Two potentially explosive items were destroyed in separate controlled explosions on Sunday, 15 October, after they were found in the Union Canal.
The first item was found in the Wester Hailes section of the Union Canal on Sunday morning.
Responding to a report, police cordoned off the area and part of a nearby street before Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers removed the item to Cramond Beach for detonation.
The western part of the beach was cordoned off from the public while the controlled explosion was carried out.
EOD officers have previously used Edinburgh’s north beachfront for controlled explosions, with wartime fire extinguishers detonated on Cramond Beach in 2019 and another unexploded device destroyed at Gypsy Brae in 2021.
In removing the device to the beach, officers minimise the risk to the public and the environment from the explosion.
Police Scotland told STV in a statement that:
“Around 10.05 am on Sunday, 15th October 2023, a report was made to police that an explosive item had been recovered from a canal on Harrison Road, Wester Hailes, Edinburgh.”
“The EOD attended, and the item removed to Cramond Beach for safe detonation.”
A suspected Second World War hand grenade was also found further up the canal in Linlithgow, West Lothian at around 3.50pm on the same day. Emergency services and an EOD team were sent to the site, and the device was destroyed in another controlled explosion. A member of an Edinburgh-based magnet fishing group found the device.
A number of World War II-era weaponry has been found by magnet fishers in the canal in recent years, including a rare rifle in 2022 and a US aircraft machine gun round in 2021. Magnet fishing involves using a strong magnet attached to a rope to retrieve metal items from the water. Fishing in the Union Canal requires permission from Historic Environment Scotland and Scottish Canals.
The magnet fisher who found the suspected grenade told the Edinburgh Evening News that he was “quite surprised to make this discovery.”
“I’ve now found four old military pieces in the past three years.”
“Back in the day the canal was used to take military equipment from Edinburgh to Glasgow…my discoveries maybe fell off the boats transporting them.”
He added that:
“I’m going to get a new magnet and get back out to the canal. Losing my magnet won’t stop me.”
Image: “Cramond Promenade & beach” by Aly1963 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.