On the A701 lies Penicuik (pronounced 'Pennycook despite its spelling), a town in Midlothian, Scotland with a population of around 15,700. Situated between Edinburgh and Peebles, the settlement was built as a planned village in 1770 by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik, coming to be a burgh in 1867. Its initial local industry were its widely known paper mills, with the last of these shutting down in 2004. The town name, Penicuik, is stemmed from 'Pen Y Cog', meaning specifically, 'Hill of the Cuckoo' in Ancient British. The small town does have its worldwide links, and is twinned with the town of L'îsle-sur-la-Sourge in France. The first instance of the mention of the town was in 1296. Thomas Rymer's text Foedera speaks of a 'Walter Edgar a person Penicok south of Edenburgh', and is what the town's name evolved from and into today's spelling. Pennycook, another step on the ladder of Penicuik's spelling evolution, appears on John Adair's map from 1862. Nevertheless, in the background of the town itself, full expansion began when the Cowan family arrived around 1770, and brought the industry of their paper mill. This brought the requirement for homes for employees, causing general population increasing to 1,700 by 1800. Penicuik was also used as the site of a prison camp for soldiers from the French Napoleonic wars, however in our present day, it is currently the site of a housing development. Nevertheless, a monolith dated back to 1830 pays tribute to the 309 detainees who died there during the years 1811-1814. For all of your home upgrades, make sure to make use of credible professionals in Penicuik to make certain of quality.