The only sound here now is traffic passing close by and birds flying among the rusty machinery and remaining ruins. For well over several hundred years Prestongrange would have been very noisy with intense industrial activities of various sorts.  In the background is a beam engine which pumped water out of the deep coal mine and a steam crane or excavator with some of the wagons which carried coal.  Coal had been mined in the area by monks from Newbattle Abbey since the 12th century until the early 1960s and other industries on the site were glass works, pottery and a huge brick making kiln.  The site is now an open air museum  and the adjacent harbour at Morrison’s Haven which was very busy has been filled in and now is a popular place for walkers.