Livingston Lives by Emma Peattie sampler

emma peattie was born in Falkirk and grew up in Grangemouth. She
studied Sociology at Glasgow University and has a Masters degree in
Social History. She is currently an Archivist and Records Manager at
West Lothian Council, working at the council’s Archive and Records
Centre in Livingston. She also has teaching and museums qualifications
and is close to completing a Masters degree in Archive Administration.
As part of her duties, Emma looks after the records of the Livingston
Development Corporation.

Livingston Lives
EMMA PEATTIE
Luath Press Limited
EDINBURGH
www.luath.co.uk

First published 2012
isbn: 978-1-908373-48-9
West Lothian Council Heritage Services
The paper used in this book is recyclable. It is made from
low chlorine pulps produced in a low energy, low emissions manner
from renewable forests.
Printed and bound by
Typeset in 11 point Sabon
by 3btype.com
The author’s right to be identified as author of this book under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been asserted.
© West Lothian Council

Contents
Acknowledgements 6
Introduction by Councillor John McGinty 7
Foreword by Frank Stewart 9
Introduction 11
From Plan to Construction: The Growth of a New Town 13
A Year or Two by Trish Barry 23
Work and Industry 43
Green Shoots by Frank Stewart 64
Providing for the Community 76
Pioneers in Stripy T-Shirts by Elspeth Murray 89
Art and Culture 110
Happy Times, Sad Times by Ian Comrie 140
Church and Community 142
St Columba’s, Craigshill by Ellie Stewart 155
Livingston Today 185
Coming of Age by Alistair Findlay 234
Bibliography 235
Appendix: Livingston Timeline compiled by Sybil Cavanagh 237
5

Acknowledgements
i would like to give my thanks to everyone who has contributed to
this publication, especially the local community who were so willing to
share their memories of Livingston. In particular, I would like to thank
Frank and Margaret Stewart for proof-reading the text, and Frank for
writing the foreword; John Stewart for allowing the reproduction of
extracts from his website, Sybil Cavanagh, West Lothian Council’s local
history librarian, for contributing the timeline, and Stephen and Gary
Thomas for giving up so many weekends to digitisation and photo
manipulation.
Thank you also to:
Everyone who submitted a piece of creative writing
Livingston Camera Club
P6 at Williamston Primary School
Staff and clients at Braid House
6

Introduction
by Councillor John McGinty, Leader of West Lothian Council
on the 17th of april 2012 Livingston new town celebrated its 50th
Birthday and I am delighted to introduce this book to mark this occasion.
To celebrate the Anniversary a series of events, exhibitions and activities
took place during 2012, involving a wide range of community groups,
local businesses, individuals, along with Livingston schools and West
Lothian College.
The new generation of Livingston residents were also involved. The
official ‘Livingston’s 50’ logo was designed by Lee McMaster (5) from
Letham Primary School and Caitlynn Cameron (10) from St John Ogilvie
Primary School. All Livingston schools took part in an art competition
‘What Livingston means to me’ with the artwork displayed at the stunning
Howden Park Centre, which was redeveloped in 2009.
A special piece of music was commissioned to mark the anniversary
in Music ‘Livingston Celebration’ which was performed by West Lothian
Schools Bands and the Toccata Ladies Choir at West Lothian Civic
Centre as part of the official celebrations.
I hope that you enjoy reading this book, reminiscing about Livingston’s
past, and looking forward to its future.
7

