The Story of Scottish Coal

Scotland has exploited its coal for many hundreds of years, and one of it earliest large-scale uses was for the boiling of sea water in 'salt pans' to produce salt. Salt was such a valuable commodity that it was worth taking the risk to mine under the sea to find the coal that was needed to fuel the furnaces of the salt pans. Here at Preston Island, which is situated in the mouth of the River Forth to the northwest of Edinburgh, the remains of an early 19th century coal mine and salt pans can still be seen. In recent years, the island has been reconnected with the mainland by land reclamation using ash from the local coal-burning power station at Longannet.