Author Archives: jennifert

Livingston in the 1970s

Posted on by
Reply

I have been cataloguing the archive of the Livingston Development Corporation for eight months now. The collection is great on the technical detail, on the why and how the town was built, on who made the big decisions, but sometimes you get the hankering for a personal touch – a view of the town that has an opinion. Because the Corporation was, well, a Corporation, much of its documentation can be a little dry, efficient, business like and very much to the point – and even, dare I say it, a little self-congratulatory.  

However, a couple of months ago, whilst cataloguing the records of the Housing Department, I came across the “Reports of the Assistant Housing Visitor.” They don’t sound that promising, but these turned out to be almost diary like entries made monthly by two or three women employed as Assistant Housing Visitors. From 1970 onwards and through the 1970s these women (they were all women) visited new tenants in the town and make sure they were settling in okay, to ask if they had any problems or any issues; and, unfortunately an all too common a problem, to help them find ways to pay their rent arrears. They ended up acting, in a town with limited community facilities and services, as quasi-social workers.

These reports, far from being brisk businesslike collection of stats and targets, give a wonderful insight of Livingston in the 1970s, and of the problems the community faced and overcame.  For example, something that I come across time and again is the problems caused by dampness in Corporation housing, this arose due to poor industrial construction techniques when building vast quantities of housing in a short space of time. I’ve come across a good many technical reports as to why the dampness happened, but in the visitors reports the issue is made far more human.

 

“The main complaints come from tenants in Bison flats who are “humbugged” by “dampness”. In most cases they are using their storage heaters properly and keeping their windows open slightly as they have been instructed – this does not seem to cure the trouble.”

The Corporation, in the early days, was reluctant to accept that their choice of building construction was to blame, and instead chose to tell people that because they had never used central heating before, it was their fault the wallpaper was hanging in damp shreds off the wall.

Another related issue was the cost of heating. Many of the early houses in Livingston were installed with electric storage heaters when electricity was cheap – then electricity prices rocketed. This was a pressing concern for many years (and one it looks like we are all going to have to face again). In 1972 the housing visitor wrote -

“There is a great deal of concern and anxiety among tenants over electricity bills. In many cases, money is not saved towards this bill at all – it is the ‘great unknown’ and panic ensues when it arrives…. for most people… the main problem is the insecure feeling caused by a large, long term fluctuating bill. The cards provided by the SSEB for calculating weekly costs are not widely used… most because people people would not really believe them or do NOT want to know about their bills, hoping they will be smaller when they arrive. “

In 1974 the visitor recorded that -

“I found that a great many of my tenants have solved their fuel bill problem this winter with some ingenuity. Several tenants living in the area arrange to visit one house for two days, then another house for two days, the person they visit has a warm house whilst the visitors can leave their heating off.”

Despite this novel solution, however, the cost of heating remained an issue for many years. In March 1977-

“It is generally accepted that this is the most quarrelsome time of the year and this is assuredly born out by the number of tenants who have sent for me because of family feuding, not necessarily about rent arrears, most because of the excessively high gas and electric bills… whilst Mrs is wondering how on earth she managed to accumulate such a bill, Mr is wishing he never got married, or blaming her for being extravagant.”

There are several more entries in the reports about this issue, it dragged on for years – however, the reports provide such a breadth of insights into life in the 1970s, it is worth moving on. There is another area of insight that the reports can give – into the social and economic mores of the time.

“It is now obvious that a percentage of women work either part time of full time and that it is not possible to make contact with them during working hours.”

This was a time when it was still thought that men were the breadwinners, and women were the housewives, though times were a-changing. But even then, there were obvious issues with unemployment in the early 1970s.

“It would appear that there is a shortage of jobs for the under twenties as well as part-time work for women and according to tenants, the Department of Employment & Productivity hold out very little hope of any immediate improvement. Two cases of men having given up their jobs to move to Livingston came to light. This could be a mounting problem with all its attendant difficulties.”