Foreword
‘new town,’ ‘garden city,’ ‘Post-war reconstruction,’ ‘Glasgow overspill,’
‘Social engineering.’ Each of these phrases carries its own technical
meaning and a variety of emotive overtones. There is a tale told about
the planning of Livingston New Town that whenever the designers stopped
for a cup of coffee, a round mark appeared on the road plan and a corres -
ponding roundabout duly appeared on the ground.
Visitors to Livingston in 2012 sometimes comment that they have no
difficulty making their way into the town but they cannot find their way
out again. We hope that readers will have no difficulty making their way
into this book and that within it they will find an interesting perspective
and possibly an evocation of personal memories.
Like the town itself, Livingston Lives is the work of many people.
The main text gives an outline of the history of the first half-century of
the town of Livingston, in a number of short chapters which concentrate
on different themes. This is supplemented in the appendix by the
‘Livingston Timeline,’ a chronological catalogue of notable events which
forms a useful point of reference. These are the meticulous work of Emma
Peattie the West Lothian Archivist and her colleagues.
The living flesh on these bones is made up of the recollections, stories
and poems written in the anniversary year of 2012 by many of the early
inhabitants. Retrospection of this type carries the danger of imparting a
rosy glow, a look back to a largely imagined golden age. Part of the satisfaction
of looking back, however, comes also from remembering how the
town has had to adapt to changing circumstances and from recalling some
of the difficulties that were faced and overcome.
Millions of trees and shrubs were planted as the town grew. Most of
these have now matured, along with the thousands of people and families
who have settled here. Livingston does not aspire to challenge the mighty
city in the West for the title of ‘Dear green place,’ but it has developed
an identity and this book is an interesting and useful contribution to
awareness of its roots and history.
Frank Stewart
9

If the community is to be truly balanced, so long as social
classes exist, all must be represented in it…It is most desirable
that proprietors, directors, executives and other leading
workers in the local authorities should live in the town, and
take part in its life. All of these should live in the town, and
take part in the development of the social, political, artistic,
and recreational activities of the town.
Lord Reith, Chairman,
New Towns Committee 1946

Introduction
as well as being the industrial heart of the British Empire, Glasgow
was the most overcrowded city in Britain by the end of World War ii. By
1962, 40 per cent of the city’s population was still living in overcrowded
conditions. New towns like Livingston offered a potential solution to the
problems of inner city slum housing. Glasgow families could be relocated
to better quality housing and new employment opportunities.
The New Town movement began after wwii, but its roots lay in the
Garden Suburbs and Cities of the Edwardian period. Idealists and philanthropists
like Ebenezer Howard and the Cadburys of Bournville proposed
that ideal communities should be created to replace the slums and overcrowding
of the Victorian cities. They thought that people should have
good housing, open spaces, and that residential and industrial areas should
be completely separate; all ideals which helped shape Livingston. New
towns were seen as a practical and attractive solution to the problems left
over from rapid industrialisation in Britain, but, as with many solutions,
they often created problems as well as solving them.
Over the years, new towns have often received bad press and the
term ‘new town’ has unfortunate connotations of densely populated urban
jungles. New towns have also attracted negative views amongst the
Scottish population. The Scottish Opinion Survey revealed in 1989 that 43
per cent of respondents saw Livingston as an unattractive place to live. Yet
despite negativity from outwith Livingston, there is no need to sugar-coat
the views and experiences of Livingston’s residents. In 1989, a System 3
Resident’s Survey, conducted prior to the development of an advertising
strategy for the town, revealed a local populace who enjoyed living in
Livingston, strongly agreed that it was a good place to bring up children
and, importantly, agreed that it was a town with a bright future. Twentythree
years later, the Livingston New Town area is celebrating its 50th
birthday; the local community has joined together both to celebrate this
important anniversary and to reflect upon their memories of life in the
town. Young people have been an important part of the town’s celebrations.
Local children speak positively about their home town and envision
a future life there.
11

livingston lives
This book is a celebration of the growth of a town and community over
the last 50 years, through snapshots of moments in its history, planning,
construction and industry and, even more importantly, of the people
who have given life to the town.
This publication is also a community history of the town told by
local people; the images of Livingston and its people have been enriched
by memories and poetry kindly contributed by the local community. As
its name aptly suggests, Livingston is a living town that not only has a
past, but a present and a future. In recognition of this, images captured by
the Livingston Camera Club and contributions of artwork and writing
from local schools also enhance the book’s celebration of life in
Livingston today.
12

