IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Nigel Rise, LIVINGSTON, EH54 6LT

This was once the outflow from a mill pond. Shortly after the bridge the mill race, or lade, split from Dedridge Burn, which feeds and creates the pond. The rather quaint looking stone bridge remarkably once carried the main A71 road. The road was rerouted in the 1960s to accommodate and bypass the construction of Livingston newtown. Originally though, the road, which links Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, used to run from East Calder, through Mid Calder, and then into Bellsquarry.

This pond, surrounded by paths amongst a small tree plantation in between the residential streets of Dedridge, an area of Livingston, used to be a mill pond. It served the mill at Newfarm, which used to stand on the ground that the small Lanthorn Library complex now occupies just North of here. It is there on the first 1850s OS map, but seems to have been drained, or the dam possibly had fallen into disrepair, by the 1960s, as it is only shown as a bog then, which was just before Livingston newtown sprung up, causing dramatic changes. The tree plantation is also shown as dating back to at least the 1850s.

Car parking area at the end of one of the spur roads.

This church not only has no spire - it also has a flat roof, no windows, and the only cross on display is a big monstrous concrete thing near the entrance. Back in the middle of the 19th century around 60% of the population were regular churchgoers. Today it is around a tenth of that, and this figure is no doubt bolstered by the large number of practising Catholic East Europeans that settled here around 20 years ago. So new churches are therefore far more modest affairs than their predecessors, there being less money taken in. Modern churches often seem to have more than one name on them. As well as being called St. Philip's Church it is also called Livingston United Parish Church. Philip was one of the twelve disciples, and like a lot of them apparently, after Jesus's death he spent his time preaching before meeting a grisly end.

This odd stabbed section of footpath - more like something you'd find in a private garden - leads from a large playpark to Dedridge Pond.

Woodland from before the building of Livingston.

A survivor from pre new town days.

Dedridge Burn Plantation survived having a large town built around it and is now one of several mature woodlands within Livingston. It appears, more or less the same shape in 19th century maps of Midlothian.

Soon to open.

View from a car park behind the Scotmid store. To get to the shop from here, the route is up a muddy and slippery path.