And, by 1977, problems with inflation –

“this past year has been one of inflation and its attendant problems. After dealing with rent arrears problems last winter, I suggested to tenants that they should try to keep their rent a little in credit each month to try to help out with the problem months… it would be wise to stock up… as a buffer against the winter and the increased prices.”

The reports also record an issue that was unique to New Towns. The New Town Blues.  Because The main reason people moved to Livingston was “high standard of housing provided by the Livingston Development Corporation, probably the main reason why families choose to come, and remain in Livingston.” Housing in Livingston was newer, cleaner, warmer and better than the old slums and tenements of Glasgow, where many had come from, but these people left behind established communities to move to a town that had only existed since 1962, the first residents –  “the pioneers” – moving to Livingston from 1964 onwards, moved to a building site, a place of “dust in the summer and mud in the winter”. It was a town that had no established community; no established groups or societies; no cafes, cinemas, parks, or sports fields. Loneliness was rife.

“I have been discussing the problem of loneliness with quite a number of tenants. This problem is known as the New Town Blues and is widely recognised. Its avoidance lies in the development of a sense of community.”

This is something that the residents of Livingston tackled with relish. From zero in 1964, by 1973 there were two hundred and thirty clubs and societies, one for every 100 residents in Livingston. Community spirit in Livingston had flourished.

Finally, as well as the ‘big picture’ the reports also capture the smaller details that show that perhaps life doesn’t change as much as we think –  

“Another dangerous game of the children’s is to get boards and slide down the steep grassy slope from Eden Drive to the main road near the bus stop. I have seen children rolling down the slope which is quite steep and stopped my car to shout at them. One false move and these kiddies are straight under a passing car.”

Or, taking a break from work for a relaxing thirty minutes,

“the light entertainment of the month was caused through a tenant who had a hive of wild bees in her garden, these have now been removed by LDC… however I spent a quite pleasant half an hour watching the bees at close quarters, from the number of bees and the size of the mound I imagine it was quite a large hive.”

This remark attracted an annotation from the housing visitor’s boss Leslie Higgs, “Time available for this?”

Bosses are bosses, I suppose, no matter the decade. 

The Housing Visitor Reports are the subject of an ongoing blog about Livingston in the 1970s  which can be found at  http://newtownlivingston.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Aidan Haley, Project Archivist (Cataloguing), Livingston New Town: From Plan to Community, 1962-2012.

 

Livingston 50 – share your story

Posted on by
2

Were you among the first of the New Town residents?; or already living in West Lothian in the 1960s?; or perhaps one of the many children who were born and grew up in Livingston over the past 50 years?  Would you be willing to take part in our oral history project and share your experience of New Town life with future generations?  Whatever your story is, West Lothian Council Archives would like to hear from you.

 

2012 was the 50th anniversary of Livingston New Town.  In partnership with Community Arts Service, West Lothian Council Archives have been awarded £49,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the “Life is for Livingston – 50 years of new town life” project. This education and arts project is working with various communities and groups within Livingston in researching, recording and presenting the story of the new town in new and exciting ways.  For more information on the project read our blog at http://lothianlives.org.uk/?p=3057

 

Over the next few months we will be training volunteers to gather oral history in order to record and preserve stories and memories about all aspects of Livingston life.  If you would like to participate either as a volunteer or to share your story we would be very interested to hear from you.   

 

Please contact us:

Jennifer Tortolano or Emma Peattie

 Tel: 01506 773770 or e-mail: archive@westlothian.gov.uk

Cataloguing the Livingston collections

Posted on by
Reply

At the beginning of 2012, West Lothian Council Archives were successful in a bid for a £42,858 grant from the National Cataloguing Grants Program. The grant was awarded to enable the Archives to appoint a Project Archivist who could catalogue the records of the Livingston Development Corporation and five other collections that concerned Livingston, produce an online catalogue, and write a summary guide. My name is Aidan Haley I am the archivist that was appointed to work on the Livingston collections. I started the 18 month project back at the beginning of July and am now almost a quarter of the way through my time here.

