Path from Hermand Park Cemetery to Harwood Water

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 15 Dec 2022

This hard wide path leads to a bench further down and then turns into a short footpath that crosses the unkept field on the left - which presumably belongs to the council too - to reach a gate. The gate (which can just about he made out in the distance) provides access to a short path along the bank of the burn and a second identical gate then leads to a path back to the start. The gates appeared a couple of years back and were put in by the ever-industrious local community council. It wasn't clear what exactly was inside the two cages at the top of the path. The bigger one had nothing inside it so must be protecting a manhole cover, though I can't imagine why this would be necessary. The smaller one had some kind of flat round thing inside, almost as large as the cage, again for no obvious purpose. This cemetery is one of the newer ones in West Lothian. It is interesting to note that people are quite a bit bigger than they used to be. According to the council the newer cemetery lairs/plots can accommodate a coffin 3 feet wide, whereas the older cemeteries only allow you 2 feet and 4 inches, which is quite a difference. It wasn't clear from the burial guide whether this width restriction only applied to prospective joint and therefore already occupied lairs, or to all lairs at the older cemeteries. If so it seems rather silly; could they not just start allocating wider plots?

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