Konect Broxburn September 2020

SEPTEMBER 2020

PROPERTY MATTERS:

LOCAL CHARITY:

PLUS: GARDEN PROJECT, health & beauty, puzzles, and more FEATURES inside!

THIS ISSUE

E

arlier in the year I interviewed West Lothian’s “Sunday Dinner Lady” and published the article in our online version during lockdown. But they’ve been getting busier and busier and I felt it worth resharing the story in this edition.

A scramble along the waterfront at Bo’ness, followed by ice cream and coffee from McMoos, was an afternoon very well spent last month. It’s about a 20-minute drive to Bo’ness, and worth it for a change of scenery and a different choice of cafes for a treat afterwards. The walk is very accessible and is part of the John Muir Way between Linlithgow and South Queensferry.

All our usual columns are here, including an upbeat column on the property market from Turpie & Co, and some poignant thoughts on parenting post-lockdown, from Laura. I hope you enjoy the magazine this month, and please continue to support local businesses where you can.

u can know yo Did you to receive each e subscribissue of Konect e here new Subscrib online? scribe b u s scot/ konect.

P14 Charity: Sunday Dinner Lady................................8 Garden Project........................................................10 Win! Liv Rum............................................................14 Local Environment..................................................19 Health & Beauty......................................................20 Local Walk: The Bo’ness Foreshore.................22 Film Review...............................................................24 Parenting...................................................................26 Puzzles.......................................................................27 Property Matters: How hot is your buyer........28 Charity: Carers of West Lothian.........................30

Konect is delivered monthly to 7,500 homes and businesses in Uphall, Broxburn and Winchburgh.

Copies are also left at the library, post offices, convenience stores and other locations.

HELEN-JANE SHEARER Editor

E: editor@konect.scot

CHARLENE GAFFNEY COVER IMAGE: Local Walk: A walk along the Bo’ness waterfront, see P22. @KonectMagazines

Account Manager

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BROXBURN | 7

Anne Wilson with dinner box

“Sunday dinner was always a tradition in my family,” says Winchburgh resident Anne Wilson, aka the Sunday Dinner Lady.

“I love a Sunday roast. It brings the family together, and a plate of fresh hot food has an energy about it that you don’t get in the same way with dried and canned food. Dad and mum cooked, and we were all together to relax and eat, talk and laugh.”

So when she heard about a friend who supplements the excellent work that the food banks do in East Lothian by providing fresh ingredients for a weekly Sunday roast, she immediately wanted to do the same for families in West Lothian.

Since delivering the first box of dinner ingredients in January, Anne has been inundated with requests – and very positive feedback from the recipients.

“We have delivered nearly 800 Sunday Dinners since January. During lockdown, we had more and more requests due to more people struggling financially.” she says.

A box consists of everything you need to make a hearty roast from scratch: one fresh chicken (supermarket-wrapped, so cooking instructions are included), potatoes, three different vegetables, yorkshire puddings, gravy granules and a dessert. The size is suitable for the size of the receiving family.

The servings are generous, and there are usually enough leftovers for a dinner on Monday night too or to freeze for another day. A vegetarian option is available on request, as are gluten free and dairy free products for families that have these intolerances.

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“My family and I went through a hard time financially a few years back, and it was only through the support of friends and family that we survived. Gestures like inviting us out for a meal when money was really tight, meant the world to us. I want to be able to give that hope to others who are struggling; you can come through this.” In many cases, it’s a temporary period of difficulty, nothing to be embarrassed about, but a time when a helping hand can make all the difference between getting through or getting further behind.

There is so much about this that is good.

Fresh food is logistically very hard for food banks to provide so for those relying on them, an injection of vibrant fresh vegetables offers a wonderful energy to start the week. “Many of the families we deliver to mention how much a good Sunday roast means to them, so to be able to offer it to their family, or to be able to invite friends round and share a hearty meal, means a lot.” This gesture of kindness, one meal, can give hope and a lift with benefits that last far beyond the time it takes to digest dinner!

While it might sound quite simple – assemble ingredients for a dinner and deliver it – there is a huge amount of work behind the scenes. Anne works full time as a sales team manager at Sky, has a husband and three children; the Sunday Dinners are all done in her “spare” time! She needs to be constantly applying for sources of funding and donations.