The six collections that I have been working with are:

1)  The records of the Livingston Development Corporation, the body responsible for developing Livingston’s economic, housing and community facilities from 1962 until 1996. This is our most comprehensive collection, comprising some 25,000 items.

2) The papers of the Reverend Dr James Maitland, who was, in 1966, inducted as the first Church of Scotland Minister in the Livingston Ecumenical Experiment. The ‘experiment’ brought together the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Congregational Church (now the United Reform Church)and, later, the Methodists, in collaboration in the running of the Livingston Ecumenical Parish.

3) A selection of papers from Tam Dalyell MP, who represented Livingston as part of his West Lothian constituency, from 1963-1983. The papers we hold relate to issues that affected West Lothian.

4) The papers of Craigsfarm which became, in 1967, the first community centre in Livingston. Craigsfarm was the hub of community activity in the early years of Livingston’s growth and in 1973 was instrumental in forming the first Community Council in Scotland.

5) The papers of the Livingston Players, a community theatre group that performed its first play in 1970.

6) Papers of Community Councils of West Lothian which have been, from 1975, the most local tier of government in Scotland. (Livingston jumped the gun and had their own Community Council two years prior to this legislation coming into force.)

The idea behind choosing these six collections was that between them they provide a balanced overview of the development of Livingston across the fifty years of its existence, from its roots in three small villages with a population of around 2,000, to the largest town in the Lothians outside of Edinburgh. The information available within these collections covers the planning, architecture, demographics, politics, religion, culture, education and community development of Livingston; as well as its economic, social and environmental history. The records include official documentation, ranging from the Charter of the Livingston Development Corporation to internal office memos; technical maps, plans and drawings to minutes of meetings with community groups; there is also a wealth of photographs, around six thousand in total. These records are comprehensive in how they show why and how Livingston was built.

Outside of the Development Corporation records there is also personal material, such as the preparatory notes made by Reverend Doctor James Maitland when he started writing his book on Livingston. These notes include his memories of Livingston in its very early days – when there were less than a few thousand people living in Craigshill. Because we have this personal material, the collections contain both the ‘official’ history of Livingston as seen in the records of the Corporation that built it, but also the voices of the people who moved here, and sought to build a complete community where none had existed before.

Although Livingston has only just passed its fiftieth birthday, it has a rich and vibrant heritage. By cataloguing these collections the ultimate aim is to enable researchers, of any type, to locate and use information that interests them as easily and efficiently as possible, opening Livingston’s heritage to all.

 

Geraldine – My time in the Archive

Posted on by
Reply

I began my work experience at West Lothian Archives and Records Centre on Wednesday 4th of July and for two months I have loved every minute of it! Having no previous experience in archives, the staff was quick to enlighten me and give me a wide range of tasks that gave me a better understanding of what it is like working in an archive.

 

I initially transcribed 19th century log books from schools in the local area to see if there were any major developments or changes to the area that the school’s Headmaster would note down. It was fun to read about the nuances of the school’s daily life that were so different to my own school experience. There were outbreaks of measles and whooping cough and children “absent without leave” from the school as they went to help in the harvest, which all paled my “struggles” of homework and maths. I later transcribed World War Two log books from my local village and was fascinated to hear about the various changes that everyone – pupils, teachers and school officers – faced together. When reading about the air raids or a teacher being called up for military service after it was noted he was married three weeks beforehand, you get a real sense of what it was like for the everyday person during that difficult time as well as the community spirit of the people mentioned.

 

I also catalogued Community Council minutes and agendas of West Lothian from the late 1970’s to the mid 2000’s. This was more of a challenge for me as I had to fill in the details of the archives onto a database, but I had plenty of help and once I got the hang of it I was able to progress through them. The de-stapling of the minutes and keeping track of all the catalogue numbers was a challenge I embraced. Like the school log books, the feeling of a community is felt in their collaboration of making their town or village theirs by taking an interest in the issues and problems of their area.

 

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in West Lothian Archives and I’m still amazed by what treasures they have in the building. Though some are grander than others, like the school log books and the Community Council Minutes, they are all a part of a community and I would like to thank the staff at the Centre for making me a part of theirs!

