Konect Livingston August 2021

AUGUST 2021

TECHNOLOGY: LOCAL HISTORY:

A FLY-THROUGH OF

HISTORICAL

HOWDEN

LOCAL WALK:

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THIS ISSUE

A

s I write this we’re still in the wonderful spell of warm weather that has made the staycation season very pleasant, and exploration of the local area continues!

It’s been a while since we printed a local history article, and there are two in this issue! One is the walk feature that has some historical links and goes up into the Pentlands from near Kirknewton.

It’s a very nice walk even if you’re not interested in the history. The other is a flythrough of historical Howden, which like most of the place names in Livingston, is an ancient estate.

All our usual columns are here from our wonderful local contributors and experts.

I hope you enjoy them in this issue, as ever, please let me know what you think.

P28 History: A fly-through of historical Howden......8 Thought for the Month: Pause............................16 Hair: The truth about heat styling......................16 Living Well: Help & support for dementia.......19 Technology: Is my phone listening to me?....28 Property Matters: Buy first or sell?....................32 Garden Project: Turn glut into delight..............35 Puzzles.......................................................................38 Local Environment: Broen Hare........................40 Parenting: One ride away from a good mood!.........................................................................42 Film Review: In The Heights................................43 Local Walk: An ancient drover’s route.............44

COVER IMAGE: A fly-through of historical Howden. See P8-9.

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In fact, in a charter dated 1593, to James Douglas of Nether Houdoun and his wife Jonet Kinloch, it states that the heritage of the Houdoun estate had been in James’s family ultra hominum memoriam.

It was previously two separate estates of Wester (or Over) Howden, and Nether Howden. Nether Howden included the lands of the Craigs south of the Almond (Craigshill) and according to many records was in the hands of the Douglases, first as tenants then as owners, for centuries before passing on to other families in the late 1600s.

In 1566 Johnne Dowglas (Douglas) of Howden was cited to “appear before the King and Ouenis Majesteis to answer to sic thingis as salbe laid to their charge touching the murder of David Riccio.” There were several from the Barony of Calder, under which the Howden estate served, apparently at the Palace of Holyrood that night involved in the infamous murder of Riccio, secretary to Mary Queen of Scots.

These were turbulent times in many ways.

Shortly after this incident, Scotland was governed by the regents of James VI and there was a lot of religious tension. In a well-recorded military display (wappinshaw, or weaponshowing) that took place in the parish in August 1586, both Robert Douglas of Over Howden and James Douglas of Nether Howden are on the list of the vassals of the Barony of Calder, required to present themselves and their available weaponry.

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Howden Toll, with smithy and associated houses on the opposite side of the road A private incident at Howden made its way into the records of the Privy Council in 1601, when a complaint was raised that a certain William Borthwick turned up at nine o-clock in the morning on 7th May with some accomplices and killed two horses and wounding the ploughmen. It may have been settling a score, or an unprovoked incident.

The stone bridge at Howden dates from 1764 and was built as part of the new Great Turnpike Road linking Edinburgh to Glasgow via Mid Calder and Shotts. There was a toll bar just south of Howden Bridge, located on the road to Mid Calder (approximately where the A899 underpass is now) and an associated toll cottage. The turnpike roads were run by trusts which managed the collection of tolls to fund the maintenance of the roads.

Toll-keepers were employed at the turnpike locations and the role generally came with a cottage on site. The role of toll-keeper was ideal for women (often widows), as it provided a home for their children who would help with the toll gates which needed to be staffed 24/7.

Howden Toll cottage was located on what is currently the grassy patch where the footpath leads up to the A899 slip road towards Lizzie Bryce’s strip. A small community grew up around Howden Toll during the century that it was operational, including a smithy to serve the needs of the passing traffic. @KonectMagazines

Photo reproduced with permission of Almond Valley Heritage Trust, www.scottishshale.co.uk

Howden is an ancient local place name, mentioned in court records in the 1500s and doubtless existing long before.

Within a century though, tolls had been declared an “unfair mode of assessment for the maintenance of the public highways” and in 1860 a Royal Commission recommended that turnpike trusts be abolished. Here though as in some other places, vested interests ensured that the old system continued for some time. In 1875, Perhaps knowing the tolls were about to be abolished, on 4th August 1875 four local carters approached the gate around midday and forced their way through, with a number of horses, and no intention of paying the toll. There was a young woman in control of the gate at the time.