Currently it is mostly funded by generous individuals donating on the Go Fund Me @KonectMagazines

page as well as some local supermarkets who donate fresh vegetables.

She has been joined by five other dedicated Sunday Dinner Ladies to help out. Anne, Mo, Tricia, Jude, Ann and Martha collect the donations, purchase the chicken and any other items needed and assemble the boxes.

Then Friday afternoon is spent delivering.

Seven volunteers currently help with deliveries: Lisa, Jenni, Katharine, Fiona, Karen, Deborah and Thres. “My teenage daugher also help assemble the boxes and come with me to deliver, since she too is a fan of a Sunday roast!� says Anne.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM A SUNDAY DINNER BOX? You can directly refer, or self-refer to the Sunday Dinner Lady. Find the facebook page @Sundaydinnerlady and message them to start the process.

You do not need to be in receipt of foodbank vouchers to receive a fresh Sunday dinner box.

Ultimately it will most likely be based on referrals from other organisations, but at this stage they are happy to help as many people as they can via direct referrals.

CAN YOU HELP? Monetary donations are needed to buy the ingredients and to be able to increase the number of dinners provided each week. Please donate via Go Fund Me: www.gofundme.com/f/westlothian-fresh-sunday-dinners

Can you help assemble boxes or deliver on a Friday or Saturday? Please email wlfreshdinnerboxes@gmail.com or message them via the facebook page www.facebook.com/Sundaydinnerlady For more information visit www.facebook.com/sundaydinnerlady This article was written by Helen-Jane Shearer after meeting Anne in Livingston.

Helen-Jane is the editor of Konect magazines and lives in West Lothian with her family. @KonectMagazines

** Sunday Dinner Lady - West Lothian Fresh Sunday Dinner Boxes is not yet a registered charity but status will be applied for as soon as possible.

BROXBURN

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Autumn Bulb Magic This is the time of year that we need to plant bulbs that flower in the Spring. This picture shows our autumn/winter pot reaching its peak display in the early spring.

We planted maroon pansies after the middle of September, having taken out the summer flowering plants, teasing up the compost that had become quite compressed in the pot and adding some controlled release fertiliser pellets to feed the new residents. The pot is made of frost-proof recycled plastic and the maroon petals blended very well with the cheerful pink pot.

The pansies delighted all winter and then the buried treasure of bulbs magically appeared in March: the small white starry Chionodoxa; the bold pink, fragrant Hyacinths; the airy white Daffodil Thalia. The three stars

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Autumn/Winter Pot performed at the same time, making a great ’wow’ on the patio.

You can choose bulbs that flower one after the other to extend the display, we have recipes for several different displays. You can also choose other little plants to give the autumn/winter display in your pot.

The gardening project is contributed by Dougal Philip, New Hopetoun Gardens.

Inspiring, informing and entertaining, for more than 40 years.

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BROXBURN | 13

SPOTLIGHT

Paul & Jacine

The ingredients for making gold medal-winning rum You might think it’s all in the molasses, carefully sourced, distilled and teased into life in their copper pot stills. But you’d be only partially correct.

The ingredients of the new and award-winning “Liv” brand of rum, which is distilled right here in Livingston by Matugga Distillers are: a rumdistilling Caribbean heritage, an East African connection with sugar, a passion for the land and what can be achieved when we work in harmony with it; and a large measure of serious scientific know-how.

It’s as much to do with these ingredients as the molasses, the handcrafted alembic stills, and interestingly, the foraged botanicals that are going into some of their creative new rums.

I visited husband and wife team Paul and Jacine at their distillery in Livingston to find out more - and of course to taste the rum.

Paul grew up in Uganda. He is a civil engineer by training and has long been a whisky connoisseur.

Jacine grew up in London and is a corporate marketer. Back in Jamaica where her family hails from, rum is the national spirit. Long evenings with family and friends enjoying good food, craic and camaraderie as a bottle of the finest slowly disappears has always been part of Paul and Jacine’s social life.

