NEWSLETTER No. 2016/3 November 2016 Linlithgow in Autumn Linlithgow Loch, the Palace and St Michael’s Parish Church, as viewed from the road to Bonnytoun Farm on 1 November. The trees looked much greener than usual for the time of year! The fields at this point now form the venue for the annual ‘Party at the Palace’ two-day event.
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NEWSLETTER - Linlithgow · NEWSLETTER No. 2016/3 November 2016 Linlithgow in Autumn Linlithgow Loch, the Palace and St Michael’s Parish Church, as viewed from the road to
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NEWSLETTER No. 2016/3 November 2016
Linlithgow in Autumn
Linlithgow Loch, the Palace and St Michael’s Parish Church, as viewed from the road to
Bonnytoun Farm on 1 November. The trees looked much greener than usual for the
time of year! The fields at this point now form the venue for the annual ‘Party at the
Palace’ two-day event.
Page 2 Linlithgow Civic Trust Newsletter
Contents Chairman’s Report Page
Help Needed with Distribution of Newsletter The Way Forward and the Proposed Change to Charitable Status (SCIO)
Events Programme Burgh Beautiful Receives ‘Outstanding’ Award
A Quarter Century of Local History Planning Report
Burgh Beautiful – News from the Potting Shed! Website and Membership Reports Executive Committee of Linlithgow Civic Trust
Publications from Linlithgow Civic Trust
2
3 4
5 6
8 10
12 15 15
16 Images – Thanks to Neil Barnes, Sybil Cavanagh, Hazel Duguid, Chris Long, Kirsty Leonard,
Ron Smith and Gavin & Averil Stewart for providing, or giving their permission to use, images
in this issue.
Chairman’s Report Chris Long, Chairman What has the Civic Trust been doing recently? Since the summer, members of
the Executive Committee have been involved with the following:
The McCarthy Stone development at Templars Court: letters to McCarthy
Stone have been sent and articles have been submitted to the Linlithgow
Gazette pressing for the early completion of the High Street frontage.
Pedal for Scotland event: letters have been sent to the organisers of this
event and to Police Scotland following concern about the disruption to the
town and offering to be involved in the preparations for next year’s event.
Doors Open Day in October: a small team runs this successful event for
West Lothian Council. (The event was hindered by the clash with the Pedal
for Scotland event on the Sunday.)
Scottish Civic Trust: we’ve liaised with Scottish Civic Trust regarding its
conference, held once again in Linlithgow Burgh Halls. We will be rep-
resented at the event and will be selling our publications and merchandise.
Public Art: we were represented at the council’s recent seminar on public
art held in Livingston. The Trust is working with the Linlithgow Town
Centre Business Improvement District to establish a public art strategy.
Website: the Trust’s website has been updated and training has been
conducted to assist members to update its content.
Planning matters: see David Timperley’s article on page 10.
Newsletter delivery: two members have devised a hand delivery system for the newsletter, saving the Trust £300 per annum.
November 2016 Page 3
Recent front page coverage in the Linlithgow Gazette of issues raised by Linlithgow Civic Trust.
Town Management Group: along with councillors and representatives of
other town groups, we attend crack-of-dawn meetings to discuss, for
example:
o Steps behind County Buildings: following on from a site meeting with
ourselves, Provost Tom Kerr and council officials, we are hoping
that improvements will be made to these steps
o Heritage street lamps: again, we are involved with the changes to the
lamp posts along Station Road and Strawberry Bank
o Monitoring progress with the raising of the stone walls along Royal
Terrace and the platform alterations at Station Road, both of which
are part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme.
Burgh Beautiful: to find out about Burgh Beautiful’s achievements, see the
articles on pages 6 and 12 of this newsletter.
Advent Fair: we are making preparations for the Civic Trust (and Burgh Beautiful) to be actively represented at this annual event in the Burgh Halls.
Help Needed with Distribution of Newsletter Allan Robertson We are looking at setting up a system for hand distribution of local copies of the
Linlithgow Civic Trust Newsletter. The saving in postage each year is in the
order of £300, so it’s well worth doing. We have created a number of
distribution zones around Linlithgow. Each zone involves the delivery to up to a
dozen or so addresses in a particular area, all within easy walking distance. We
are looking for a number of willing volunteers who would be happy to deliver
the newsletters to one or more zones. The Newsletters are published generally
every 3 or 4 months so it is not too onerous a task. If you are willing to assist
A Quarter Century of Local History Sybil Cavanagh, West Lothian Local History Librarian, 1990-2016 I’ve recently retired after just over a quarter of a century in charge of the West
Lothian Local History Library. You might think that twenty-six years is an
unconscionable time to spend on the history of one small county, but I can
honestly say that I’ve only scratched the surface of the subject. And there are
large gaps, not just in my knowledge, but in the written history of West Lothian.
