Midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, West Lothian has a surprising number of country parks, craggy hills and wildlife havens and is home to several prehistoric burial sites, ruined castles and palaces and stately homes as well as the remains of the Antonine Wall, the Roman Empire's northernmost frontier. Although the area is predominantly rural there were also extensive coal, iron and shale oil mining operations in the 18th and 19th centuries which left behind distinctive red spoil heaps, or bings, as they are known in Scotland, and the Union Canal which linked Falkirk to the capital via some of the county's most impressive aqueducts.