She reported that the horses galloped through so quickly that it was impossible to count them and was subsequently only able to identify two of the defendants, who were fined ten shillings each.

The toll cottage survived into the 1960s, but was demolished prior to the building of Almond viaduct taking the A899 over the Almond here.

The weir immediately below Howden Bridge was built to power a grain mill and later, New Calder Paper Mill. You can see the beginning of the old lade, which ran under where is now the New Calder housing estate.

Rock ramp for salmon 2019.

There are no remains of previous building on the Howden estates,

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but Howden House as we see it today was completed around 1770. It changed hands a few times; a couple of notable owners were Henry Raeburn, son of artist Sir Henry Raeburn, and later, the daughter of local industrialist James Young. She lived here until her death in 1931.

Just after midnight on Tuesday 25 June 1940 a bomb fell on the coach house and stables of Howden House, killing two people, a woman and her 10 year old grandaughter.

These were the first civilians to be killed on the Scottish mainland in the Second World War, and West Lothian’s only deaths by bombing.

Howden House was purchased in 1946 by the Ministry of Agriculture, who used the estate to test new agricultural machinery then purchased by Livingston Development Corporation in 1966 for use as a community centre and meeting rooms. It fell into disrepair until it was saved by developers and turned into private housing.

This article was contributed by Helen-Jane, editor of Konect, with thanks to Almond Valley Heritage Trust for permission to reproduce their research on the Howden Toll stampede and the photo of the toll cottage. www.scottishshale.co.uk

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Heat styling gets a bad rep when it comes to the condition of your hair. The truth is yes, it can cause damage, but generally this is down to over-use, misuse and using poor quality or very hot electrical equipment.

An efficient heat protection spray or lotion before you blow dry will actually work wonders, and ideally a spritz before you straighten or curl. This means when you run a heat styling product over your hair it will take the moisture from your protection rather than from your hair.

A common misconception is that leaving your hair to dry naturally is much better than blow drying and it’s not necessarily the case. When you blow dry the main purpose is to detangle the hair and shut the cuticle.

This is what keeps the hair strong and with the correct products and ultimately being gentle to the hair will actually be much better than simply leaving the hair to dry naturally.

I recommend finding a product that does it all, ‘Oiall in one milk’ from Davines will protect from heat, add moisture, shine, hold, volume, Detangle and add a fragrance of Roucou oil.

Perfect for blow drying most hair types and also ideal to help close the cuticle if you want to leave it natural.

The Hair column is contributed by Sophie Laidlaw. Sophie is Director @wonderland Livingston.www.wonderlandlivingston.com 16 | LIVINGSTON

As a regular meditator, one of the most important aspects of practice in daily life is to be able to practice the pause.

This has become something I have learnt to cultivate 90% of the time. When difficulties or strong emotions arise, frustration is often felt in the body, therefore practicing the pause is essential to prevent reactivity that can be hurtful to yourself or another or both.

The action of learning to pause helps us to drop into the body and when we do, the option to have a conscious breath, to feel the breath slowly enter and release from the body, two or three times really helps.

On the out -breath we can connect to any tension that has arisen and invite a sense of releasing on the out-breath. The pause also offers us the opportunity to make a wise choice about how we would like to be in the next moment - reactive versus responsive.

If anger is present, it can be like holding a hot coal in your own hand and throwing to someone else, both of you get hurt. When you adopt the pause, you are no longer in possession of the hot coal.

As we come out of lockdown, fears and frustrations have the potential to create reactivity. Embrace practicing the pause and see for yourself the difference this can bring into your life. Simply stop, breath, drop into the body, release and notice the benefits this simply activity can bring.

Tina Gilbert lives in Livingston and teaches** yoga and meditation. Visit her website at www.yogamed.co.uk (**All my classes are currently running online) @KonectMagazines

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LIVING WELL

Where to get support when caring for someone with

D ementia

It’s natural to worry about a friend or loved one who may be living with dementia, but it’s important to remember that you’re not alone.

