If you explore Roslin Glen Country Park you might be surprised to find, hidden in the woods, the remnants of an old factory at odds with its rural surroundings.
With Bonfire Night on the horizon and the annual debate about selling fireworks raging once again, it's easy to forget that once, gunpowder used to have a far bigger importance to the city than the end of the Festival, Hogmanay and the 5th of November.
For 150 years, Roslin's gunpowder mill was the main source of employment for the region. Now its ruins are only visited by families and dog walkers.
Now just a cluster of ruined buildings and brick walls, this used to be the largest gunpowder factory in Scotland. The gunpowder produced by the mill was exported from Edinburgh's ports across the globe.
Old images of the site show a waterwheel that the nearby River Esk would have powered when it first opened in 1801, but -like most of the original structure - this is no longer standing.
As production expanded and technology moved on, steam power was introduced as well.
Most of the buildings were built into the hillside surrounding the steep valley to avoid an explosion causing extensive damage and setting off a chain reaction that would have potentially put the entire mill in jeopardy.
This way, the effects of explosion would go up rather than out, limiting the spread of debris.
Despite the architects' best efforts, however, accidents did occur. But as the mill was one of the largest employers for the area, many families took their chances and were employed there.
The gunpowder had two main uses - for the burgeoning mining industry and for munitions, and supplied explosives to some of the biggest battles of the 19th and 20th centuries from the Napoleonic Wars to World War Two, where it was staffed entirely by women while their husbands were fighting.
However production came to an end not long after the war, and the Forestry Commission took over the site before passing it onto Midlothian Council in the 1970s.
Because many of the buildings were considered safety hazards, they were demolished with only a handful of ruins remaining.
The smell of cordite that used to linger in the valley has been replaced by the wild garlic that grows there, and the place that used to provide employment for the area now offers a tranquil place to escape from the modern world.
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