Bridge number 30 near Winchburgh is on the Union Canal which was opened in 1822 linking Edinburgh to Glasgow via the Forth and Clyde Canal.  Originally it was used for transporting coal and other minerals before competition from the railways caused it to close to commercial use in the 1930s. More recently, in common with many other canals, it has been cleared and reopened and is now used by boats, walkers and cyclists.   Nearby is Niddry Castle. (Extra)
Another of my occasional Mary Queen of Scots series    ……..    
Mary stayed for a couple of nights at Niddry Castle after she had managed to escape from Loch Leven Castle and before heading west and defeat at the Battle of Langside then her subsequent flight to England and imprisonment by Queen Elizabeth.
When the castle was built it would have had a different outlook with no adjacent shale bing.  It was on the important trading route between Edinburgh Castle, the royal Palace of Linlithgow and Stirling Castle and not far from the ferry crossing on the Forth.   Eventually it was abandoned and left in ruins until restoration began about thirty years ago and is now a private residence.

Number 23 of my links to places associated with Mary Queen of Scots.

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