Home Instead specialise in the provision of Dementia Care and through our work we have identified great local and national organisations and fantastic resources that provide sound advice and support for people caring for someone with dementia.

• Alzheimer’s Scotland : provide a wide range of advice, support and groups/dementia cafes: alzscot.org, WestLothianServices@ alzscot.org, 01506 533 108 • West Lothian Council Advice Shop, Bathgate Partnership Centre: 01506 283000 • Carers of West Lothian : provides support and information to those caring for someone: carers-westlothian.com, 01506 448000

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• Alzheimer’s Society : alzheimers.org.uk, 0333 150 3456 • Talking Point : Alzheimer’s Society’s online community and discussion forum for anyone affected by dementia: alzheimers.org.uk/forum • Alzheimer’s Research UK : alzheimersresearchuk.org, 0300 111 5555 • Age Scotland : ageuk.org.uk/scotland, 0333 32 32 400 • DementiaUK:dementiauk.org,0800 888 6678 • NHS : nhs.uk/conditions/dementia • Dementia Carer : dementiacarer.net, 0114 296 6229 • Dementia Friends : dementiafriends.org.uk, 0300 222 5855 • Deepness Dementia Radio : deepnessdementiamedia.com, 01851 810 789 If you are concerned that a loved one may have dementia, it is important to encourage them to go and visit their GP who will be able to advise you and help you to seek a diagnosis.

You can also contact your local Home Instead office for advice and support on 01506 539541 or by visiting homeinstead.co.uk/livingston

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LIVINGSTON | 27

Is My Phone Listening To Me? I’ve been asked this countless times and the answer? A very resounding no.

However reality is far more worrying and complex than most people realise.

Simply, the advertisers are in a hidden bidding war for your attention. You and your data are a valuable commodity and the more specifically you can be targeted then the more you’re worth to them. So the reason that ad about the thing you were only just talking about pops up on your news feed is all thanks to the little discussed topic of data harvesting and profile building – your attention has just been sold to the highest bidder.

The term ‘personal data’ is usually associated with information such as addresses and bank details but this is nothing compared to the actual data held on you. Just last year Facebook and Instagram were in hot water for using biometric data such as facial recognition to profile their users. That means that they can recognise your face in any picture or video anywhere, anytime. Couple that with the monitoring of browsing activity, social media posts, search-engine queries and even what you ask your Alexa or Google Assistant and companies can build a profile very specific to you and use this to entice advertisers to buy your advertising spots.

Device location data (often running permanently in the background) enables companies to pinpoint other devices in your vicinity, how often you’re with that person and how regularly you communicate. They know where you’ve been and the people you have in common so can target you with what you’re most likely to engage with. If the friend you’ve just seen for coffee has been looking at holidays recently, chances are you’ll have discussed it. That makes 28 | LIVINGSTON

you prime target for ads about breaks away and before you know it you’ll be booking your next holiday too.

We’re all guilty of clicking ‘agree’ to cookies and terms and conditions without reading them first, but it’s important to realise that in doing so you’re often giving permissions for invasive tracking. Many apps readily admit to using your location to target you with custom advertisements, but they don’t make it clear that your data may then be sold to a third-party who will analyse the places you’ve visited to make future ads even more targeted and relevant.

Organisations and institutions have a responsibility to ensure that they’re using the correct methods for managing personal data in a way that’s compliant with regulations. However, as individuals we also need to be conscious of how much we’re giving away. Think before you consent and be aware of tracking in apps.

Simple steps can put barriers in place preventing such invasive profiles being built and you might just realise your phone was never actually listening …. it didn’t ever have to.

This column is contributed by Eve Wardman, co-founder and director of Wardman UK Ltd, the Lothian’s premier IT and Microsoft Cloud Solutions provider.

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LIVINGSTON | 31

PROPERTY MATTERS

Buy First or Sell?

Be calm and strategic in current market conditions!

It’s the classic dilemma for homeowners wishing to sell their property and buy another; which do you do first, buy or sell?

The pros and cons of each approach are highlighted and exacerbated by the current market, which is characterised by a shortage of properties and fierce competition to buy.

In these conditions, buyers who have already sold their home have an advantage over those who haven’t when it comes to getting an offer accepted on a property.