Even Linlithgow, one of Scotland’s ancient burghs, has been relatively under-
studied, with no comprehensive history of the burgh. Perhaps something similar
to the Bathgate Book could be done for Linlithgow – list the topics, recruit
volunteers, allocate topics. It’s a way of covering a large spread of subjects and
timescale, though it has its pitfalls! New Work
On the other hand, what
has pleased me most in
the last twenty-six years
is the increased interest
in local history, the
number of new
publications on the
subject, and new websites
such as ScotlandsPlaces,
Canmore, and the
excellent Scottish Shale
website. But I’d like to
highlight a few obvious
gaps in the published
history of Linlithgow that
might inspire you to put pen to paper, or at least put your spectacles to some
archives, and see what you can bring to light. Gaps
First, anything before about 1700. The West Lothian Archaeological Forum has
done wonderful work with their kite photography in uncovering archaeological
sites, but a tremendous amount of work remains to be done. I gather that there
have been exciting recent discoveries about the Palace. If you didn’t manage to
get tickets to Professor Richard’s Oram’s talk a few months ago, you’ll have a
second chance when he speaks to the West Lothian History and Amenity
Society in April next year. Apparently, according to him, we can ‘throw out
what we thought we knew about the palace’!
Shoemaking was once a staple trade in Linlithgow but relatively little research has been undertaken into the
subject.
November 2016 Page 9 Post 1700, much more work has been done, partly of course because more
records survive. What are needed now are studies based on primary sources –
for example, the registers of sasines (property transactions); kirk session
records, which tell us a great deal not just about church organisation and
discipline, but about how ordinary people lived; heritors’ records for the built
fabric of churches, manses and schools; and poor relief records for a window on
the lives of the poor. These have been little studied, but could tell us a huge
amount. The court and royal aspects of
Linlithgow’s history are reasonably
well covered, but what about the
social and industrial history of the
burgh? For example, there is no
detailed study of shoemaking in
the town: Anne Baillie made a
start by studying the 1841 census
and Alex Adamson continued the
work in the 1851 census. But so
many questions remain
unanswered. Was the skill really
introduced by Cromwell’s troops? What about the 18th century industry?
When and how did the town gain the army contract? Who was the contract
actually awarded to? How did the loss of the contract in 1885 affect the town?
Were the cattle slaughtered here, or were the skins imported?
A great deal of work
remains to be done, and
there is scope for the
dedicated amateur
historian, using records
readily available in
Linlithgow, Edinburgh
and online, to produce
valuable original
research on the burgh.
Above: Photograph and 1856 Ordnance Survey map showing the Rivaldsgreen Tan Works where the ‘Barratt’ houses at Barkhill Road are now situated.
The Civic Trust has commented on the following applications since the last
newsletter: Victoria Hall, High Street, Linlithgow – Shop units and flats
The proposal for this prominent site in the High Street is for a significant retail
development on the ground floor and for 16 flats on four floors above. The top
floor comprises a glass faced penthouse type development set back from the
High Street frontage. The Civic Trust registered an objection on the following
grounds:
That Linlithgow and Linlithgow Bridge are described in the current Local
Plan as having reached the limit of their infrastructure (particularly education
capacity) and therefore are areas of development restraint until, at least,
additional primary and secondary school places are provided.
The High Street top floor elevation is unacceptable because of the height and
glass wall construction of this floor which would be visually out of keeping
with the Conservation status of the High Street.
The glass wall construction of the residences on the 4th floor would
overlook existing residential premises opposite to the detriment of their
privacy.
The facia materials on the rear elevation are out of keeping with the other
buildings in the Conservation Area in that they comprise brick, timber, metal
cladding and aluminium doors and windows.
November 2016 Page 11 Access for commercial vehicles servicing the site, particularly the large retail
area, which is of small supermarket size, is unacceptable in that it would
cause significant congestion in the High Street and would conflict with the
safe operation of the bus stop, taxi rank and pelican crossing all to the
detriment of road safety.
The proposals are an overdevelopment of the site in terms of the size of the
retail floor area and number of residential units.
No vehicular parking has been provided for the residential development and,
despite good access to public transport and the provision of cycle storage,
the inevitable parking demand would have no alternative but to compete
with the current demand for on street parking. The Community Council echoed these reasons in their objections but West
Lothian Council’s Development Management Committee approved the
application on 26 October in accordance with the officers’ recommendation. Wilcoxholm Farm, Edinburgh Road, Linlithgow – Residential Development This application takes the form of a ‘Proposal of Application Notice’ which in
effect is a pre-consultation. The proposals are for the residential development of
a considerable area of agricultural land between Edinburgh Road and the
Edinburgh-Glasgow railway line, on both sides of the Union Canal between
Maidlands and Wilcoxholm Farm. The development of most of this area is
included in the Linlithgow Planning Forum’s ‘Plan for the Future’ of Linlithgow, as
supported by Linlithgow Civic Trust, but with the overriding condition that the
developer should make a substantial contribution to the upgrading of the town’s
infrastructure, mainly transport provisions. SUPPORT CIVIC TRUST & BURGH BEAUTIFUL STALLS AT THE
ADVENT FAIR, SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER, BURGH HALLS Items on sale will include:
Civic Trust publications about Linlithgow (see
back page of Newsletter)
Our celebrated Linlithgow heritage teatowel
Raffle tickets for Burgh Beautiful with the usual
great prizes! (also at stall at The Cross)
Posies, lavender wands, gift tags and small
wreaths produced by Burgh Beautiful volunteers
using ‘home-grown’ dried flowers
Holly balls (as available at stall at The Cross) A lavender wand.
