West Calder

Settlement in Midlothian

Scotland

West Calder

West Calder is a small town located in the county of Midlothian, Scotland. Situated approximately 16 miles west of Edinburgh, it lies on the southern bank of the River Almond. The town is well-connected to other nearby areas, with the A71 road passing through, providing easy access to Livingston, Bathgate, and other parts of central Scotland.

West Calder has a rich history, dating back to at least the 12th century. The town was originally a farming community, but with the growth of nearby coal mines in the 19th century, it quickly developed into a mining town. However, the decline of the coal industry in the 20th century led to economic challenges for the town.

Today, West Calder is a thriving community with a population of around 3,500 residents. The town offers a range of amenities and services to cater to the needs of its residents, including shops, supermarkets, schools, and healthcare facilities. There are also several parks and green spaces in the area, providing opportunities for outdoor activities and recreation.

West Calder is known for its strong sense of community, with various local groups and organizations actively involved in enhancing the town's social and cultural life. The town hosts annual events such as the West Calder Gala Day, which brings together residents for a day of celebration and entertainment.

Overall, West Calder is a charming town that combines its historical roots with modern amenities, making it an attractive place to live for those seeking a close-knit community with easy access to both urban and rural areas.

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West Calder Images

Images are sourced within 2km of 55.850875/-3.5731767 or Grid Reference NT0163. Thanks to Geograph Open Source API. All images are credited.

Bridge signs, West Calder railway station

The picture was taken from the far end of West Calder station's Eastbound platform and shows five of six small signs on the walls of the bridge that carries a main road over the railway line. The closest sign on the right reads: OB 125 A71 LIMEFIELD ROAD 06 What the number at the bottom refers to is a mystery, but hopefully somebody will let me know one day and I can update this writeup in due course... Heading from the furthest away, the signs on the right-hand wall are numbered 01, 03 (possibly 02 - should have written them down!), 04 and 06; the signs on the left-hand one are numbered 02 (possibly 03) and 05. Presumably there is something important about each sign's exact location as they are not spaced out at all evenly. The rest of the sign is pretty straightforward. 'OB' refers to the bridge being an overbridge - in other words a bridge runs over the railway. It should be noted though that this is only the case from the railway's point of view. If, say, resurfacing was taking place on the A71 (Limefield Road) above, the roads maintenance department would refer to the bridge as an underbridge. 125 is simply the bridge number. Sections of railway lines have bridges numbered in order - generally between junctions, or stations and junctions. (It actually gets more complicated than it sounds which is one reason I always feel a bit out of my depth with railway minutiae!) This line was recently electrified, which may or may not be relevant. After all, these aren't signs you come across that often on everyday walks, for obvious safety reasons.

Ian Dodds

Wooded slope

This is the western end Addiewell Bing Nature Reserve.

Jim Smillie

Addiewell Bing Nature Reserve: Path

Walking towards the west the path became more difficut to follow Link

Jim Smillie

Sycamore tree

Hanging on to the edge of Addiewell Bing

Jim Smillie

Breich Water

View to woodland on north bank

Jim Smillie

Large rocks: Breich Water

The bank on the right has been reinforced.

Jim Smillie

HM Prison Addiewell

The car park and front building of the prison. For an aerial view see NS9962 : HM Prison Addiewell from the air and NT0062 : Addiewell Prison.

M J Richardson

HMP Addiewell, Main Entrance

For aerial views see NS9962 : HM Prison Addiewell from the air and NT0062 : Addiewell Prison.

M J Richardson

HMP Addiewell from the air

Seen on approach to Edinburgh Airport from the west.

Thomas Nugent

HMP Addiewell

An aerial view from the northwest.

M J Richardson

HMP Addiewell from the air

Opened in 2008, houses male prisoners. Web site: Link

Thomas Nugent

HMP Addiewell from the air

Seen on approach to Edinburgh from the west.

Thomas Nugent

HMP Addiewell from the air

Seen on approach to Edinburgh from the west.