But many are understandably reluctant to put their home on the market knowing that it could sell very quickly and leave them in a difficult position of not being able to find a suitable home to purchase.

Launching a new property campaign can take anything between 7-10 days, which can be a long time in current market conditions.

If you decide not to put your home on the market until you’ve found one to buy, there is a high probability that you will miss out and it could be weeks or even months before another suitable property becomes available.

So what can buyers do to put themselves in a strong position to make a compelling offer and increase their attractiveness to sellers whilst reducing the risks to themselves?

A strategic move is to position themselves as “market ready sellers” when making an offer on a property.

This means appointing an Estate Agent to prepare photographs, videos, floor plans and all marketing material now, in order

to be ready to go at short notice with your campaign as soon as you secure your next property to purchase. With the campaign already prepared, you can be on the market within a couple of days of making an offer on your next home. An offer on this basis is much more attractive than one from a buyer whose home is not yet ready to market, and could be the difference between securing the purchase or not.

Getting external photographs and videos taken now, during the summer months, also has the added advantage of being the time when most homes and gardens are looking their very best.

It’s a well-known fact that you only get one chance to create the best first impression.

Rushing the house to market under pressure may result in compromised marketing material if the weather isn’t the best for photographs, or you’ve not had time to prepare the property properly; it could be detrimental to the price you can command for it.

The difference between an expensive purchase and cheap sale could cost as much as 20% more than the cost of a move in more controlled circumstances.

So be “market ready”: get your campaign prepared now, retain control on the timing, increase the strength of your buying position, and achieve the best price for your home.

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.

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Turn your garden glut into a dish of delight!

some minced beef, cook the meat for 5 minutes.

Mix ingredients in bowl with finely chopped thyme, marjoram, lemon juice and black pepper.

Stuff mixture into hollow vegetables, drizzle with oil and cook in oven at 180c for 30 minutes. 10 minutes before end place slice of blue cheese on top of each vegetable.

This month the fruits (and vegetables) of your labour suddenly appear as quickly as tennis balls fly out of the server machine.

It’s lovely being able to share them with family and friends but it’s even more satisfying eating them yourself. We have a purple piglet project with recipe ideas for apples, tomatoes, courgettes and grapes to help you ring the changes in how you consume any gluts from the garden. Pick the leaflet up next time you are in.

Stuffed Courgette, Pepper and Tomatoes is a recipe that appears in our leaflet Tuscan Potager to Plate. Round courgettes are as easy to stuff as tomatoes and peppers. Scoop out the centres and add this to some chopped onion already fried in oil. Cook until tender and replace with

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Stuffed Courgette

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

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LIVINGSTON | 37

PUZZLES

CROSSWORD

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LIVINGSTON | 39

LOCAL ENVIRONMENT

What long ears you have We’re all familiar with the story of the tortoise and the hare but did you know the brown hare can reach speeds of up to 45mph if running from predators.

Sorry tortoise, but you don’t stand a chance!

Whilst brown hares were an introduced species, this dates back to the Roman times (or even earlier) and are therefore considered a naturalised species, meaning they receive the same protection through wildlife acts as our native species. Sadly, brown hare are the victims of wildlife crime through an activity known as hare coursing.

I’ll spare everyone the grim details but it’s important to me to let people know of these activities, which unfortunately does go on in the Lothians.

They can be found in a huge variety of habitats from wide open fields, cutting their way through the grass to dense woodland.

A great time to see them is in early spring, when you might be lucky enough to see them boxing. This is one of their mating rituals and is usually a female rebuking the 40 | LIVINGSTON

advances of an amorous male. It can be a prolonged affair, and I’ve watched them cover huge distances in the fields as the flirting continues.

This hare was photographed in local fields and as it ran closer, I held my breath in case it heard me, but it thankfully passed in front, and scampered off into the distance leaving me with a lovely memory of a wonderful encounter.

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. Follow them on Facebook @ScottishSistersPhotography @KonectMagazines

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LIVINGSTON | 41

PARENTING

You are one ride away from a good mood!

Learning to ride a bike is like a rite of passage. And one of those parenting challenges that many both look forward to and dread in equal measure.

Once your kids can ride a bike it’s tempting to think, job done.

