Balerno is a residential area of Edinburgh, Scotland positioned 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, indicating "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 development to the location, with several brand-new flax, snuff and paper mills springing up around the Water of Leith and its tributary, the Bavelaw Burn (proof of flax manufacturing can be seen in Harlaw Woods). The largest 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 home structure began in earnest in the area as well as since then household pressures have virtually overloaded industrial as well as commercial ones. There was a short loop train running over what is currently the Water of Leith Walkway.