Thomas Nugent

Cow Hill, West Calder

It seems a little odd that this very small hill actually has a name. While the ground South of West Calder rises a little before dropping down to Harwood Water it is not particularly noteworthy and the hill, the top of which is immediately ahead in the picture, must only have a prominence of about three feet. It appears on early maps as a building (or buildings), and not a hill. 'Cowhill' first appears on maps way back in the 1750s. A hundred years later the OS describe it is as being a row of farm labourers' cottages "in middling repair". By the 1890s there is no trace of the building and the name has been transferred to the hill. The current paper maps still put the hill name where the houses once were, further South in the field behind the trees on the right. Cows still regularly occupy these fields.

Ian Dodds

Two Dead Trees at Dusk

These trees sit along a long-standing field boundary in the Hartwood area, just South of West Calder. The field to the South of the trees is shown as rough grassland a hundred years ago, but today the field is all white on the OS map - it obviously does get cut these days, which must be why. The tiny symbols used for denoting types of terrain on OS maps don't seem as specific as they once were. There are still parts of fields shown (I assume) as rough grassland round here. It's all a bit jumbled up though. Four slightly different 'grassy tuft' symbols are shown in the key on the current orange large-scale OS paper maps. Printed next to the symbols is, "Bracken, heath or rough grassland". It is unclear whether these each take one of the specific symbols, though this seems unlikely as there are four symbols for three vegetation types. Furthermore, as you zoom in on digital OS mapping of the nearby fields to the East of here, two of these symbols, both the same type, turn into lots of another type. Which leaves the question of why they don't just use one symbol for everything if they are interchangeable. Somebody somewhere must know!

Ian Dodds

A Tribute to Three Dogs

Most benches' commemorative plaques are for people. The fact that this one's is simply for Bruno, Tyson, and Henry, isn't actually that surprising when you know that the Dogs Trust dog rehoming centre is very close by. In fact all the well maintained paths round here seem to begin and end at their complex - I came across one by chance and then kept ending up back where I started. To the right of the bench, half-buried in the grass, is a teddy bear style dog's toy. The paths are littered with them. The Dogs Trust wisely changed its name a few years back. It used to be called the fearsome sounding National Canine Defence League; sometimes rebranding is fully justified.

Ian Dodds

Short Tunnel under B7015

A railway line used to run here from the early 1940s to the early 1960s, transporting shale mined at Mid Breich Pits nos 1 and 2, a few hundred yards North of here, to Westwood Oil Works, a few hundred yards South. The short railway line ran under the road at this point according to contemporary OS maps. The tunnel is essentially just a bricked-up bridge, with a square hole cut into one of the bricked-up ends for no obvious reason. The bottles and odd bits of rubbish must have washed in through the hole during heavy rain; nobody would come here for fun, however desperate - the rain has also washed in a great deal of sludgy mud. It is quite hard to make out in the picture - mobile phones still don't come close to proper cameras when using the flash - but there is a narrow opening after the lit-up section of wall on the right. This gives access to an identical tunnel, so presumably there were actually two tracks running between the pits and the oil works - the empties probably got sent back on a separate track. Both tunnels are around five and a half feet high and wide, and thirty-odd feet long - the other one is fully blocked off.

Ian Dodds

A Bizarre Anti-Littering Sign

There are two of these signs heading East out of West Calder on the A71. Having never seen them anywhere else I assumed they were the work of a particularly irritated individual or group of people. This may well actually be the case, but if so they have obviously been done with council approval. Driving past them I assumed, completely wrongly, that they were home-made affairs, done on thick card and tie-banded to the posts. In fact they are professionally done on metal plates and affixed to the posts by proper-fitting metal clasps. The clown is rather menacing up close, reminiscent of something you'd come across in a 1980s horror film!

Ian Dodds

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West Calder is located at Grid Ref: NT0163 (Lat: 55.850875, Lng: -3.5731767)

Unitary Authority: West Lothian

Police Authority: The Lothians and Scottish Borders