From Plan to Construction:
The Growth of a New Town
It is the basis of New Town philosophy that what is to be created
is not just a series of houses, important as they are, not just a
group of factories, vital as they are, not just new shopping centres,
attractive as they may be, but an environment in which men and
women may bring up their families in new and happier surroundings
than those in which they themselves were born and grew up.
john silkin
Minister of Planning and Local Government, 1975
livingston was designated as Scotland’s fourth new town on the 17
April 1962, with 6,692 acres in Midlothian and West Lothian set aside
as the site of the town. On designation day, Livingston Develop ment
Corporation (ldc) was also created. This government agency was
assigned responsibility for planning within the designated area of the new
town. They were to be in charge of the building and management of
houses, shops and factories as well as the landscaping of the town. The
announcement was made to the press at Howden House, the proposed
Headquarters of ldc.
The new town had two main aims: to tackle the housing problems
of Glasgow and to create a new focus of industrial activity. This meant
a departure from the planning agenda that had guided the development
of Scotland’s first three new towns; the plan would be focused on an
entire region rather than just the town itself.
The location of Livingston had played a prime part in its designation
as the fourth new town. Livingston was not only in a central location
between Edinburgh and Glasgow but also within easy reach of Edinburgh
Airport, the port at Grangemouth and a number of the Scottish universities.
The development of Livingston was based on a Master Plan that set
out clear objectives and guiding principles. It was first published in 1963,
and remained a blueprint until 1996, although it was revised many times
in between. The flexibility of the Master Plan meant that it could respond
both to changes in the job market and to feed-back from residents during
13

livingston lives
the 20 to 30 years over which it would come to fruition. The Master Plan
created a vision of a town divided into residential districts by a network
of roads. Industrial areas were to be located on the outskirts of the town,
although offices and service-based companies were to be located in the
centre. This location of industry on the periphery was designed to prevent
congestion in the centre of the town and also to allow easy commuter
access from outlying regions.
The plan created a clear vision of Livingston as the town of the car
and it was assumed that by the 1980s every resident in Livingston would
have access to a vehicle. At the same time, the layout of Livingston was
based on the separation of people and roads. Child safety was at the heart
of this idea and it was envisioned that no child would have to cross a
main road to get either to school or to a bus stop. Instead a network of
underpasses would allow pedestrian access across town. While underpasses
were essentially designed to protect the safety of residents, their
sloping sides unfortunately made them an appealing but dangerous play -
ground for children. Although they were designed to take people away from
the traffic, the network of underpasses caused inevitable confusion, and
many residents found, and still find, shortcuts along road embankments.
The provision of green spaces was another important element of ldc’s
plan for Livingston. ldc was committed both to landscaping areas of
development and to preserving the existing woodland. Reflecting this
principle, 50 semi-mature oak trees have been planted in the grounds of
local schools as part of Livingston’s 50th birthday celebrations. Despite
years of development Livingston still has many green spaces and remains
surrounded by countryside.
Livingston’s Master Plan set ambitious targets for construction.
1,000 acres were to be set aside for industrial development and ldc
aimed to build 1,000 houses per year for the first two decades. The plans
were based on a projected population of 70,000 by 1985 and 100,000
by the millennium; a target more ambitious than those projected by any
previous new town. The construction of Livingston was very carefully
planned and the idea of phased development was also central. By building
each area as a distinct part of the town, each new district could reflect
new ideas and the changing needs of the local population.
In 1966, the Lothians Regional Survey and Plan followed the Master
Plan. The report focused on an area of 133 square miles and proposed
14