HLF funding award for West Lothian Council Archives

Posted on by
Reply

 

 

 

In partnership with Community Arts Service, we have been awarded £49,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, for the “Life is for Livingston – 50 years of new town life” project. This education and arts project will run from May 2012 to February 2014 and will engage and involve the people of various communities within Livingston in researching, recording and presenting the story of the new town over the last 50 years.

 

Using selected material from the archive collections, an exhibition will be put on display in a variety of locations across Livingston and will act as a stimulus for the oral history and other creative and educational elements of this project. A wide ranging programme of free, intergenerational group education activities will include:

 

  • Introduction to archives to enable people to learn how to access the Livingston records as a source of inspiration for the creative elements of the project
  • An oral history project to train and organise volunteers to collect 50 oral histories from different sections of their own communities.
  • Working with award-winning documentary filmmaker Tomas Sheridan, groups will utilise the archive collection to research and develop a documentary on the themes of the project and to record select interviews.
  • Workshops to enable groups to look at Livingston through photography. They will work with photographer, Lisa Fleming and will develop a book, postcards and an exhibition.
  • Working with artist Tessa Dunlop, groups will research the archives collection and create a ‘Stained Glass window’ telling the stories of Livingston’s 50 years.
  • The development of a mobile phone app to reveal the public art around Livingston, utilising the archive’s digital image collection.

 

The oral history and photography projects will feed back into the archive exhibition. Listening stations and displays will be added to provide an opportunity for the community to tell its own story as the exhibition travels around Livingston.  The project will generate learning and research material in the form of oral history recordings, photographs and documentary film which will be deposited in the Archives.

 

Over the next few months we will be training volunteers to gather oral history in order to record and preserve stories and memories about all aspects of Livingston life.  If you would like to participate either as a volunteer or to share your story we would be very interested to hear from you. 

 

Please contact:

 

Jennifer Tortolano or Emma Peattie at the Archives and Records Centre, 9 Dunlop Square, Deans Industrial Estate, Livingston EH54 8SB.

 

Tel: 01506 773770 or e-mail: archive@westlothian.gov.uk

 

Volunteer!

Posted on by
1

Would you like to help West Lothian Council Archives in its work of preserving and enabling access to its historic collections?  Anyone with spare-time and an interest in history or considering a career in the archives profession can volunteer in the Archives and Records Centre.

Volunteering provides an opportunity to work within a small friendly team, to use existing skills and learn new ones.  It offers a unique perspective of archives and allows you to get up close and personal with historical documents and photographs.

Volunteers can assist in a variety of projects such as cleaning, sorting, listing and re-housing records, or help in the digitisation of some of the thousands of photographs and negatives held in the archives.  Recent volunteers have been listing estate papers and the records of the Soroptimist Club of West Lothian; assisted with putting together exhibitions and promotional material for Livingston 50; and digitising negatives from the Bob Wallace collection and hundreds of LDC photographs.

The Archives has been awarded funding from the National Cataloguing Grants Programme for Archives to catalogue our Livingston collections. The funding award recognises these collections as being of national and international significance and the project coincides with the 50th anniversary of the new town.  Entitled “Livingston New Town, from Plan to Community, 1962-2012”, the project will involve cataloguing and preserving the records of Livingston Development Corporation; local Community Councils; Craigsfarm Community Centre; the Livingston Players; Tam Dalyell, MP; and the Reverend Dr. James Maitland.  The project archivist will begin work on the 18 month project in July and there will be opportunities for volunteers to work on a number of different tasks and types of record.  If you are interested in helping in this exciting project then please contact us by the end of July.

We also offer week-long work placements to local school pupils throughout the year, through the West Lothian work experience programme.  The pupils are shown all aspects of the work carried out at ARC and are given small pieces of digitisation, preservation and indexing work to complete.  We also encourage them (and our volunteers) to write blogs about their experience!