Page 12 Linlithgow Civic Trust Newsletter
Burgh Beautiful – News from the Potting Shed! Shona Robertson As a relatively new volunteer to Burgh Beautiful I have been totally amazed at
the amount of work which takes place behind the scenes to keep our town
looking good. The summer was a particularly busy time tending to all the
blooms in the hanging baskets, planters and flower beds. The efforts of the
group have not gone unnoticed by the local residents who will often stop and
provide words of encouragement to the volunteers.
Eye-catching barrels on Blackness Road. Summer planter at the Burgh Halls. This autumn, Linlithgow’s Burgh Beautiful was delighted to learn that an
“outstanding” award was achieved in the ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ competition
of Keep Scotland Beautiful, as reported on pages 6 and 7 of this newsletter.
The landscaping work at Low Port Primary
School, financed by the Town Management
Group, was completed just in time for the
start of the new term and is looking good.
More informal landscaping work was also
completed over the summer period at
Learmonth Gardens with the Council
upgrading the rear of the area and Burgh
Beautiful taking over all the flower beds.
There has been the recent addition of a
number of new planters around the town,
now all been planted up for the
winter/spring period.
Left: Overflowing with flowers: barrels and hanging baskets at the Star and Garter.
November 2016 Page 13
Burgh Beautiful’s planting at Learmonth Gardens. If you want to sponsor one of these flower beds, please contact us at [email protected]. Various improvements have been made at our Clarendon base. Our garden shed
has had a facelift with a new coat of paint. We were also fortunate to receive a
generous donation of a greenhouse which had to be dismantled and transported
to our base. The site is being prepared for its erection. Many photographs have been taken to capture scenes from the various work
parties and floral displays throughout the seasons. Were you able to identify the
locations in the recent photographic competition within the October issue of the
Black Bitch magazine? Our efforts have also received good recent coverage in
the Linlithgow Gazette in addition to our own website and Facebook page. You may be forgiven if you were to think that the Burgh Beautiful activities
would slow down over autumn and winter… absolutely not! The enthusiasm
continues as the final details for the delivery and distribution of the winter plants
are coordinated. Various work parties assist in the emptying and replanting of
the hanging baskets, while volunteers tend to their own planters or flower beds
ensuring their clearance and preparation for the winter planting schedule. This summer, a variety of flowers and grasses were grown from seed at the
Clarendon base. These were very successful and were cut for drying. Various
workshops have been arranged for volunteers to create a selection of posies,
Some of the BB folk who helped plant up winter hanging baskets one wet October Saturday. lavender wands, gift tags and small wreaths which are to be sold at the Advent
fayre. This will be our next major fund raising event which we hope you will
come along to support on Saturday 26 November. As part of this, we will, as
usual, be making up some of our traditional large holly balls at £25 each – if you
would like one, please contact us as soon as possible at [email protected]. Then there was Neil Barnes who
along with his intrepid friends took
on the triple peaks challenge, Ben
Nevis, Braeriach and Ben Macdui,
and it completed it in under 24
hours. They earned, through
sponsorship, £228.77 for Burgh
Beautiful and a similar sum for St
Peter’s Church new building fund.
Many thanks to Neil. While the enthusiasm never seems to end, it is important to remember that the
achievements outlined above are only possible through the highly valued support
of volunteers, sponsors and donors. While we have been delighted with the
response we have received from our public appeals, we would welcome further
volunteers. Don’t worry if you feel you lack gardening skills, you will have other
Triple Peaks conquered!
November 2016 Page 15 skills which could be used. If you are interested in supporting Burgh Beautiful,
please email: [email protected]. It has been two years since Burgh Beautiful submitted a ‘Beautiful Scotland’ entry
for the whole town; given the ongoing high level of public support through
sponsorships, donations and volunteering, we are beginning to come to the
conclusion that a 2017 entry is well worth considering.
Website and Membership Reports John Aitken, Webmaster and Membership Secretary Membership
Thanks to all those who have renewed their Trust membership. A few
subscriptions are still due and those members will find a reminder enclosed. If
the change to a SCIO goes ahead as planned, all full members of Linlithgow Civic
Trust will automatically become members of the new organisation. Website
Allan Robertson has kindly taken over from me as Webmaster. The new Trust
website is working well and is designed so that convenors and others can edit
their own content. Visit lct.org.uk/lin/ regularly to get the latest updates.
Executive Committee of Linlithgow Civic Trust Chairman Chris Long [email protected] 01506 843461