Bathgate

infobox UK place
country = Scotland
official_name= Bathgate
gaelic_name=
scots_name=
population= 15,068 [cite web|publisher=Scotland's Census Results Online|title =Comparative Population Profile: Bathgate Locality | url=http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/browser/profile.jsp?profile=Population&mainArea=ardrossan&mainLevel=Locality | date = 2001-04-29| accessdate =2008-08-31 ] (2001 census)
est. 16,300 [http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data] (2006),
excluding Blackburn
os_grid_reference= NS973689
map_type= Scotland
latitude=55.902359
longitude=-3.643097
unitary_scotland= West Lothian
lieutenancy_scotland= West Lothian
constituency_westminster= Linlithgow and East Falkirk
constituency_scottish_parliament= Linlithgow
constituency_scottish_parliament1= Lothians
post_town= BATHGATE|postcode_district = EH47 & EH48
postcode_area= EH
dial_code= 01506 |

Bathgate is a rapidly growing town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the M8 motorway five miles (8 km) west of Livingston. Neighbouring towns are Blackburn, Armadale, Fauldhouse, Whitburn, Livingston, Stoneyburn, and Linlithgow. Edinburgh Airport is 13 miles (21 km) away. Situated 2 miles (3km) south of the Neolithic burial site at Cairnpapple Hill, Bathgate and the surrounding area show signs of habitation since about 3500 BC.

History

Medieval Bathgate (circa 1100 – 1500)

Bathgate first enters the chronicles of historys in a confirmation charter by King Malcolm IV of Scotland (1141 – 9 December 1165). In royal charters of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, the name of Bathgate has appeared as: Bathchet (1160), Bathket (1250) and Bathgetum (1316). Batket in the 14th century, and by the 15th appeared as both Bathgat and Bathcat. The name is a “manifest corruption” of the original Cumbric derivation meaning Boar Wood ("baedd coed") [Price, Glanville, "Languages in Britain and Ireland" (page 122).] .

In 1315, The daughter of King Robert I of Scotland (Robert The Bruce), Marjorie (alternatively spelt Margery) Bruce, married Walter Stewart (or Steward) (1293– 1326), the 6th Lord High Steward of Scotland. The dowry to her husband included the lands and castle of Bathgate. Walter died at the castle on the 9 April 1326.

In the 1846 book "A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland", Samuel Lewis writes:

Another antiquarian, W. Jardin, in the "Statistical Account of Scotland Vol I" (1793), referring to Walter Stewart states:

Dating from around the same time the remains of Bathgate's former parish church still stand at Kirkton. The original 12th Century construction was absorbed by a later build in 1739 when a new church was erected on the same site. This simple whitewashed edifice served the community until its last service on the 9 April 1882. King Malcolm IV makes reference to the original church in a charter, granting it to the monks of Holyrood Abbey. Records show that Holyrood Abbey gave the church to the abbot and monks of Newbattle Abbey in 1327.

Bathgate 17th – 18th Century

In 1606 silver ore was chanced upon at nearby Hilderston, in the shadow of Cairnpapple Hill, by a prospecting collier: Sandy Maund [ [http://www.sasaa.co.uk/case%20studies%209.htm sasaa king jamie's silvermine ] ] . This accidental discovery began a short-lived crown “project” in the area. Advisors to King James VI of Scotland became aware how rich in silver the mine may be and in April 1608 repossessed the land for the crown. By December of 1608 it was clear that the ore in the mine was of varying quality and by March 1613 all efforts to extract silver from the area were abandoned.

Bathgate remained a very small rural community until the middle of the 19th century with only a foray by Covenanters in the 17th century to unrest the populace. Frances Groome, in the "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland" (1882-4) writes:

Robert Louis Stevenson, in the book "Lay Morals, Part 2: The Pentland Rising. A Page of History" further elucidates upon this night in November 1666:

His depiction goes on to describe how the half the army perished in the freezing weather as they headed towards the Pentland Hills.

Bathgate 19th Century

Established around 1800, the Glenmavis Distillery in Bathgate was purchased in 1831 by one John McNab, who produced the eponymous "MacNab's Celebrated Glenmavis Dew" from the site until the distillery's closure in 1910. In 1885, the distillery was producing 80,000 gallons of single malt a year which was transported to Scotland, England and the colonies. [Barnard, Alfred Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom, 1887; reprinted Birlinn Ltd (1 Jul 2007); ISBN 1841582662]

By the opening of Edinburgh and Bathgate Railway in 1849, local mines and quarries were extracting coal, lime, and ironstone.