The seeds of their rum journey were sown during family visits back to Uganda, where the sugar and molasses industry is massive. “We thought, why not take this molasses grown in our homeland and make rum from it?” Production of their first batch of Matugga Rum was outsourced to a distiller in England - they were living in Kingston upon Thames at the time and both working full time in their own careers. Matugga is the name of a town in Uganda just north of Kampala, where the family owns land. It’s an artisan range of speciality cask-aged golden and spiced rums, and was quickly picked up by a French distributor. They found themselves thrown in at the deep end with exportation! When contract 14 | BROXBURN

manufacturing quality concerns arose, they decided to take the plunge, leave their careers and go full time into distilling for themselves.

Heriot-Watt University came up as offering worldclass expertise in Brewing and Distilling.

So, with their two young daughters, they arrived in West Lothian in 2017 so that Paul could do the course and they could follow the dream.

It’s been a good move in every way. “I knew Paul would be a good distiller,” says Jacine. And it seems she’s not the only one! As I was there for this interview the news came in that their new Liv white rum brand has just won gold at The Rum and Cachaça Masters 2020 competition. White rum is taken straight from the still, unsweetened and unaged, showcasing the distiller’s pure copper-pot craft, and to win a gold medal is an extraordinary achievement. The latest gold medal follows several other prestigious awards for the new distiller, such as winning the Women’s Enterprise Scotland Start-up of the Year 2019.

They have a cask-exchange arrangement with Whyte and Mackay, so they use oak casks that have been used once for Scotch whisky. There is much more to come from this collaboration, watch this space. Innovative cask-ageing is in the DNA of this distillery, as they demonstrated through the release of an acacia-cask special limited edition rum last year.

“We’re loving it here in West Lothian,” enthuses Jacine. “Our girls are thriving, and my mum has now moved up from London too to be with us.

We also make regular trips to Uganda to keep up with Paul’s family.”

In response to the appeal to distilleries to assist the country’s shortage of hand sanitiser, Matugga Distillers quickly switched the production focus at their rum distillery. They produced and donated over 1,000 litres @KonectMagazines

This article was written by Helen-Jane Shearer after visiting Matugga Distillery in Livingston, speaking with Paul and Jacine and tasting the rum!

Helen-Jane is the editor of Konect magazines and lives in West Lothian with her family. @KonectMagazines

IN WHICH COUNTRY IS THE TOWN MATUGGA LOCATED? Send your entry to win@konect.scot to arrive no later than 15th September 2020. Please include your full name and postcode. Winners will be drawn at random after the closing date and informed via the email address used to enter.

PHOTO CREDIT: PENNMANN

Simply answer the following question for your chance to win:

PHOTO CREDIT: PENNMANN

of sanitiser to local healthcare providers, frontline services and community workers as well as selling critical supplies to local businesses. In time, the conventional suppliers of sanitiser were able to boost their production levels and Matugga Distillers reverted to prioritising their conventional business of distilling artisan rum. They officially unveiled their innovative new Liv Rum collection in June, and landed a regional listing with the Co-op. Liv is now available in the Bankton Retail Centre, Howden West and Craigshill Shopping Centre Co-op stores in Livingston.

The next stage in fact relates to the family’s land in Matugga; they are planning to start a sugar cane plantation, so eventually the complete cane to cask process will be wholly owned by themselves. “There is a lot of unfairness in the sugarcane sector, and we want to better support the livelihoods of sugarcane growers in East Africa,” explains Jacine.

They forage for local ingredients across Scotland such as lavender and heather to infuse into their new spiced and flavoured Liv rums, an innovative approach normally more associated with gin. They insist that the botanicals added are real plants, not bottled flavours. I tasted their Liv raspberry and hibuscus rum liqueur and their honey and lavender version. Needless to say, my verdict concurs perfectly with the judges who gave Liv a gold!

The strap line “African soul, crafted in Scotland” is true in every detail.

We have a pair of tickets for Matugga Distillers’ distillery tour and tasting on Friday October 9th to give away to Konect readers!

Liv Black Spiced Rum Matugga land in Uganda

Follow Matugga Rum and Liv Rum online to keep up to date with events.

Social media: Website: Contact:

@matuggarum www.matuggarum.com info@matuggarum.com BROXBURN | 15

PHOTO CREDIT: Matugga Distillers

The award-winning “Liv Rum” is now available in the Bankton Retail Centre, Howden West, Craigshill Shopping Centre Co-op stores in Livingston.