from plan to construction: the growth of a new town
the expansion of the established communities in the areas surrounding
Livingston. It also proposed that the new town should develop more
links with these communities by acting as a regional centre for shopping,
leisure and service-based facilities.
Taking inspiration from the regional plan, ldc developed bold plans
for the centre of the town. Livingston was not to have a simple ‘shopping
centre’ or ‘town centre’ like any other town. Instead the planners visualised
the town’s shopping facilities as being located in a ‘regional centre’ suggesting
that Livingston would not only attract shoppers from Livingston
but also from the surrounding region. It is no surprise that this was ldc’s
largest development project to date, and in retrospect, effectively bigger
than others that followed.
The planning successes, and occasionally failures, of ldc did not
always lie in their ambitious architectural vision, but often in the details
which could have great impact on the experiences of new residents. For
example, the naming of streets was central to ensuring that incomers
would be able to find their way around the districts of their new town.
To achieve this, the planners gave each district a unique series of names;
in Craigshill West the streets were all given Australian names and were
called ‘streets’ whilst in Howden East they were all ‘avenues’ with
Canadian names.
Likewise, there were some elements of the town that could have
benefited from better planning. Despite this careful naming of streets,
early signposting was sparse, with the result that new residents found it
easy to get lost.
The building of the new town was not without controversy. ldc had
laid out a very ambitious house building programme which, to be fulfilled,
would have to operate to a very tight and uninterrupted schedule.
Construction problems began with the award of the first contract for
the building of both 267 houses at Livingston Station and the ldc office
block to a little known firm, Messrs. Pert and Sons of Montrose. Awarding
the contracts to this firm can best be understood in the context of an
agreement made by ldc, in 1963, to provide housing for workers at
bmc in Bathgate. This resulted in clear pressure from the Secretary of
State for the project to completed as quickly as possible, and limited the
potential scope of the tendering process.
15

livingston lives
I suppose my first Corporation meeting in January 1963 by myself
with no technical staff, must represent a peak of my career…My
first proposal – enthusiastically endorsed, was that we should all
visit new homes in Scandinavia…But at that same first meeting, the
Scottish Development Department demanded an instant ‘crash’
(their term!) programme of housing for the ill-fated car factory at
Bathgate – in advance of any conceivable master plan for the town.
Our expectations of an inspirational journey to the landscapes of
Scandinavia were short-lived…we went instead on a dreary tour of
the ‘old’ new towns around London.’
peter daniel
Chief Architect/Planner, ldc, 1962–1964
The issue of contract awards quickly fell under the media spotlight. Newly
elected West Lothian mp, Tam Dalyell, publicly started asking questions
about the tendering process for the first houses, resulting in what the
Daily Record referred to in 1963 as a ‘war of words.’ By this time Mr
Dalyell was already wary of ldc who had failed to invite him to the
official inauguration ceremony. In particular, Mr Dalyell was keen to
find out both why the contract had been awarded to Perts and why the
contract had not been awarded to a local firm. The situation worsened
when Perts not only began to miss deadlines but also began to be criticised
by the ldc for low quality workmanship. Problems came to a climax
when the firm went into voluntary liquidation in 1965. The issue was
eventually investigated by the House of Commons Public Accounts
Committee in that same year; they found that ‘…this case illustrates the
dangers of departing from sound methods of contracting’, and concluded
that both ldc and the Scottish Development Department were at fault.
Considering this, it is unsurprising that 1965 also brought a change in the
chairmanship of ldc, and Sir David Lowe was replaced by William Taylor.
In his questioning of ldc, the young Tam Dalyell set an early precedent,
and the processes of planning and construction were never far
from political comment. In 1972 decisions regarding the ldc chairmanship
became the subject of controversy. When Taylor was replaced as
Chairman by Desmond Misselbrook, local Labour mp’s Tam Dalyell and
Alex Eadie sent multiple letters of protest to the Secretary of State for
Scotland. After representation from the local Catholic community, they
16

