The Hanging of Paddy Higgins for Infanticide in Winchburgh
In this weeks Historic Crime story, we’re gonna take a look at a case of a crime that happened in the West Lothian Town of Winchburgh and the Hanging of a man from that town named Paddy Higgins. This a story not just about murder, but of Neglect, cruelty and a search for Justice that […]
The Highland and Lowland Clearances – Which Impacted more
So, most of us are well aware of the Highland Clearances. A dispersing of the Scottish Highland Clans with the eviction and evacuation of hundreds of the Glens that were their homes. These 19th century clearances left the highlands a vast unpopulated land mass. However, It’s far less often, if ever, that we her about […]
Burngrange
The village of Burngrange on the South East side of West Lothian was One of the areas many ‘Ghost Villages’. ‘Lost Villages’ that sprang up in the Nineteenth century but are long gone now. Sadly, the Village of Burngrange is probably best known for its mining disaster. The Burngrange mining disaster happened on the 6th […]
Woodend – The Lost Village near Armadale
If you have a look at West Lothian’s colourful history, you will see that the area has over Twenty ‘Lost Villages’. These were originally miners settlements constructed by the Nineteenth Century Mining and Oil companies to house their fast growing workforce during the ‘Black Gold’ rush of the Nineteenth Centuries Industrial Revolution. Amongst these lost […]
Gavieside – The Village That Vanished without a Trace
Gavieside is One of West Lothians Lost Villages near Polbeth. It was built in 1863 to house the workers of the shale mine of the same name. The village was abandoned in 1939 after the sudden decline of Shale mining due to foreign production taking over. Gavieside – The Village That Vanished Without a Trace […]
Westfield – From Bustling Industrial Town to a Tiny Village
On the far North West corner of west Lothian, you will find the village of Westfield. A tiny unassuming looking settlement. Westfield looks like the sort of place where nothing exiting has ever happened. Like somewhere that has always just been a tiny little dot on the map. But looks can be deceiving. Although the […]
Seafield
On the Western edges of Red West Lothian, just before it meets the Black, up on the ridge that overlooks the Almond valley, sits the little village of Seafield. Seafield This was a village that was initially built as One of West Lothians many ‘Company Villages’ of Miners Rows. These were usually One or Two […]
The Lost Village of East Benhar
Polkemmet Moor has always been a place that has been dear to me ever since I was a Child back in the 1980s. It’s a place where, despite the dire warnings about the dangers by the adults, I was always fascinated with the place and loved to explore it. This was due to the areas […]