“Liv” in Nordic languages means “good living.” It expresses Jacine and Paul’s approach to life and references Livingston perfectly.

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LOCAL ENVIRONMENT

Little Boghead’s Blue Jewels At this time of year many of our wetland areas are alive with insects and what may stand out most is the dainty blue of the azure damselfly buzzing about the grass. At Little Boghead Nature Reserve in Bathgate, there are hundreds of them, plus common and large red damselflies.

The little brother to the larger dragonflies, they’ve become somewhat of an addictive species to watch and photograph. As we come into the time of year when both can commonly be seen you might wonder how to tell the difference between the two species.

There are a couple of things to look for: • Dragonflies have larger, broader bodies with eyes that face forwards. Their flight pattern can best be described as jerky as they zip back and forth making sharp turns as if they’ve just hit a forcefield • Damselflies however have a very small, thin body plus a large gap between their eyes. They tend to flutter or hover in flight and are much less erratic than dragonflies Damselflies also hunt in cold weather, which is why they can be found much earlier in the year but will be around until September @KonectMagazines

meaning, there’s still time to see them. Whilst they’re easily disturbed, we’d suggest just waiting a few minutes because they’ll normally come back to land at the same perch.

Little Boghead Nature Reserve is an excellent place to visit, with boardwalks surrounding the ponds giving a perfect viewing platform to watch the huge variety of wildlife.

This column is contributed by Clare Harte and Kate Stevenson, who grew up in Edinburgh and now live in West Lothian. Together they run Scottish Sisters Photography and travel around the country to watch and photograph amazing wildlife and scenic landscapes. www.scottishsistersphotography.com BROXBURN | 19

LIFE COACHING

How to manage unruly curls If you have naturally wavy, kinky, or curly hair then the most important first step to embracing it is to get the condition to its optimum. Moisture treatments will improve the elasticity and will smooth the cuticle, eliminating the dreaded ‘frizz’.

Make sure your shampoo routine includes good quality moisturising shampoo and after treating your hair make sure to rinse it well.

Rake your hair out with a wide tooth comb.

The less tension the better, for more volume do this upside down.

Products ideal for taming the curl would be something with an oil, hold, and a conditioning element ( I love Davines, OI all in one milk).

Saturate the hair in your product and gently rub in circle motions with either your diffuser or with your head upside down and using your hands to gently massage the hair whilst adding the heat from your dryer. Continue until it’s fully dry. Use an oil to twist your curls in to place, and if needed you can tong a couple of the looser curls to add to the effect.

I prefer to do this without putting a parting in - let it fall really natural and embrace the texture you have.

The Hair column is contributed by Sophie Laidlaw. Sophie is Director @wonderland Livingston. www.wonderlandlivingston.co.uk 20 | BROXBURN

FORGIVENESS When I work with clients, I often find that the subject of forgiveness raises its head.

Well, maybe forgiveness is my angle and for them, it’s more about expressing unjustness and unfairness and that endless loop of resentment that we can so easily get caught up in.

This can focus on how badly we feel we have been treated whether by a parent or other family member, a friend, or a colleague. Or maybe it’s a sense of let-down that we feel when someone doesn’t step up and support us in an hour, or month or even year of need.

What about deciding that now is the right time to let go, to simply stop carrying that burden, and deciding to just let go of those hurt feelings forever?

Forgiving someone for a past slight or cruelty is not about saying that this was a fair way to be treated but is focussed instead on letting go and moving forward. In most cases, the other person or people involved don’t even know that we are still carrying those negative memories. In most cases, they have forgotten all about it a long time ago and we are the ones who are still carrying the burden on our shoulders.

If we think that everyone does the best they can with the resources they have and that behaviours are very rarely targeted at us or personal, we can move forward without carrying all that extra baggage and how liberating would that feel?

The Life Coaching column is contributed

by Francine Orr. Francine is an NLP coach, hypnotherapist and reiki practitioner.