We consider all requests for voluntary placements or work experience, we provide basic training, and work with volunteers to develop an interesting and varied programme of work.  If you are interested in volunteering some of your time please feel free to contact or visit the Archives and Records Centre.

The Reverend Dr. James Maitland

Posted on by
2

The Reverend Dr. James Maitland was an influential figure in the early years of Livingston New Town. In January 1966, he was inducted as the Church of Scotland minister for the Livingston Ecumenical Experiment, in a joint ceremony with the Rev. Brian Hardy of the Episcopal Church. This bold venture was an expression of unity between the churches, and helped to foster a sense of community among the first residents of the New Town in the 1960s and 1970s. The churches shared their pastoral duties, buildings and resources, and even held joint services for their growing congregation. The Episcopal Church, the Church of Scotland and the Congregational Church were the founding churches of the Experiment, with the Methodists joining in 1968. 

The Archive Service holds a collection of the Rev. Dr. James Maitland’s private records, which includes collected papers, diaries, newspaper cuttings, reports and minutes. They provide an insight into the pivotal role that the Rev. Maitland played in church and community life. He was an active figure in the development of community forums, which gave voice to the concerns of local residents and helped people to share their experiences of adapting to their new environment.

The Rev. Maitland also chaired the Leaking Flats Committee, and helped establish such projects as “Growing up in Livingston” which aimed to create a sense of community and inclusion amongst the town’s young people. His concern for education and environment is evident within the archive collection, which includes extensive notes on the subject. With the involvement of the town’s younger residents, James Maitland and others came up with innovative approaches to the social problems affecting those growing up in the New Town. Particular measures included the setting up of Neighbourhood Houses, which could act as focal points for community work.

One of the crowning achievements of the Ecumenical Experiment was the building of the Lanthorn, in Dedridge, which was officially opened in 1977. This represented a further step towards unity, because the design of the building allowed Roman Catholic services to take part in the same premises as those of the other denominations.

The Centre was built by Lothian Region Council, West Lothian District Council and Livingston Development Corporation along with the churches of the Ecumenical Experiment. In his pamphlet, Living Stones, James Maitland wrote of the spirit of cooperation that created the Lanthorn, which he described as ‘a place where people could meet easily and naturally and begin to find what life in community can really mean.’

The papers also record James Maitland’s ideas on the importance of compassion and care for those marginalised by society, and the role of church unity in the creation of community. Many of these ideas were expressed in his book “New Beginnings: Breaking Through to Unity”, published in 1998, and the Archive contains some of its early drafts. The Rev. Dr. James Maitland left a significant legacy to the Livingston community, which can be explored in his own words through this absorbing collection.

 

 

 

The Bathgate Forge Ltd / Chieftain Forge Ltd

Posted on by
1
One of Bathgate’s best known companies, The Bathgate Forge Ltd and its associate companies, George Wolfe and Son’s Ltd and Chieftain Forge Ltd, were British market leaders and world renowned for their high quality hand-made spades and shovels. A dig into the companies’ historical papers offers the opportunity to gain an insight into the long and varied family tradition that the factories embodied.
 
  
George Wolfe and Sons Ltd
 
In around 1869, Robert Fraser, the owner of the Drumcross Paraffin Oilworks and Brickworks, set up a foundry and engine works at Burnside Road in Bathgate. A few years later in 1871, James Wait and his five sons, took over the premises and began a small shovel making forge. Meanwhile, George Park and George Wolfe, a Bathgate tinsmith, decided to open their own shovel making business called the West Lothian Spade and Shovel Works. The premises were first located in Mill Road in Bathgate but soon ground was bought at Bridgend and larger works were built. Shortly after this, George Wolfe left the partnership and set up on his own at 56 North Bridge Street, Bathgate. In 1884, Park sold out and Wolfe bought the Bridgend premises and moved his business there. Finding it increasingly difficult to find appropriate materials, Wolf established his own steel rolling mill at Glasgow Road, Bathgate and in 1907 formed George Wolfe and Sons Ltd.

