the 18th century, anglicised the word as "Ben". Depending on whether the cartographer was sympathetic to the local Gaelic speaking population, the names of hills were rendered as either "Ben" or "Beinn". But I digress...
Thanks for that Dougie; interesting stuff. I may check out that Shale Trail.
@@EdExploresScotland Do. It's right up your street, I reckon.
@@EdExploresScotland what's more, the industry is still here. The various shale refineries were run by Scottish Oils. As the refineries became untenable, Scottish Oils chose to focus on just one, at Grangemouth, initially importing and refining crude oil from the Middle East before taking full advantage of the discovery of North Sea Oil. The experienced local workforce were crucial in the switch from shale oil to crude oil. As you are well aware, the refinery at Grangemouth is still there to this day.
Thanks again Dougie.
Hi Ed, great views from the top of the Binn, my father was a fifer so I've passed through Burntisland many a time. But I was always on my way to Kirkcaldy or Windygates, so never stopped to explore. On a side note, how much does it cost to feed those three big dugs at the start of the video.
Tremendous views indeed. Yes, that's going to be quite a lot of dog food!
@@EdExploresScotland 😂
What was the name of the bakers, sounds like they are worth a visit too next time I'm in Burntisland 😋
It's the Sunrise Bakehouse. I understand they may only open on certain days, possibly just Thursday, Friday and Saturday, not all week, but definitely worth checking out. The constant queue is a good indicator of the quality of their wares.
A nuther great video Ed love Burntisland was there in August and i agree about that bakery. If you are there again and fancy fish & chips check out the Links fish bar next to the Golf tavern on Links place best in Fife by far. I think i need to do that walk up the binn next year. By the way did you get a lighter tripod?.
Many thanks. Someone else mentioned the Links fish bar - wish I'd known at the time; could've murdered a good battered fish. I've now got a Manfrotto tripod; it's lighter than yon Kenro monster, but heavier than my original Velbon, and it's a seriously good tripod. I'm struggling a little with the ball-head as my camera doesn't have an inbuilt horizon or levelling system, so getting things straight's a bit of a nightmare.
@@EdExploresScotland May be a hot shoe spirit level is what you need Ed from Amazon.
Absolutely. I have a cheap bubble level, but I'm not convinced it's sitting straight on the camera.
@@EdExploresScotland Ok its the one thing every camera should have a horizon level and should have standard for years not even pro cams have it madness if you ask me.🤥
Hi Ed hows it going. Just been up the Binn today. U still jammin. Gimme a shout if ur up this way
Cheers Jim.