She supports people to find real and practical solutions to the things that hold us back in life. Francine usually works within Linlithgow Chiropractic, but currently working online via Skype, FaceTime or Zoom. Please contact her at francine@orrganise.co.uk @KonectMagazines

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The Bo’ness Buoy

a

along the bo’ness

waterfront

The Bo’ness Foreshore

Packed with features of historic and industrial interest, this pushchair and wheelchair-friendly walk starts and finishes at the historic Bo’ness harbour and makes for an easy walk along the paved John Muir way - or a scramble along the rocky foreshore if you time it for low tide.

With scope for beach combing and a choice of eateries before you get back in the car, it ticks all the boxes.

For over 350 years Bo’ness was a bustling centre for trade and industry and most of the features of historical interest around the harbour, town centre and waterfront date to its industrial heyday.

Park in the Union Street Car Park (free parking).

The size of the customs house on Union Street opposite the car park is indicative of the scale of the trade formerly carried out here. Take a moment to stand back and look at it, with its Victorian crest over the central door.

From the car park, cross the railway line and head across the park.

The first thing you see is the big yellow Bo’ness buoy. Renovated in 2017 and made into a time capsule, it was one of three original iron-plate moorings buoys used in Bo’ness dock, which opened in 1881.

Tunnel Commemoration

Beside this, a tunnel sculpture commemorates the 5km long tunnel that ran under the Forth in the 1960s, linking the Valleyfield Colliery in Fife with the processing facilities of Kinneil Colliery.

(The tunnel is subject of another article).

You can walk out on the harbour piers. The harbour is about half its original size, as much was filled in after it finished its working life in the 1960s, but the granite capstones that fringe the harbour and neighbouring dock point to the wealth once generated here. At the end of the East pier you’ll notice the very rusty remains of a lamp. Its lion and unicorn crest is an example of the fine quality ironwork

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produced in Bo’ness. The town has a long tradition of iron founding, and Bo’ness manhole covers can be seen all over the country. The scale of this municipal iron work production has tended to eclipse their top-end work - beautiful ornamental ironwork, from railings for Saudi palaces to boot scrapers.

From here, it’s an easy flat walk along the waymarked John Muir way. We’re on the Linlithgow to South Queensferry section of the John Muir way, so you can go in either direction as far as you like, but for our walk we headed east along the Bo’ness waterfront. The path is suitable for bikes, wheelchairs and prams. We didn’t stay on the path all the way, but hopped on and off, scrambling along the rocky foreshore for much of our walk.

At low tide there is plenty of scope for beach combing or scrambling on the rocks. For decades, the shore here was one long disposal site for artisanal, domestic and industrial waste, and while it has been cleaned up and is now a pleasant walk with great views across to Fife, there is loads of evidence of past industry, and treasures to be found. If you know what you’re looking for, colourful pottery sherds from Bo’ness’s pottery days are amongst the most attractive remnants to be found, mostly between the Upper Forth Boat Club Pier and the waste water treatment works at Carriden.

After about 20 minutes you get to Bridgeness, where one of the remains of industry is the pierhead. It was a north-south stone pier dating back to 1770s. By the mid 1800s it carried a narrow gauge railway track to transport coal direct from the pits to the harbour and onto ships for export.

Bridgeness harbour was filled in during the 1950s, various craft being buried in the process, among them a wooden Baltic Trader, the Nellie Duff, and according to local legend, a U-boat engine room that had been used as a power plant.

Shipbreaking

- In the post war years the upper Forth became a huge park for ships awaiting the cutting torch.

At the end of a vessel’s last voyage, she was taken over to the far side of the Forth, then on a high tide was steamed across at maximum speed to drive her as far as possible up the beach. Anchors were lowered as soon as she came to rest to stop her sliding back into the river. The bows of the huge ships would come almost up to Bridgeness Road.

Much domestic furnishing for local households came off the ships which often arrived equipped right down to cutlery, table linen and bed clothes - manna from heaven in the austerity years after the war.

The early days of iron and steel shipbreaking was tough and dangerous. The ship’s plates had to be removed by chiselling off the rivets one at a time. A chisel with a loose-fitting wire handle, known as a tomahawk, was held against a rivet head by one man and hit with a sledgehammer by another. Punches and wedges drove out the rivets and separated the plates. It was a very risky business for the men involved, with the threat of lead poisoning from the fumes of burning lead paint, danger of falls from high structures, crushing injuries, asbestos lagging and rats in old ships carrying disease.

