THE small town of Kilsyth lies under the Kilsyth hills, in the central rift valley of Lowland Scotland. For centuries it lay within the county of Stirling, but since 1996 has been in the local authority area of North Lanarkshire.
It was a small settlement until the late 19th century, when it became an important centre for coal-mining, an industry which lasted until the late 1960s.