James Young’s discovery of cannel coal in the Boghead area of Bathgate, and the subsequent opening of the Bathgate Chemical Works in 1852, the world's first commercial oil-works, manufacturing paraffin oil and paraffin wax, signalled an end to the rural community of previous centuries. When the cannel coal resources dwindled around 1866, Young started distilling paraffin from much more readily available shaleGroome, Frances, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)] . To this date, the landscape of the Lothians is dotted with the orange spoil heaps (called Bings) from this era. Collieries and quarries and the associated “traditional” industries (brickworks, steelworks) were the main employers in Bathgate as the 19th century drew to a close.

Places to visit

Tesco, The engine room, aldos fish and chips bar, Bridgend Park, Bathgate Academy and Hope Park Gardens.

Bathgate 20th Century

In the mid-20th century, many local industries were closed and West Lothian was designated a 'Special Development Area'. In such areas, extra financial inducements were offered by the British Government to assist companies wishing to relocate. As a result, in 1961, the BMC — which consisted of the merged Austin Motor Company in Longbridge and Birmingham and Morris Motors in Oxford — located a new Truck & Tractor plant in Bathgate rather than expanding Longbridge as originally planned. The plant closed in 1986, regarded by some as an illustration of the failure of the Special Development Areas policy.

On 24 March 1986 [ [http://www.railscot.co.uk/Edinburgh_and_Bathgate_Railway/frame.htm RAILSCOT | Edinburgh and Bathgate Railway ] ] , the Bathgate-Edinburgh railway line was re-opened to passengers for the first time since the 1950s. This railway line is to be extended to Airdrie allowing train services to run between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley via Bathgate railway station by December 2010 [Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link] .

The world's oldest known reptile fossil, "Westlothiana lizziae" (affectionately referred to as "Lizzie"), was discovered in East Kirkton Quarry, Bathgate in 1987; it is now in the Museum of Scotland. [Knell, Simon J, "Museums and the Future of Collecting (Second Edition)", (P170), ISBN 978-0754630050]

Early in 1992 [ [http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/sedotcom_home/news-se/news-fullarticle.htm?articleid=14479 News Article ] ] , the US company Motorola opened a mobile phone manufacturing (Personal Communications Sector or PCS) plant at Easter Inch in Bathgate (now the Pyramids Business Park). In 2001, the global market for mobile phones dropped sharply and as a consequence, despite pressure from the highest levels of UK government [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1294237.stm BBC News | SCOTLAND | Motorola to close Scottish plant ] ] , on the 24 April 2001 Motorola announced the closure of the plant and the loss of 3,106 jobs [http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/917/0016906.doc] . The 93 acre site is now occupied by Disaster Recovery Services Ltd, HMRC, Morrisons and Quintiles [ [http://pyramidspark.com/office/description.html Pyramids Business Park ] ] .

Bathgate's war memorial was moved by a BBC television programme from a hill near Kirk Road to a landscaped garden in Mid Street on the 25 July 1995 (Broadcast 10 September 1995). [List of Challenge Anneka episodes]

Notable Bathgate residents have included David Tennant (born in Bathgate but raised in Paisley); his father
Alexander McDonald, former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland; Sir James Young Simpson, the discoveror of the anesthetic properties of chloroform; and John Newland, one of the town's major benefactors. Newland emigrated to the West Indies. There he became a rich planter, using slaves to maintain and harvest his sugar-cane crop. His benefaction allowed the establishment of Bathgate Academy, which was founded in 1833. He is remembered today by an annual pageant (known as the Procession, Gala Day or Newland's day), held on the first Saturday in June.

The local secondary school is Bathgate Academy. The Bathgate primary schools are Balbardie, St Mary's, Boghall, St Columba's, and Windyknowe. A new primary school, Simpson Primary, opened on the site of the British Leyland Factory in August 2007. It serves the new area of town called Wester Inch. The school is named after James Young Simpson.

Bathgate is also home to one of the fastest growing pro-wrestling promotions in Scotland. SSW the Scottish School of Wrestling formed back in July 2002 with a handful of Bathgate locals that simply wanted to entertain friends and family. SSW picked up the pace in 2005 and 2006 taking their performance further afield and wrestling with other promotions. They also started to produce better shows that involved bigger and better talent than ever before. Their most popular wrestlers are Muzlem, Dark Angel, Damage INc and Ben -N- Jeremi.