At Bo’ness the main breaker was W&P McLelland behind Cuthell’s Undertakers in Bridgeness.

The site has been cleared but not redeveloped and sections of ships used as crane bases can be seen. Holdfasts for ship mooring are also evident.

Bridgeness Pierhead

A little further past Bridgeness pierhead are the remains of a staith. Staithes were short piers that enabled coal to be tipped from railway wagons down chutes into ships’ holds. Coal was loaded in Bo’ness harbour but this was bunkers for steamers. The weight of coal and draft of colliers meant they had to be loaded out of @KonectMagazines

BROXBURN | 23

Bridgeness Tower is a B-listed stone building

the harbour on river berths. At both Bridgeness and Kinneil you can still see mines relics, pieces of hutch running gear, rolled steel joist, wire rope and scraps of conveyor belt.

The staith at Bridgeness was the end of our walk. We turned back, and opposite Bridgeness Pierhead we headed up Pier Road into Bridgeness for a quick look at the Tower.

Bridgeness Tower is a B-listed stone building just a few hundred yards up Harbour Road, directly up from the pier. It is now a private home. The earliest record of it goes back to 1749. It was originally built as a windmill to grind corn and pump water from the mines. The top floor and contrasting brick battlements were added in 1895. The narrower tower attached to it houses a spiral staircase supported by three lengths of ship’s mast joined together with a rope hand rail providing access.

Head back to Bo’ness Harbour the way you came on the John Muir Way. Bo’ness offers a few options for refreshments – we went to McMoo’s Ice Cream Parlour, which I can highly recommend, and there are other cafes and restaurants to choose from in town. Or get a fish and chip takeaway and take it down to the harbour to enjoy.

This walk feature was written by Helen-Jane Shearer, with many thanks to Paul Shave, resident of Bo’ness, for permission to reproduce extracts here of his detailed research on the industrial history of the Bo’ness waterfont.

Helen-Jane is the editor of Konect magazines.

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Saying Hamilton took the theatre world by storm is a bit of an understatement. The success of Hamilton honestly blew us all away as hip hop and theatre haven’t really meshed well.

But for almost five years the majority of people have not had the opportunity to be in the room where the show happens as tickets cost an arm and leg. This changed on July 3rd, when Disney released a recording of Hamilton onto Disney+. This contained the original Broadway cast, providing viewers with the ultimate dream performance that money can no longer buy. So, when I clicked play, I finally discovered what I have been missing out on by not seeing the show in person. >> >> Skip 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I was more than just satisfied with Hamilton; I was absolutely blown away. Hamilton is one of the best musicals I have ever seen, and this recording is one of the best filmed stage shows ever produced. The camera work is incredible and the only time it feels like you are watching a stage show is when you hear the crowd reacting to scenes.

All of the acting is fantastic with Leslie Odom Jr. being the true standout but surprisingly creator Lin-Manual Miranda is the weakest of this extraordinary cast.

The songs are incredible and easily get stuck in your head, I have honestly been listening to the soundtrack non-stop since finishing the show and I can’t wait to re-watch it and experience it again.

The Film Review is contributed by Robert Ewing. Robert is passionate about film as an art form, and shining a light on films that may not be on people’s radar. Robert is from Kirknewton.

LOCAL LAB

Riccarton Estate

Watt a Clever Cow

se Riccarton Hou

Every year I look forward to Doors Open Day and the opportunities to explore hidden spaces and indulge my natural nosiness! This year, Doors Open Day will still take place in Edinburgh over the weekend of the 26th and 27th September but the doors will largely stay closed and access will be mostly virtual.

For me, this will be my first Doors Open Day working as Heriot-Watt’s Curator and as I’ve been working at home since I started in April, a virtual tour feels like a logical extension.

The tour of the campus focuses on the old buildings that remain from the Riccarton Estate and the various pieces of sculpture around the campus that can be seen outdoors. We’ve included clips from Google maps as well as an actual map to allow you to place each item in its location on the campus. The tour will be accessible through the Doors Open Day website, www.doorsopendays.org.uk.