But it’s well worth seeing it through beyond just learning to ride because what comes next is the really fun part.

I don’t know about you but that moment when our youngest was first able to properly ride a bike with pedals was an absolute game changer. We were finally able to go on family bike rides. Although it was a bit like the transition from crawling to walking – suddenly rather than speeding about on hands and knees the first steps are exciting but a lot of hard work for not much forward progress When they first ride a bike it’s the same; little legs lack muscle power especially on anything but flat ground, and their pedalling range is shorter and slower than you’d like.

It’s frustrating for everyone, especially older siblings fed up of hanging around waiting. But pedalling power builds very quickly and within a few weeks they’re getting up wee hills that defeated them initially.

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Obviously, convincing kids that riding downhill is fun isn’t tricky. Getting them back up the other side is a greater challenge. But through a combination of pushing, persuasion, cajoling and good old-fashioned bribery you can get your kids to the top of the hill.

The key is to help them see what fun biking can be. That it’s not just a means to an end; a way to get to the park or to their friend’s house. It opens up a whole new world of activities and places to explore.

For me taking the kids out on their bikes is one of those times when parenthood offers free license to regress to being a kid yourself. Seeing and experiencing it through their eyes.

There are loads of paths and trails around West Lothian and you can always find something new to do to make it interesting. Last summer we challenged ourselves to cycle from Livingston to Almondell Country Park in East Calder.

We checked a map before we set off to make sure it was achievable via waymarked paths and pavements and set off to explore.

This summer we took the kids to explore the Beecraigs Mountain Bike Trails. They’re not ready for anything crazy but there were plenty of green routes (the easy ones) to follow that gave them a taste of what going off-road can be like!

Cycling or mountain biking is a great way to get the kids outdoors and getting some exercise (even if they don’t realise it) and no matter how much moaning there might be at the start of a bike ride everyone’s always in a good mood at the end!

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

Last year everyone had the opportunity to see the musical phenomena Hamilton, but before Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda created the hit musical In the Heights which has just had a film adaptation release.

If there is anything in common between In the Heights and Hamilton it’s the incredible music. There isn’t a bad song throughout and I can’t wait to buy the soundtrack like right now. The opening 8-minute number is fantastic and spans from Latin inspired music, to rap music. It’s simply incredible. Another stand-out song is Blackout, which is chaotic

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and energetic, but it perfectly fits the tone of the scene and the story.

However, when we move away from the music, this is when the flaws rear their ugly heads. I felt the story was very weak; nothing interesting happened over the span of the 2 hour and 30-minute runtime. The stage show is 2 hours long so you would think the additional 30 minutes would add to the interest but instead scenes are taken out only to be replaced with boring and half-baked ideas. There’s a song called 96,000 which happens 45 minutes in; the song announces that the winning lottery was bought in the store but who won isn’t revealed until a 1 hour and 10 minutes later. It plays no impact to the overall plot, so the plot line feels pointless. Did I enjoy watching In the Heights? Yes. Will I listen to the soundtrack on repeat? Yes. Will I watch the film 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.

LIVINGSTON | 43

FOLLOW AN ROUTE

’S

This walk follows a section of an historic cattle droving route, starting just off the Lang Whang near Kirknewton.

Beginning of the walk at Selm Muir

Today’s breeds would not be able to take the long roads that these earlier, extremely hardy Highland cattle did

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the droving of cattle from the Highlands to England was a massive business requiring very hardy and skilled drovers. This route would have been trodden by tens of thousands of cattle every year, along with their handlers and would-be thieves. Today, it’s a very quiet walk that offers varied terrain and some lovely views, and can be taken in sections for shorter walks, or a long walk all the way through the Pentlands if you arrange return transport from West Linton.

From the A71, turn right at the B7031 Station Road towards Kirknewton, then right again onto Leyden Road. The walk starts at the entrance to Selm Muir wood, which is on the right hand side 1.3 miles along Leyden Road.

There is space for a small number of cars at the entrance to the wood. Signage indicates the wood and the path to “Little Vantage and Thieves Road.”

After a short distance of flat path, a route marker on the left indicates a stile to cross into the fields. (There is often livestock in these fields, so this walk is best done without a dog or with them on a short leash). Past the farm and Hilly Cow Wigwams, the route climbs gently back towards the A70.

