Raw Strip

Wood, Forest in Midlothian

Scotland

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Sculpture in Livingston - 'The Community' Although most famous for its weird roundabout art, Livingston also has a number of more accessible publicly commissioned sculptures dotted about.
This is one of the better ones, although aspects of it are slightly baffling after reading the artist&#039;s summary of his work. It is said to depict a family of four holding hands, and they are balancing in the main on a branched tree stump by the looks of it. It is meant to give the impression of a &quot;celebratory dance&quot;. Nobody could actually move anywhere in this dance though, as both children are standing on their mother&#039;s leg, which actually looks as if it could be quite sore considering the size of the children. The dad seems to have got it easy - maybe there&#039;s some hidden symbolism going on there! If it is the dad that is; both males seem to be about the same size.
It&#039;s pretty well done, nonetheless, and was made by Charles Anderson in 1996. It must have been a tricky one to do as he states he returned to painting after making this. — Sculpture in Livingston - 'The Community' Credit: Ian Dodds

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Sculpture in Livingston - 'The Community'

Although most famous for its weird roundabout art, Livingston also has a number of more accessible publicly commissioned sculptures dotted about. This is one of the better ones, although aspects of it are slightly baffling after reading the artist's summary of his work. It is said to depict a family of four holding hands, and they are balancing in the main on a branched tree stump by the looks of it. It is meant to give the impression of a "celebratory dance". Nobody could actually move anywhere in this dance though, as both children are standing on their mother's leg, which actually looks as if it could be quite sore considering the size of the children. The dad seems to have got it easy - maybe there's some hidden symbolism going on there! If it is the dad that is; both males seem to be about the same size. It's pretty well done, nonetheless, and was made by Charles Anderson in 1996. It must have been a tricky one to do as he states he returned to painting after making this.

Ian Dodds

An Old Bit of Howden Park Centre

Howden Park Centre is Livingston's only proper arts centre. This provides food for thought. Livingston is a newtown and therefore a micromanaged inorganic council affair. It has a population of about 60,000, higher than both Perth and Inverness. Organic settlements have only been micromanaged after things have sprung up naturally, and their ruling councils are probably used to there being lots of things there anyway. In Livingston's defence, at least it has local shops situated at sensible regular distances from people's houses. But it was designed 50 years ago and things have deteriorated since. New suburbia generally arrives with no amenities other than a playground. If sufficiently big - ie huge - they are bestowed with a sterile square, generally located close to the school and surgery, containing a small supermarket chain store, a couple of takeaways, and a hairdressers. Whilst I do see the arguments against people setting up shops in their front rooms, which is how things used to develop, I think the house builders these days are missing a trick. Instead of bunging all their legally required 'affordable homes' in a far-flung corner of the development, just spread them throughout the new scheme, located next to premises earmarked for shops and pubs which would have naturally sprung up before things got so regulated. The centre is essentially an art gallery and a 300 seat auditorium. I had a quick flick through their website and upcoming events include lots of music tribute acts, a Moulin Rouge tribute, some folk music, a couple of plays, and a magician. The site is built around the former stables and coach house of the nearby recently renovated Howden House. On a sombre note, this is the site of the first mainland Scottish deaths in World War Two. In 1940 a bomb hit the coach house, which I'm pretty sure is the central bit of this block, in between the arches, killing a woman and her granddaughter. These were the only deaths in the whole of the war in West Lothian.

Ian Dodds

Howden House and Steadings

Very few people are aware this hidden gem, tucked away at the top of Howden Park, actually exists. It was completed at some unspecified date in the late 1700s - though it was important enough to be marked on Roy's Military Map, surveyed in the 1750s - and was occupied by a succession of wealthy people until the Ministry of Agriculture took it over, along with the grounds, immediately after the Second World War to test farm machinery. It passed to the council (or Livingston Development Corporation as they were then officially called) in the 1960s. It isn't clear how long it was used for but eventually it sat idle and fell into a very sorry state - it is fairly easy to find pictures of this online. A private developer bought it about 10 years ago, and as can be seen, did a very good job. The house is now split into four separate properties. The steadings fooled me, being so in keeping with the house. They were, though, only built at the same time the house was getting refurbished.

Ian Dodds

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

Track beside railway, Oakbank

JThomas

Factory, Oakbank

JThomas

Car park, industrial estate, Oakbank

JThomas

Platform, Livingston South Railway Station

On the line from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts.

JThomas

Murieston Medical Practice

JThomas

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

Army Reserve Centre

The centre is tucked away at the end of Beveridge Square, a non-residential street which isn't a square at all, though it does boast a not-very-pretty office building set out in a square around some open ground. To the untrained eye it looks like there is far more going on than there actually is. The sign on the right for the air cadets could have come down years ago, as they have now moved to the Craigshill area of Livingston. And regiments are actually umbrella groups subdivided into smaller units, which is why the bigger signs have two names on them. The 278 (Lowland) Battery is part of the 105th Regiment Royal Artillery, which is the section of the Army Reserves covering Scotland and Northern Ireland. The regiment's headquarters are in Edinburgh, and they have surprisingly few bases - just one in Northern Ireland and seven in Scotland (including one in the Shetlands). They must have been even smaller until fairly recently as this unit was only formed, along with a sister detachment in Edinburgh, in 2014. It is viewed, by Wikipedia anyway, as a continuation of the Edinburgh City Artillery, which ran for around a century until the early 1960s and was involved in operations in both world wars. In a similar vein the 243 Provost Company is part of the 1st Regiment Royal Military Police. I've never been too sure exactly how the military police while away the hours, but was pleased to read that they only have jurisdiction over military personnel, or people they believe to be military personnel. The only time they have powers over the general public is if they are on military property or encroaching onto land getting used by the military for training manoeuvres. This means there is no need to keep a close eye on your speedo when you notice one of their cars behind you in the mirror.

Ian Dodds

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

Old milestone

The milestone on Beresford Rise in Dedridge near to the A71 has been moved away from the hedge and set into its own paved area. This style of milestone was set up by the Calder District Turnpike Trust. The original legend, probably painted on, would have been Edinburgh 13 Carnwath 15.

John Riddell

Old milestone

On the B7015 near Almondvale Park is another of the typical Calder District Trust milestones. This one has had its own paved area set around it. The stone had a very deep slot in its top which has been repaired.

John Riddell

Old milestone

This shows how wide the slot was in the top of the milestone near Almondvale Park. This has now been repaired with lime mortar to prevent further deterioration.

John Riddell

Don't

Dystopian vibes from the Covid posters along Howden Road West, outside St John's Hospital. At the time there was policy (especially marked in England) of pretending there was no dangerous respiratory virus while many hundreds of people died every day.

Richard Webb