DID you know that West Lothian was once the oil capital of Scotland, or that Robert Burns' first born is resting at peace under our county soil?
No? Well, a major upcoming event in West Lothian may be able to give you an amazing insight into t
he county's past.
Local history buffs will be in their element this spring as a local group has announced it is to host with the biggest event in Scotland to showcase the country's local and family history.
Livingston's Howden Park Centre will hold a massive fair and the Scottish Association of Family History Societies' annual conference on Saturday, 17 April.
West Lothian Family History Society is to present the event which will feature free lectures and displays with the county's focus on "Paupers, Physicians and Parafinnalia – 150 years of social history in West Lothian".
To celebrate the event, the Herald & Post will feature fascinating insights into our county's rich heritage, written by members of the local society, over the coming months.
This month, Tom Smith, from Livingston, takes a look back at West Lothian's mining heritage.
Tom writes: How many of us walk and drive around West Lothian without being aware of the locations and buildings we pass, and the contribution many residents of our towns and villages have made to the social history of our county and country?
Who has heard of the Mid Calder Product or knows that West Lothian was once the oil capital of Scotland?
Some of us are old enough to remember the large bings that were near our villages, some black for coal, and others red for shale. But how did it all come about?
James Paraffin Young began manufacturing shale oil in the Bathgate Chemical Works just before 1851, however, the franchise ended in 1864, opening the door for other companies to invest in the very profitable industry.
Pumpherston Oil Works was being developed throughout 1883 and 1884 and, the same year, Deans Crude Oil Works was started by the West Lothian Oil Company with accommodating dwellings known as Deans Rows.
The works at Deans lasted only eight years before it was declared unviable, but the more dynamic Pumpherston Oils, who had already expanded and taken over Seafield Works from the Bathgate Oil Company in 1887, were privately developing patents to improve refining, then purchased it.
The Deans mine worked successfully until 1920 and by then the small companies had merged together into Scottish Oils.
The blue, oil-enriched shale ore was excavated from deep below ground, and manufactured from crude oil into fine oils by passing it through a retort – which was in effect,
a huge pressure cooker.
The different stages of heating and refining produced various products including petrol, paraffin oil, wax, ammonia gas, ammonium sulphate fertiliser and even mothballs, ending up with the red ash that was deposited on to larger and larger mountains of waste.
The location of coal mines was a key local energy source that supplied fuel for the retort.
In the 1960s, West Lothian, Livingston Village and Deans underwent a major redevelopment, which was evident with the construction of new roadways, and Livingston New Town.
The shale waste itself then became a valuable commodity as developers used it as foundation material for the roads. This final use of the original product attempts to complete the ideal manufacturing process, which has no waste.
Many of the shale tips have therefore been recycled and levelled or reduced to grassy mounds. What remains of Deans Oil Works shale tip can now be seen to the west of Deans Industrial Estate, north of Starlaw.
The location of other shale mines can still be traced through the remnants of their red ash bings, which are still visible, although some are covered with grass.
For more information, visit www. wlfhs.org.uk or contact the membership secretary, 141 Harburn Avenue, Livingston, EH54 8NL.