As you crest the hill behind the farm there are lovely views of the range of the Pentlands. The route is waymarked through the open fields here and short boardwalks are in place where it tends to get boggy.

Descending down to the A70 and over the stile next to a Scottish Water installation, cross the A70 and pick up the path signed the Cauldstane Slap and Thieves Road.

This spot is called Little Vantage. There is a car park here, and for a shorter walk you

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can begin or end here, either retracing your steps to Selm Muir or starting here and going up into the Pentlands.

PETTY THEFTS: LITTLE VANTAGE was the site of a coaching inn and farm dating from the early 18th century. It’s hard to imagine as it has such a remote feeling now, but there was also a toll house here (this was the Edinburgh - Lanark turnpike road) and at one point a school nearby with 40 pupils. Census records show that in1849 Elizabeth Wilson, a worker at Harperrig, was convicted for the crime of stealing a tumbler and two brass candle snuffers from Little Vantage Inn, and, in view of her three previous convictions for minor crime, was sentenced to 7 years transportation. In 1857 Walter Gray, a water company labourer, was found guilty of stealing a plaid and a cravat from the kitchen of Little Vantage Inn and sentenced to 20 days imprisonment.

Heading up into the Pentlands from Little Vantage it’s a fairly challenging hill walk. Follow the path along the line of the old dyke. The terrain is moorland which can be very muddy in places, and although there are some stepping stones and boards to help you, they can be quite slippery when it’s wet so take care. The route takes you over a small bridge over the water of Leith and uphill through fields of cattle and into the heather moorland. The two peaks ahead of you are East Cairn Hill and West Cairn Hill, and the gap between them is the Cauldstane Slap. At this point you can take the left path up to East Cairn Hill, or right to West Cairn Hill. From each of these vantage points you will get a great view of the Pentlands, West Lothian, Harperrig Reservoir and across to Fife. If you’re really lucky on a clear day you can see across Stirlingshire to

the Highlands beyond. You may even decide to do both peaks!

After admiring the views from the Cairns, you can either retrace your steps back down to Little Vantage, or continue on to West Linton – in which case you will need to have made arrangements for someone to pick you up, as this is realistically a one-way walk. The downhill track is not too well marked to start with but it gradually becomes wider, and passing Baddinsgill Farm it becomes a metalled road down to West Linton, where you can get refreshments while you wait for your lift to collect you! There are also buses from West Linton into Edinburgh.

Drovers would have walked around 10 miles per day, with their dogs and the cattle, sleeping near their cattle at night to protect them. But thieves and cattle reivers harassed them regularly, giving this route through the Pentlands, and others like it, the nickname “Thieves’ Road.”

VIOLENT THEFTS: Alone up in the heather you can easily imagine that centuries ago this was a lawless and dangerous place - one that merited the building of the castle stronghold at Cairns. You can glimpse the remains of Cairns Castle (in private ownership) at the far side of Harperrig reservoir as you head up into the hills from Little Vantage. Sir George Crichton of Carnys, who built the castle in around 1440, charged himself with the security of this pass through the Pentlands.

The gap in the hills here made it easy for thieves to break in and steal livestock on the Cairns and Colzium estates, and numerous raids are recorded, notably one August in 1600 when a band of thieves raided land which is now under Harperrig reservoir, taking cattle and horses and killing their keepers.

This article was contributed by Helen-Jane, editor of Konect magazines @KonectMagazines

LIVINGSTON | 45

SOLUTIONS

SPORTS, HOBBIES, LEARNING, SUPPORT GROUPS & MORE...

CHOOSE YOU YOGA STUDIO & WELLNESS HUB - Dedicated yoga studio in Carmondean, Livingston.

Build strength, flexibility and resilience, and support mental health, joint pain/illness/injury recovery.

Vinyasa Flow: Tues 6.00pm-7.00pm & Tues 7.20pm-8.20pm; Seasonal Yoga: Wed 5.30pm-6.30pm; Tai-chi: Thurs 9.30am-10.45am; Yoga: Thurs 7.30pm-8.45pm; Yoga: Fri 9.45am11.00am. Carmondean, Livingston.

