The old curling pond in the grounds of Dalhousie Castle, Midlothian, was something I’d noticed while viewing some old online maps of the area and as I was passing this way to look for bricks at the site of Prestonholm mill, I deemed it worth a quick look though did not expect to find very much. Now, the problem with this location is that the area around the curling pond is overgrown with dense rhododendron bushes and it’s very difficult to see or find anything on the ground. However, I did spot a small brick structure, possibly a valve housing and a small pile of moss-covered bricks, which is probably the remains of a small structure adjacent to the curling pond shown in the old maps. Digging into the brick pile and cleaning away decades of moss revealed them all to be early ARNISTON bricks, produced a few miles away at Arniston Coal, Lime & Brick Works, Gorebridge. Always nice to at least find something.
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