East Calder

Settlement in Midlothian

Scotland

East Calder

Cottage at Kirknewton In need of further attention - considerable deterioration in three years - see <a href="https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1049885">NT1067 : Cottage in need of attention</a> for comparison. — Cottage at Kirknewton Credit: M J Richardson

East Calder is a small village located in the county of Midlothian, Scotland. Situated approximately 10 miles west of Edinburgh, it is part of the West Lothian council area. The village is nestled between the A71 road and the River Almond, providing easy access to both the capital city and the picturesque countryside.

East Calder is a historic village with a rich heritage dating back to the 12th century. It was primarily an agricultural community, but has seen significant development and expansion in recent years. The village now offers a mix of traditional and modern residential properties, attracting families and commuters alike.

The heart of East Calder is its town center, which features a range of amenities including local shops, cafes, and restaurants. There is also a primary school, a library, and a community center, providing essential services and facilities for residents.

For outdoor enthusiasts, East Calder boasts beautiful natural surroundings. The River Almond and nearby Almondell and Calderwood Country Park offer opportunities for walking, cycling, and enjoying the scenic landscapes. The village also benefits from excellent transport links, with regular bus services connecting to nearby towns and cities.

East Calder is a close-knit community with a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. The village hosts various events throughout the year, including a popular summer gala day, which brings the community together.

In summary, East Calder is a charming village with a mix of historical and modern features. With its convenient location, stunning natural surroundings, and strong sense of community, it offers an attractive place to live or visit.

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East Calder Images

Images are sourced within 2km of 55.896141/-3.462137 or Grid Reference NT0867. Thanks to Geograph Open Source API. All images are credited.

Cottage at Kirknewton

In need of further attention - considerable deterioration in three years - see NT1067 : Cottage in need of attention for comparison.

M J Richardson

Midcalder Station and level crossing - 1978

At Kirknewton, and now known as Kirknewton Station, on the Edinburgh-Carstairs and Glasgow Central line. The nearest modern image is that of Michael Ely in 2010 NT1067 : Level crossing, Kirknewton station. The photo was one of a series taken to obtain a cub scout's 'photographer' badge, on the theme of transport.

Andrew Richardson

Train crossing Station Road at Kirknewton

Darrin Antrobus

Train crossing at Kirknewton station

Darrin Antrobus

Hillside at Kirknewton

Darrin Antrobus

Power line near Bonnington

A 132kV line heading NW towards Broxburn.

Jim Barton

Arable land, Camps

Richard Webb

Power line crosses Clifton Road

Richard Webb

Park off Redcraig Road

Richard Webb

Oakbank Bowling Club

Now out near the end of a 'No Through Road' this green served a shale mining village

Jim Smillie

On the green

Saturday afternoon competition at Oakbank Bowling Club

Jim Smillie

Undulating stubble field towards East Calder

JThomas

Park Avenue, East Calder

Park Avenue is a very short dead-end street, though there is one of those triangular metal gates designed to stop vehicles at the end of it. The gate leads to the park. All the white walls are on the backs of houses whose official addresses are Main Street, although only the houses on the far left of the picture are actually on it. The terraced row occupying the bulk of the picture is made up of five houses - 49 to 57 Main Street - and they can be accessed through a gap past the hedge at the end, or further along the main road. I had a nose, as I seem to have developed a thing lately about jumbled up old houses just off main roads, and was pleased to see there was the obligatory mysteriously large old brick outbuilding there too. According to the maps the terraced houses, along with their square jutty-out bits, were built at some point between 1893 and 1905.

Ian Dodds

United Presbyterian Church, Midcalder

As seen in Winter 1973/4 when it was disused and semi-derelict. In May 1854 it replaced the original 1765 church on the site, which was becoming unsafe. It was subsequently demolished and the stone used to build a new house that incorporated a cottage on Pumpherston Road, which had been a post-medieval Toll House.

M J Richardson

Some Modern Archeology

This place has a slightly eerie feel to it, but is unconnected with the demolished old mining village of Oakbank - the former main road of Oakbank runs parallel to this track and is now a footpath leading to a dead-end road. There used to be a large poultry farm here. I can only assume that the exposed tarmac is down to people walking their dogs through the centre of the site, as underneath the moss and grass there is tarmac too. I haven't done any major research, but think the farm ceased to be 10 to 15 years ago, possibly due to laws on chicken farming becoming more stringent around that time. It is described online as having been a broiler farm. 'Broil' is American English for 'grill'. I suppose language evolves over time, especially in the melting pot of America, and original meanings get lost, but with regard to chickens here, broilers are chickens raised for their meat as opposed to their eggs. There are about two and half chickens to every person in Scotland, a far higher ratio than for any other farmed animal. And one online newspaper article says that 300 chickens are killed for every one cow for our diet at present. Food for thought.

Ian Dodds

A Swale

This is a swale. The definition of a swale, when requested from the internet, almost always gives a definition like : 'a low or hollow place, especially a marshy depression between ridges'. The only time I have ever come across the word though, is to describe a man-made thing, which mitigates flooding. They are kind of budget balancing ponds. In urban settings the water that gathers in them always gets directed straight into drains. In settings like this (a recently built cemetery) what happens to the water is not so clear. I think it just gathers in the dip and slowly infiltrates into the ground below, so as to avoid flooding issues created by high water runoff during heavy downpours. The picture is a bit of an optical illusion. Whilst it looks like the low trees are growing out of the lowest ground they are not. The ground is actually lower to the left amongst the tall grass. It wasn't actually that wet in there, but in horse-racing terms the going would be described as soft.

Ian Dodds

A Baby Burial Ground

This is an area of the new Almondell Cemetery, at the East end of East Calder, reserved for, as far as I can gather, miscarried and stillborn babies. The bench in the picture was donated by a charity called Sands, which stands for 'Stillborn And Neonatal DeathS' I think, or at least something very similar. The reason I think it must also cover miscarriages is that their online guidance talks about ashes from very young unborn babies - for some reason 17 weeks is a cut-off point, presumably because on average bones don't become bones as we know them until this point. Until walking around the new cemetery today I had never really thought in depth about such things, but I'm wondering if it is a designated area due to the fact that that, officially, a person cannot be declared to be dead if they have never lived. If so, it seems to me a very good development. Whilst there were only two gravestones in this area when I visited, there were only about 40 'normal' graves in other areas, which provides a sobering remunder of how widespread this occurrence and the resulting heartache is.

Ian Dodds

A Bridge amongst Bridges

These must be fairly rare, considering how many bridges there actually are in Britain. Not only does it transport water across a small river, you can also walk across it too - planks have been put down above the water. This is officially called the 'Canal Feeder Bridge'. About a mile upstream water is diverted from the River Almond. It continues its journey from there to the canal by way of this bridge, often running almost parallel to the river. In order to maintain their required water levels, canals have both feeders and overflows. There are several contributors to this site who are canal experts; I am not one of them. So I am not sure if the fact that this canal feeder meets the canal within a hunded yards or so of its overflow is designed, unusual, or irrelevant. The overflow flows back into this same river on an impressively high aquaeduct, and there is a famous old picture of the waterfall having turned to ice in a distant bad winter.

Ian Dodds

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East Calder is located at Grid Ref: NT0867 (Lat: 55.896141, Lng: -3.462137)

Unitary Authority: West Lothian

Police Authority: The Lothians and Scottish Borders