from plan to construction: the growth of a new town
also asked the Scottish Secretary to find a place on the board for Mr
Taylor. Their protests were, however, in vain.
Largely as a result of ldc’s ambitious population targets, building
methods were also the source of significant problems. The first housing
contract in Craigshill was awarded to John Laing (Construction) Ltd for the
development of almost 1,000 houses to be built using industrial methods
with prefabricated concrete panels. This was considered to be a fast and
cost-effective way to build thousands of houses quickly. Unfortunately,
the system had not been tested and it proved unsuitable for the Scottish
climate. Problems were compounded by contractors’ delays and poor
workmanship. These Jesperson ‘piano blocks’ suffered from problems of
water penetration. A particular source of weakness was the decision not
to include a special joint on the balconies, which would have prevented
water being blown in by strong winds such as those experienced in
Craigshill in 1968. Although measures were taken to remedy the situation,
residents continued to experience problems; it was not until 1994 that the
difficulties associated with this type of housing were finally remedied.
…by the early months of 1964 I was far too involved in the
design and development of Craigshill which I had convinced the
Board must partly be built using industrialised building methods
– if the town was ever to reach its 1,000 house completion a year.
With the active encouragement of the Ministry of Housing in
London…I finally chose Laings because I thought they were one
of the most progressive contractors in Britain and they had chosen
to use a system designed by Danish engineers, which would be
prefabricated from a factory to be sited in the town. It all sounded
marvellous but alas the simple technologies demanded of it and
that little bit of extra finance, just wasn’t there. We weren’t even
allowed to build one small prototype. Construction on site started
after I had been asked to resign in September 1964.
peter daniel
Chief Architect/Planner, ldc, 1962–1964
Due to problems of damp housing and a realisation that the population was
not growing as quickly as first anticipated, ldc returned to traditional
building methods in the 1970s.
17

livingston lives
Unfortunately for ldc, contractor problems were not restricted to
the first wave of housing. Work came to halt on a £600,000 housing
contract at Livingston Station in 1971, when construction firm James
White (Contractors) Ltd went into liquidation. Such problems were not
unique to the new town, and were largely a product of economic downturn.
However, the effects were felt more acutely in Livingston because
of the scale and timing of the construction programme. It is to the credit of
ldc that its staff were able to overcome such problems.
The construction of factories was another central component of ldc’s
building programme. The ready provision of industrial accommodation
was seen as key to selling the town as a premier business location. ldc was
able to build factories in anticipation of future demands, which meant that
accommodation could be provided almost immediately to incoming
businesses. Factories could also be built to company specifications and
with room for expansion. Industrial expansion gradually continues
although most of it is now developer led.
Despite the Master Plan, there were certain aspects of Livingston
that were under-developed by the late 1970s. In 1978, ldc commissioned
a study into the provision of social facilities in Livingston. It fell
considerably short compared with both other new towns and other similar
sized towns. It would seem, however, that the highlighting of this shortcoming
was a trigger for action and the flexible Master Plan meant that in
the years that followed, ldc was able to develop more social facilities; in
2012 Livingston has no shortage of such facilities.
The wind-up of ldc, completed in 1997, signalled the end for a
Master Plan outlining the future of the area. Planning and construction
have not, however, come to a dramatic halt. Since then, under West
Lothian Council, there have been several new school buildings in
Livingston including a new Deans Community High School and
Livingston Village Primary School. West Lothian College opened its doors
in 2001. The completion of the final phase of the Elements, formerly
Almondvale Shopping Centre, has at last allowed full realisation of the
Regional Centre in all but name.
18

from plan to construction: the growth of a new town
Cutting the first turf, Almondvale Regional Centre, 1972
William Taylor, Chairman of LDC, can been here cutting the first turf at the Regional Centre,
marking the beginning of construction at the site. Ceremonies like this became a familiar sight
in the early years of the new town.
I was born and brought up on Pumpherston Farm so I saw the very diggers, cranes
and builders which made of the houses and factories here. Most fond memories of
all was walking on Sundays past small-holdings, spending time, enjoying life, and
watching so many people being given a new house with a new life. Livingston has
it all.
19

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