Balerno
Balerno is a suburban area of Edinburgh, Scotland located 8 miles (13 kilometres) south-west of the city centre, alongside Currie and afterwards Juniper Green. Administratively, Balerno falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. Its name stems from the Scottish Gaelic Baile Àirneach, suggesting "townland/town of the hawthorns". The earliest written documents of Balhernoch or Balernach are found in the late 13th century. The 18th Century brought considerable advancement to the location, with several new flax, snuff as well as paper mills springing up around the Water of Leith as well as its tributary, the Bavelaw Burn (evidence of flax production can be seen in Harlaw Woods). The largest of these mills, Balerno Bank Paper Mill situated near the centre of the old village closed in the very early 1980s. After the First World War house structure began in earnest in the location and ever since household pressures have practically overloaded commercial and industrial ones. There was a brief loophole railway running over what is now the Water of Leith Walkway.
