IT would be all too easy to class Penicuik as one of the many towns across Scotland that could be described as post-industrial, but that would be to diminish a place that has a fascinating history and a population of 16,000 that is nothing if not resilient.
They have had to be. The paper mills and mines that provided employment for so many Penicuik people down the decades were all gone by the early 2000s, and while in some ways it has become a commuter town serving Edinburgh, Penicuik is no sleepy hollow. Instead it is a community that is economically challenged but progressing on many fronts.
It was paper that made Penicuik, the biggest town in Midlothian. The name derives from Pen y Cog, meaning hill of the cuckoo, and the original hamlet was first mentioned in the 13th century.
Paper production began in the early years of the 18th century and local landowner Sir John Clerk, who built the magnificent Penicuik House that is preserved as a ruin, was behind the laying out of the model town – said to be based on Edinburgh’s New Town plan – in the 1770s.
By then Penicuik was pre-eminent in paper production and continued to be so into the 20th century, while local coal mines soon provided plenty of employment – and tragedy, too, the 1889 disaster at Mauricewood Pit on the edge of the town claiming 63 lives. The town’s history is celebrated each year by the festivities associated with the Penicuik Hunter and Lass, modelled on the traditional Borders Common Ridings.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here