Balerno is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated 8 miles (13 kilometres) south-west of the city centre, beside Currie and after that Juniper Green. Administratively, Balerno drops within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. Its name originates from the Scottish Gaelic Baile Àirneach, meaning "townland/town of the hawthorns". The earliest written documents of Balhernoch or Balernach are discovered in the late 13th century. The 18th Century brought significant growth to the area, with numerous brand-new flax, snuff and paper mills emerging around the Water of Leith and its tributary, the Bavelaw Burn (proof of flax manufacturing can be seen in Harlaw Woods). The biggest of these mills, Balerno Bank Paper Mill located near the centre of the old village enclosed the very early 1980s. After the First World War residence building started in earnest in the area and ever since residential stress have nearly overwhelmed commercial and industrial ones. There was a brief loop railway running over what is now the Water of Leith Walkway.