Aerial view of Big Pit and Coity Tips, 1973.
The Coity Tip is the former colliery spoil heap for Big Pit. Waste material brought from underground when the coal was mined was tipped onto the landscape over a long period, forming these artificial hills.
After the tipping stopped, nature began to reclaim the land and many plants and secies colonised the area. The Coity Tip today is a haven of biodiversity, with a nature trail walk, popular with visitors.