Explore!

Explore! Our articles cover anything and everything to do with West Lothian, West Edinburgh and Falkirk.

A selection of what goes into print is published here.

Browse the archives below or use the archive menu to sort by category, or use the search bar to find a specific reference.

Read past and current issues online

ONLINE LIBRARY

Editor

Feb 1, 20183 min read

Dougal Haston: From Currie to Everest

Up, always up. Currie lad Dougal Haston went from rambling around the Pentland Hills to being one of the first British climbers to...

Editor

Dec 4, 20172 min read

Muiravonside Sculpture Trail

It’s hard to beat a woodland walk in late autumn, kicking through the leaves and taking in the spectacular colours of nature, to...

Editor

Nov 7, 20173 min read

Edwin Lucas - Scottish Surrealist

The young man from Juniper Green who painted a mural in the scouts' “den” on Belmont Road in the early 1930s - to make it look like the...

Bliss: For babies born premature or sick

Editor

Nov 3, 20172 min read

Bliss: For babies born premature or sick

Having a premature baby can be a very frightening and stressful time. Last month I met with West Lothian resident Coady Dorman, whose son...

Editor

Nov 1, 20173 min read

Craiglockhart War Poets Trail

Walks through the Craiglockhart hills were a popular way of exercising and relaxing for the shell- shocked soldiers who were treated at...

Editor

Aug 7, 20175 min read

The Balerno Loop

There is little left for the casual observer to notice today of the picturesque branch line that ran along the Water of Leith for six...

Editor

Jun 1, 20174 min read

Redhall Castle and House

Home to a diplomat involved in nation-shaping moments in Scottish history; seige and destruction by Oliver Cromwell's canons; gracious...

Editor

Feb 1, 20174 min read

King Jamie's Silver Mines

When a local collier found some unusual stones at Hilderston, near Cairnpapple in the Bathgate Hills, he couldn’t have imagined the stir...

Editor

Jan 1, 20174 min read

When Craiglockhart was "Dottyville"

How the tranquil surrounds of Craiglockhart - and a meeting at Baberton Golf Club - produced the most graphic and moving anti-war poetry...

Editor

Dec 1, 20164 min read

West Lothian Drug and Alcohol Service

“We want people to know that we’re here, and that they can contact us any time if they’re worried they have a problem with alcohol, drugs...

Editor

Nov 6, 20163 min read

West Lothian Eagles

The West Lothian Eagles are Scotland's newest Aussie rules football team! Unlike the famous West Coast Eagles in Australia, players and...

Editor

Aug 6, 20163 min read

West Lothian Far from Ypres

Did you know that work on Beecraigs Loch was started by German prisoners-of-war during the First World War, but due to their...

Editor

Mar 7, 20164 min read

Huly Hill and the Newbridge Chariot

Have you ever sat in the traffic by the BP garage at the bottom of Cliftonhall Road in Newbridge waiting to get onto the roundabout, and...

Nicola Welsh: “There are no rules for grieving”

Editor

Mar 1, 20164 min read

Nicola Welsh: “There are no rules for grieving”

“I want to break the taboo around discussing stillbirth and neonatal death, and make it normal to talk about it,” says Nicola Welsh. I'm...

Editor

Mar 1, 20164 min read

Community First Responsers

When you dial 999 for an ambulance, did you know that as well as dispatching an ambulance, in some circumstances the service calls a...

The Bathgate Baker's Boy who Changed the World

Editor

Feb 8, 20167 min read

The Bathgate Baker's Boy who Changed the World

The face of Bathgate bairn Dr James Young Simpson is painted on the “pioneering spirit” First buses. What is not painted there is a...

In the footsteps of RL Stevenson : a walk in Colinton Dell

Editor

Feb 1, 20163 min read

In the footsteps of RL Stevenson : a walk in Colinton Dell

This area of woodland trails covers both sides of the Water of Leith from Colinton to Slateford. Steeped in history, it's also home to a...

Editor

Sep 1, 20156 min read

Pentland Heist

Thirty years ago, Pentland Hills Regional Park was at the centre of a police investigation when what appeared to be little more than a...

Balancing Act: The main feeder for the Union Canal

Editor

Apr 3, 20154 min read

Balancing Act: The main feeder for the Union Canal

As you're enjoying a walk, cycle or boat trip along the Union Canal, you may not be aware that its serene surface level is maintained...

Editor

Nov 6, 20146 min read

Letters Home - from a young Scots Guard

A nineteen year old lad writes home to his mother from the trenches in World War 1 France: “I have seen all the life I want to see.” A...