The Hidden History of Bridgend – The Village born of Shale
If you wander just a few miles east of Linlithgow, you’ll find the village of Bridgend. While it appears as a quiet, modern residential settlement today, the ground beneath your feet tells a much louder story. This was once a frontier of the 19th-century industrial expansion, a place where the landscape was carved and reshaped […]
Roman Camps
The Village settlement of Roman Camps is situated on the East side of West Lothian about Three miles South of Broxburn. It has a small population and a small handful of houses. It also has its own little community centre. The History of Roman Camps It’s still unclear of the exact origins of the village. […]
Pumpherston – The Blueprint of a Boom Town
When we think of the First of the global oil industries, we often think of the sprawling deserts of the Middle East or the dusty plains of Texas. But, for a brief window in the Nineteenth century, the worlds ‘refined oil’ capital was actually located in the cold, windswept lowlands of Scotland. This dominance relied […]
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 […]