In September 2003 SSW formed a partnership with State side promotion SPWO, Saint Peter's Wrestling Organization that promoted out of St. Louis, Missouri and later expanded to Chicago. Both SSW and SPWO came from very humble beginnings and both wrestling for their partners title belts. SPWO promoted and fought for the SSW United States Title and SSW promoted and fought for SPWO UK Title.

In July 2006 Ron Jeremi faced of against Drew Galloway (WWE - Drew McIntyre) which became one of the most important matches of young Ron Jeremi's carear. This led to SSW bring in exclusive talent from England. Such as The UK Kid (Trained at Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy and had extensive involvement training many current WWE superstars) and Robbie Everest.

Current SSW Worlds Champion - 'The Extreme' Chris BangCurrent SPWO UK Champion - The UK Kid

Further information can be found at www.spwo.co.uk (SSW in United Kingdom) and www.spwo.com (SPWO in USA)

Demographics

Sport

Football

Bathgate is home to the junior football club Bathgate Thistle, who won the Scottish Junior Cup in 2008. [http://www.bathgatethistle.com/] They play at the Creamery Park. Their stadium is also used for activities such as football roadshows.

Bathgate also now has a new team - Bathgate GAYletic, formed July 08 by Brian McAllister. They play in the Edinburgh West Saturday league run by the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur FA. - http://www.leafa.co.uk/

Culture

Land art

Part of the M8 Art Project saw the artist Patricia Leighton's 'sawtooth ramp'project being built in 1993. The sculpture is convert|1000|ft|m long and consists of seven convert|36|ft|m|sing=on high ramps. The artist based the design on local geographic features: (drumlins) and the shape of the surrounding bings [ [http://www.art-in-partnership.org.uk/cms/index.html?topic_id=43 Art in Partnership - projects ] ] . The pyramidic shape of the sculpture gave rise to the name of the nearby Pyramids Business park. In April 2007, a local farmer painted the sheep which graze on the pyramids bright red with a harmless sheep spray [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6521149.stm BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh and East | Sheer brilliance for bright sheep ] ] .

In 1998 the artist Lumir Soukup built the earth sculpture 'The Bathgate Face' at Wester Inch. By taking facial measurements of more than 1200 Bathgate residents, the artist was able to create an 'average profile' which was the basis for the sculpture.Development in the area in 2004 threatened to demolish the sculpture; however the artist managed to persuade developers to build around his work [ [http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=217682006 Edinburgh Evening News ] ] .In 2005 Bathgate were given money to advertise wrestlemania 21.

Famous people

* Racing driver Dario Franchitti was born here. He now races in the USA-based NASCAR series. Won the 2007 Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League championship.
* Sir James Young Simpson, discoverer of the anaesthetic properties of chloroform, was born here.
* Actor David Tennant, who played Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and the Doctor in Doctor Who was born here, although he was raised in Paisley.
* European Tour Golfer, Stephen Gallacher.
* Former Ryder Cup Captain, Bernard Gallacher.
* Former Ryder Cup Captain, Eric Brown.

See also

* Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link

References

* Price, Glanville, "Languages in Britain and Ireland" (p122), ISBN 978-0631215813
* Lewis, Samuel, "A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846)", ISBN 978-0806312552
* Groome, Francis Hindes, "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical", ISBN 978-1855065727
* Sinclair, Sir John, "Statistical Account of Scotland", ISBN 978-0715810019
* Stevenson, Robert Louis, "Lay Morals", ISBN 978-1414215877
* Hendrie, William Fyfe and Mackie, Allister, "The Bathgate Book", ISBN 978-0954142605
* Hendrie, William Fyfe, "Bathgate", ISBN 978-0752421254
* Hendrie, William Fyfe, "Bathgate in Old Picture Postcards", ISBN 978-9028831674

External links

* [http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/bathgate/bathgate/index.html Undiscovered Scotland, Bathgate]
* [http://www.westlothian.com/Home/wl_economy/facts_figures/west_lothian_towns/bathgate/ www.westlothian.com, Bathgate]
* [http://www.bathgatehighchurch.org.uk/about/history.html www.bathgatehighchurch.org.uk, Bathgate]