FEATURE: The secrets of Bathgate's success
"BATHGATE is world famous for five reasons", says Bill Millan, curator and driving force behind the town's Bennie Museum. "This is what picks us out from other places and makes us that wee bit more special," he adds.
The Ryder Cup, the world's oldest living fossil, two far-reaching discoveries and a dynasty are all closely connected to the West Lothian town.
The museum is celebrating its 30th birthday this year after Bill spearheaded its inception when Bathgate's town clerk made rumblings about a heritage centre.
The 77-year-old former school teacher is an encyclopedia of knowledge on anything remotely related to Bathgate and his enthusiasm for it is both infectious and liberating.
I found out on a recent visit that the small museum is bursting with artefacts from bygone eras and each one has a story behind it that he knows by heart and can recite at the drop of a hat with humour and gusto.
I've never been one for museums myself but I genuinely feel that they would be more appealing if Bill showed visitors around.
There is a real fear in the modern internet-driven age that it's very easy for younger generations to miss out on the history of their surroundings, and that's one of the reasons why I believe people like Bill are so important to preserving the character of places like Bathgate.
"Have you ever seen a play or a film about a person who has lost their memory?" he asks.
"I saw one about a man who returned from World War II shell-shocked. The whole plot of the film centres on the man getting his memory back.
"A heritage place, like the Bennie, is a collective memory. People love reminiscing, it's part of the human psyche. Everyone has a past, present and future, but their futures are constantly influenced by their pasts.
"Anyway, in the film the man eventually gets his memory back and it's a great relief. That's what this place is. It's terrible to lose interesting artefacts. We're scared of stuff going into the ground, but it's here on a plate for people."
Bill is a "Bathgate Bairn", proudly born and bred there and firmly believes the heritage of his hometown marks it as an area more special than others in West Lothian.
Bathgate's five claims to worldwide acclaim he lists are: 1. Lizzie – 'The Bathgate Beast'. Lizzie is the earliest known complete land-living amphibian fossil ever to be found in the world.
She was discovered in a rock in the old Kirkton Lime Quarry and is thought to have lived 340 million years ago. The Limefield area in Bathgate is named after the quarry.
Lizzie currently resides in the Royal Museum of Scotland and is the world's oldest inhabitant in fossil form.
2. Bathgate Golf Club is the only one in the world to have produced two Ryder Cup captains in Bernard Gallacher (1991, 1993 and 1995) and Eric Brown (1969 and 1971).
3. James Young Simpson is world renowned for discovering the anaesthetic properties of chloroform for women during childbirth. His discovery revolutionised the medical profession in this field.
4. James "Paraffin" Young – the world's first commercial oil man. He had a secret chemical works building in what is now known as Whitburn Road in 1851 where he manufactured paraffin oil and paraffin wax to make candles when he was looking for a source of oil from turbanite.
5. Marjory Bruce and husband Walter Steward – Marjory was Robert The Bruce's daughter and was gifted a castle by her father in 1315 when her firstborn was conceived. The castle was Bathgate Castle, the remains of which lie under the eighth hole at Bathgate Golf Club. This was where the Stewart dynasty was born and is celebrated every year on John Newlands Day (the gala day).
Items on show at the museum include a Roman coin found in Bathgate thought to be from around 249-251 AD. According to Bill, the coin was found by a woman named Mary Knowles in 1932; a clock made of coal; a multiplicity of medals won by local people; a large Weir steam pump from the old Bathgate Baths; the old Bathgate Burgh lectern (crest shown above) from where important announcements affecting the development of the town were made by dignitaries; a paper with the Queen's signature dated 5 July, 1968, for the opening of the British Leyland factory.
The site lay dormant for many years after it closed in 1986 but is now a massive housing development which features a main road through it called Leyland Road to signify the link. One artefact on display is a vintage prosthetic arm made just after the First World War in Ireland.
Bill explained: "It belonged to a chap named Hugh Killen, who was the father of one of our volunteers, Iris Wyper.
"He was playing cards in a dugout hut on the frontline in the war when it came under fire from shelling. The rest of the guys were lucky enough to get away, but he couldn't because his right arm was dangling past his knee held on by a piece of skin.
"Sometime between 1916 and 1920 he was given the arm, which was state-of-the-art at the time, by a company in Belfast but he didn't like to wear it.
"His wife always told him to put it on when they went dancing, but once he pulled a lever on it and he had anyone he was dancing with trapped until the end of the song."
Bill added: "Hugh was a postman, but he didn't use his arm when he was doing his rounds. He used to hold the letters in his mouth before putting them through the letterboxes."
Bill's love of Bathgate and the arts is well known in the town and he enjoys the status of being a bit of a character.
Local councillor Willie Boyle, who himself likes to write poetry, sums him up perfectly. He said: "I have had the privilege to know Bill Millan for most of my adult life and through Bill, his dear wife Molly.
Bill has several interests and the Bennie Museum has been important in pulling many of them together, very successfully.
"The problem for myself and others would be how to sum him up. So let me put it this way. Bill is like one of his paintings – bold, broadly appealing with an extensive pallet and confident strokes, well composed with balanced proportions, a thoughtful perspective, considered use of the light and shade and an eye for detail.
"Molly, if she will forgive me, is the gilt frame who ensures perfect presentation and provides excellent support. In other words, she holds him together."
There is a mass of interesting fables and tales behind the items on show at the Bennie Museum, but if you're going along, make sure to ask for Bill.
If he's not available there's always a volunteer on hand to guide you. You won't be disappointed.
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Weather for Bathgate
Friday 18 May 2012
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