Email: info@chooseyouyoga.co.uk Tel.: 07810 824 195 www.chooseyouyoga.co.uk or on Facebook CROCHET CLUB WORKSHOPS (MONTHLY) - 6.00pm-9.00pm • 2nd Wednesday of the month Craigsfarm, Craigshill • 3rd Monday of the month - Gooey Events Livingston Village If you'd like to learn a new craft, or build your crochet abilities - this is the club for you! Learn a new crochet project each month with expert tuition on hand. Beginners encouraged! No commitment, Just book your space each month by contacting Leigh at 07715 251123 / thecolourdasher@ gmail.com (£25 - materials provided) DOWN TO EARTH YOGA AND MASSAGE - Yoga for everyone regardless of age, sex or your flexibility level. Private sessions available or spread the cost and practice with a friend/s. No experience necessary and beginners are welcomed.

Massage in a warm welcoming safe environment. Choose from a clothed floor based Thai Yoga Massage or an oil massage on a table with hints of Swedish and Thai fusion.

Contact Kirsty to book on 07936 925040. Quote ‘Konect’ for £10 off first treatment or session.

CARERS OF WEST LOTHIAN - Support and social activities for Carers, Young Carers and Disabled Adults. Services currently via Zoom/ phone: weekly Coffee Morning; monthly Mental Health Support Group, Evening Support Group & Bereaved Carer Support Group as well as groups for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers. Regular Social Groups for Adults with disabilities.

46 | LIVINGSTON

SOLUTION TO JULY CROSSWORD

Virtual Power of Attorney Clinic & Benefits Advice and Counselling.

For information: Tel.: 01506 448000 Email: office@carers-westlothian.com Website: www.carers-westlothian.com GENERATION ARTS - Creative activities for people aged 50 and over, either living at home or in care with complex needs. Online and offline activities in West Lothian such as a dance dvd, art demos, reminiscence, recipes, music and song playlists, dance and song classes. Creative activity and learning can unlock memories and skills that have been lost and creates a spark of joy for all.

Contact generationarts.coordinator@ gmail.com or phone 07521 358 239 for further information.

MACMILLAN CANCER INFORMATION & SUPPORT - A free, confidential service providing a ‘listening ear’, emotional and practical support, help to access benefits/ financial advice and other local services. We also provide expert and easy-to-understand information on a range of cancer-related topics, which can be sent free of charge. For anyone affected by cancer – yourself, a relative, friend or carer of someone with cancer.

ACROSS: 1. Chateau, 5. Raced, 8. Identical, 9. Ode, 10. Eaten, 12. Mirrors, 13. Relationships, 15. Instant, 17. Ahead, 19. Who, 20. Ambulance, 22. Yield, 23. Enthral.

DOWN: 1. Crime, 2. Ale, 3. Extinct, 4. Uncomfortable, 5. Ruler, 6. Crocodile, 7. Dresses, 11. Telescope, 13. Railway, 14. Scarlet, 16. Award, 18. Dwell, 21 Nor.

SOLUTION TO SUDOKU ON PAGE 38

At present we are available by phone, email or online appointment.

Please call 01506 283053 or email MacmillanWestLothian@westlothian. gov.uk

WEST LOTHIAN 50 PLUS NETWORK - Social activities for the over fifties. Run largely by volunteers we offer a wide range of interest groups to help you stay fit and healthy in both mind and body, whilst socialising with others. Something for everyone, but, more importantly, the chance to meet up and join in with old friends or make new friends along the way. Annual joining fee £10. Follow our Facebook page, visit www.westlothian50plusnetwork.co.uk or call 01506 635510.

To include your Club or Class, please email details, up to 75 words, to editor@konect.scot

Not-for-profit groups are FREE. There is a small charge for businesses. See www.konect.scot for information.

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We do not endorse any advertisers in this publication. All material is accepted for publication on the understanding it is copyright free. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior consent of the publisher.

Publisher: Lothian Publications Ltd. Geddes House, Kirkton North, Livingston, West Lothian EH54 6GU. Magazine Design: Universal Appeal Ltd. M: 07729 911858 W: www.universal-appeal.com E: info@universal-appeal.com

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