If a virtual tour just doesn’t cut it for you, however, all of the elements in the tour can @KonectMagazines

also be viewed in person as Heriot-Watt’s Riccarton campus is open for visitors to discover. The map in the presentation will help you find your way around and discover our lovely campus.

Find out who Leonard Horner was and what his connection to the University was. Did you know that old country houses often had fire ponds for use in fighting fires and that there’s still one on the campus? And you’ll be amazed by how many gardeners there used to be on the estate. If the tour piques your curiosity there’s lots to discover about the University’s history and heritage collection on the website, www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/ is/heritage/our-heritage

A virtual Doors Open Day still has plenty for you to discover and think how many more places you’ll be able to visit virtually, not just in Edinburgh, but each weekend throughout September in different spots around Scotland, all from the comfort of your own home!

Julia Stephen is the Curator at Heriot-Watt University.

The Local Lab column is contributed monthly by Heriot-Watt University to engage the public in a range of their research projects.

The Local Lab column is contributed by Heriot-Watt University to engage the public in a range of their research projects.

BROXBURN | 25

Time to get going again!?

During lockdown all we had was time. Nothing but time… and the pressure to find things to do with the kids that would fill the unknown number of days stretching ahead of us.

And at the same time there wasn’t enough time. Not enough time in the day to work and home school and learn a new skill (as apparently we were supposed to be doing with all the free time we suddenly had…or not as the case may be).

Either way time seemed to stand still for a while. But now the clock has started ticking again. Yet still I find myself thinking about how we are spending our days.

Before this pandemic our days were full. I spent my time rushing between work and school and the kids’ activities. I wanted to make sure they didn’t miss out on opportunities or things they wanted to try. I was always frantically shovelling food into

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them and racing out the door to the next thing.

The path out of lockdown has been slow and all these activities haven’t really kicked off again yet. But now that the kids are back at school I can see it looming ahead of us.

And truth be told I’m not sure I really want to jump back on that hamster wheel.

My eldest brought home a worksheet from her first day back at school with questions about her “time away”: What was the most fun thing you did? What are you most proud of? What have you missed the most?

want to drop local activity providers like a hot potato when they are desperate to get their livelihoods back up and running.

But if 2020 has given me anything positive it’s a new perspective (sounds totally cheesy I know) and a need to find a better balance in our lives going forward. Starting with less rushing about, and more making the most of the family time we have together.

It occurred to me as we talked about it that all the things she came up with were things we probably wouldn’t be able to do much any more if we went back to the way things were.

And she hadn’t really missed any of those activities that made our life so busy.

So while I vow to support local businesses as much as I can - hopefully doing my bit to ensure there is light at the end of this tunnel for all of us - I am determined not to get sucked back into the vortex of too many after-school activities.

First step – reclaiming our weekends!

So as my inbox fills up with emails from various dance and drama and swimming teachers telling me how excited they are so get started again…I’ve found a new source of mum guilt. I don’t want to deprive my kids of activities they love, and I don’t

The parenting column is contributed by Laura Archibald. Laura lives in West Lothian with her family and their campervan Hank. She is mummy, wife, blogger and full-time personal assistant to her two girlie girls. @KonectMagazines

CROSSWORD

Solution in the March edition of Konect

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SUDOKU Sudoku Solution on Page 30

PUZZLES

ACROSS: 1. Hairy and unkempt (6), 4. Detector (6), 9. Make comprehensible (7), 10. Vagabond (5), 11. Fear greatly (5), 12. Empowered (7), 13. Sections (11), 18. Replicating (7), 20.

Ransack (5), 22. Presses (5), 23. Where plays are performed (7), 24. Required (6), 25. Remained (6).

DOWN: 1. Firm (6), 2. Round fleshy fruit (5), 3. Your parent’s mother (7), 5. Surplus (5), 6. Type of onion (7), 7. Fast running waterways (6), 8. Make inquiries (11), 14. Detonate (7), 15. Sincere (7), 16. Activity (6), 17. Rely upon (6), 19. Publication (5), 21. Not lean (5).

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PROPERTY MATTERS

Since the re-opening of the property market in June, sales activity across West Lothian has been nothing short of spectacular! This was predicted in the usual city ‘hot spots’ however I doubt anyone could have expected the market to bounce back quite so strongly.

