Mid Breich Bing

A small and low-lying oil shale bing in West Lothian, Mid Breich Bing lies a quarter-mile (0.5 km) north of the iconic Five Sisters bing, a mile (1.7 km) north northwest of West Calder. The site extends to 4 ha (10 acres) but the bing reaches a height of only 12m (39 feet) above the surrounding countryside, or 145m / 476 feet above sea level. The bing contains burnt shale (or blaes), the waste product remaining after oil was extracted at the Hermand Oil Company's neighbouring Breich Oil Works., which operated between c.1886 and 1903.

The site of the oil works is now occupied by Westwood Caravan Storage Park and a 'graveyard' for disused buses.


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