River Almond, Lothian

River in Scotland

The River Almond (Abhainn Amain) is a river in Lothian, Scotland. It is approximately 28 miles (45 km) long, rising at Hirst Hill in Lanarkshire near Shotts, running through West Lothian and draining into the Firth of Forth at Cramond, Edinburgh. The name Almond/Amon is simply old Celtic for "river".

Running through areas that were dominated for much of the 20th century by heavy industry and shale and coal mining, the River Almond has long been notorious for its high levels of pollution. With the demise of mining and heavy industry in Central Scotland, the river became cleaner, and it is being actively repopulated by wildlife: there is a healthy population of brown trout and there are improving runs of both Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and sea trout (Salmo trutta). There is also a good array of birds to be seen around the river banks, including dippers, kingfishers and grey herons, and increasing numbers of otters are being reported. The river is still the primary means by which southern West Lothian's wastewater is transported to the sea. Although the introduction of a number of water treatment plants have helped to mitigate the river’s pollution, it still suffers from high levels of detergent pollution and run off from agricultural land. This has caused it to often have what has been described as a distinct "chemical odour". This odour is most noticeable in the part of the river that runs through Almondell and Calderwood Country Park, where there is a major outfall from the nearby East Calder treatment plant. Fishing on the lower Almond is leased from the Crown Estate by Cramond Angling Club, with both Day and Season Tickets available. The mouth of the Almond at Cramond formerly had a small passenger ferry. In 1997, the ferryman discovered the Cramond Lioness, a Roman era sculpture, in the mud of the river bed. The sculpture is now in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The river begins its journey at Hirst Hill near Shotts Lanarkshire and runs past Seafield towards Kirkton and then through the centre of Livingston before travelling through Almondell and Calderwood Country Park where it picks up the Calder and Murieston waters. The industrial heritage of central Scotland can be observed along the length of the river with numerous weirs, remains of mills and other riverside industries of the past.