West Calder

West Calder Scottish Gaelic: Calldair an Iar Scots: Wast Cauder
West Calder Main Street looking towards the West End
West Calder Location within West Lothian
Population	5,370 [1]
OS grid reference	NT019632
Council area	West Lothian
Lieutenancy area	West Lothian
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WEST CALDER
Postcode district	EH55
Dialling code	01506
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Livingston
Scottish Parliament	Almond Valley

West Calder (Scots: Wast Cauder, Gaelic: Calldair an Iar) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, located 4 miles west of Livingston. The town was an important centre for the oil shale economy in the 19th and 20th Centuries. West Calder has its own railway station. The surrounding villages that take the town's name in their address - Polbeth, Addiewell, Loganlee, Harburn and Westwood - outline the area that this town encompasses, and they all have played an important part in the history of the town as well as West Lothian. It is also the most northerly centre of the Dogs Trust, closely followed by the new centre at Glasgow. The town is a 10-minute drive from Livingston, which is host to two large shopping centres.

History

Further information: Timeline of West Calder history

Burngrange Pit disaster

A memorial in the centre of the town remembers the fifteen men killed on 10 January 1947 as a result of an explosion at the Burngrange oil shale mine southwest of the town.

Architecture

West Calder Main Street looking towards the East End

Most housing in the village dates from the mid-20th century, though it has a public library built as early as 1903. Funded by Carnegie money this building represents a fine example of the Art Nouveau style and has a decorative interior. The parish church (1643) was abandoned in 1880 and is now roofless.

Culture

The Five Sisters shale bings to the north of West Calder were named by artist John Latham during his time with an Artist Placement Group project with the Scottish Office’s Development Agency in 1975–6.

A description of West Calder written by Rev. Mr. Muckersie appears in the Old Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 18 No.9 pp. 190–198. The description includes information on the topics such as the character and manners of the people, agriculture and produce, the ecclesiastical state of the parish, diseases affecting the local populace and details of the poor funds.

Notable people

• Sir Archibald Douglas (1298–1333), Guardian of Scotland and military leader
• The birthplace of James Douglas (1675–1742), physician and anatomist
• James Graham Fairley (1846-1934) architect
• The birthplace of John Kane (1860–1934), painter celebrated for his skill in Naïve art
• George Hogg (1869 – ????), Scottish footballer
• Thomas Fairfoul (1881–1952), Scottish footballer
• Lawrence Ennis, main supervisor of the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
• Robert McKeen (1884–1974), Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
• Dougal Haston (1940–1977), mountaineer and pupil at West Calder High
• Brian Eddie (1952– , footballer

Sport

West Calder is home to the junior football club West Calder United.

Misc

West Calder also has a Masonic Hall which is home to Lodge Thistle number 270 of the Roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The hall is also home to the West Calder chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.

West Calder has three churches: Our Lady and St. Bridget's R.C. Church; West Kirk of Calder CofS and Limefield U.F. Church.

West Calder is also the home of the West Calder Model Flying Club. The club is run for the enjoyment and promotion of radio controlled model aircraft flying in the area. The club has its own tarmac runway and is maintained by the members for use throughout the whole year.

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  West Calder
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  West Calder and Five Sisters
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  Five Sisters Bing
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  Five Sisters evening

External links

• Video footage of The Five Sisters Shale Bing

• Google Map