This is of course great news for sellers, with more closing dates set in July than in any previous year and many ceiling prices across West Lothian reaching new levels. But what does this market mean for buyers, and how can they best navigate and negotiate the current conditions?

In a ‘seller’s market’, the biggest challenge buyers face is competition from other buyers, and when properties are attracting interest from multiple parties, the position of each buyer can be the difference between a successful purchase or losing out.

Only by fully understanding a buyer’s needs in context can an agent direct that buyer to the most suitable homes. A deeper understanding of buyers also means that the agent can discover what has prompted the move, the likely timescale involved, and whether there are related sale or finance issues to be addressed.

This is where the skills of a good estate agent come in, and part of an estate agent’s job is to identify the most able and motivated buyers. The issue for agents in the current market is not a lack of buyer enquiries, but which of those enquiries will turn out to be

serious and in the best position to introduce and recommend to their selling clients.

With the market moving so quickly and demand for properties so high, closing dates have become very common. This process is still a very popular and fair method of buying and selling properties in Scotland, allowing buyers to submit offers on a set date and time.

The primary aim of the agent is to achieve the best price for the seller. However, when multiple offers are received and competition is strong, the decision on which offer to accept doesn’t always go to the highest bidder. A buyer in a strong ‘position’ can be more appealing to a seller if they are, for example ‘chain free’, under offer, in rented accommodation, sold, first time buyers, funds in place etc, even if the price they have offered is not the highest.

When registering with an agent or enquiring about a property, make sure you provide as much information to the agent as possible and be guided by their advice on maximising your buying position. A successful sale does not depend solely on the suitability of the property, but also on whether the buyer’s circumstances are compatible with those of the seller.

The monthly Property Matters column is contributed by Craig Turpie. Craig is a director at Turpie & Co Estate Agents and Letting Agents with extensive knowledge of the West Lothian Property Market and over 20 years experience in bespoke sales and marketing.

Website: www.turpies.com 28 | BROXBURN

| Tel: 01506 668448 | Social Media:

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SOLUTIONS

Still very much here for all our carers, young carers and disabled adults

SOLUTION TO AUGUST CROSSWORD

Over the past few months we have adapted how we provide a service to our unpaid carers and disabled adult service users.

We successfully moved all our support groups to Zoom, and have seen service users engage with us who have not in a long time. The groups include our weekly Coffee Morning and Young Carers groups; and our monthly groups include mental health support, our evening support group, bereaved carers and our young adult carers. We have also held our disability social groups through Zoom.

We ‘ve introduced a virtual Power of Attorney Clinic and Benefits Advice Clinic. These services had been on hold and we wanted to get them back up and running as they are still very much needed.

Our counselling service is also still going strong, also available via Zoom/telephone.

We recognise that times are tough, and thanks

both to people donating their time and through our own donations fund we’ve been able to offer a lot of activities: dancercise, tai chi and mindfulness, fortnightly entertainment such as a magic show, quizzes (where prizes have been won), a silent disco – we have something planned right up until Christmas!

We have held two afternoon tea for 80 service users. It was so nice being able to chat with them in person.

Our young carers received activity packs through out the summer and participated in our online ‘Olympic Games’.

We provide PPE for unpaid carers and personal assistants providing personal care. Service users just need to call us and if they meet the criteria, and we will deliver it.

ACROSS: 1. Crop, 3. Opponent, 9. Mistake, 10. Chess, 11. Enthusiastic, 13. Casual, 15. Morsel, 17. Dictionaries, 20. Lunar, 21. Silence, 22. Speeding, 23. Orbs.

DOWN: 1. Commerce, 2. Onset, 4. Poetic, 5. Occasionally, 6. Eyelids, 7. Toss, 8. Manufactured, 12. Clusters, 14. Science, 16. Loosen, 18. Inner, 19. Plus.

SOLUTION TO AUGUST SUDOKU

SOLUTION TO SUDOKU ON PAGE 25

Volunteers at Carers of West Lothian For more information please contact Carers of West Lothian: 01506 448005 office@carers-westlothian.com www.carers-westlothian.com 30 | BROXBURN

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