The Story of Scottish Coal

One of the biggest consumers of Scotland's coal was the gas industry. Every city and most towns had a gas works, within which coal was baked in ovens to produce gas, also producing coke as a bi-product. The gas was initially used for street lighting, but eventually was widely consumed in many industries, and in houses both for cooking and heating purposes. From the 1970s, natural gas from the North Sea was brought by pipelines to mainland Britain, and after the biggest field, 'Frigg' came into production in 1976, coal gas was rapidly replaced. Within ten years, all town gas works had ceased to operate.
This gas works was one of the biggest in Scotland, and is situated at Granton in Edinburgh. The two tall gas holders and all the buildings were recently demolished, leaving only the old middle gas holder as a monument.