The Bathgate Forge Ltd

In 1909 Wait and Sons went bankrupt and by 1911, Wolfe had bought the Burnside Road forge, his son, Major Tom Wolfe had modernised the machinery and the whole business was re-named the Bathgate Forge. Tragedy struck in 1914 when a serious fire almost destroyed the Burnside Road premises but the company quickly recovered and soon took over the Holm Forge Company at Bellshill. George Wolfe died in 1924 and his sons Tom, Charles and Monty took over the business. Tom’s main concern was the forge, Charles focused on the steel mill and Monty was the company accountant. Tom died in 1957 and his son, the present William Wolfe took over. In 1962, Charles died and his son, George succeeded him in looking after the rolling mills until 1965, when the mill shut.

Chieftain Forge Ltd
 
In 1840, a forge called James Donald and Sons was established at Barblues, Plains, near Airdrie. In 1958, the principal shareholder of the company, James Jarvie wanted to retire and so sold the controlling shares to William and Charles Wolfe. A year later James Donald and Sons changed their name to Chieftain Forge and moved into premises adjoining the Bathgate Forge. In 1967, Bathgate Forge went into liquidation and amalgamated with Chieftain Forge. Soon, they began to focus on the manufacture of tools and equipment for forestry work, rather than just the traditional spades and shovels.

1986 sees more changes when Chieftain Forge (1986) Ltd is formed and takes over from and becomes tenant to the old company. Unfortunately, this was not enough to boost business and in 1989 the shovel works closed. Chieftain Forge (1986) Ltd ended their lease in 1996 and the old company bought the machinery back to donate it to the Almond Valley Heritage Trust. Walter Chapman, who co-founded Chieftain Forge Ltd (1986), continued as the sole trader under the name Chieftain Forge when the company moved to Guideon Street, Bathgate. To this day Chieftain Forge continues to trade and can be found at Whiteside Industrial Estate, also in Bathgate.

The companies’ papers are available to consult in the Archives and Records Centre. Some of the original machinery used in the spade and shovel making process is on display at the Almond Valley Heritage Centre in Livingston. Together, these resources mean that part of Bathgate’s rich industrial history is preserved for future generations to enjoy and appreciate.

All the Fun of the Festival

Posted on by
Reply
By 1981 the Livingston Festival had become the largest community festival in Scotland. But in the early years of the new town annual gala days were only held in Livingston Station and Village, where they were already an established tradition. It was the celebration of Livingston’s tenth birthday in 1972 that inspired the beginning of a new West Lothian tradition in the form of an annual festival.

The first festival week held in Livingston was a huge success and included art and industrial exhibitions, a Ladies Football match, schools open days and the Livingston village gala. The celebrations ended with a jazz concert and a fireworks display.

The town accepted the challenge set by the Chairman of Livingston Development Corporation to make the festival an annual event and from 1973 the festivals began to roughly follow the same pattern. The week opened with a parade of floats from each housing district, during the week the schools and housing districts competed against each other in a variety of organised events, there were schools open days, an art exhibition and a motor gymkhana. The end of the festival was celebrated with a fireworks display in Howden Park.

Records in the Livingston Development Corporation collection, including minutes of the Festival Committee, souvenir programmes and promotional material, give an insight into the planning and organisation required to hold the Festival each year.

An early constitution of the Livingston Festival Committee, held in West Lothian Council Archives, stated as one of its main objectives:

“To promote a Festival of which Livingston people can be proud”.

The records and photographs held in West Lothian Council Archives indicate that this objective was readily achieved. The Festivals included a diverse range of events and activities such as festival floats, raft races, rock climbing, soap box derby, mini tattoo, Victorian Cricket Match, kite flying competition, athletics, Highland Dancing, roller derby and wheelbarrow races.

During 1985, the International Year of Youth, a Youth Theatre/Youth Arts project was formed under the umbrella of the Festival. Their production ‘Spectrum’ was performed three times during the Festival and featured a cast of over 50 young people from all over West Lothian.

Over the years local communities within the town established their own galas and the town wide Festival was reduced to a one-day event.