West Lothian

I was there the day the Forth Bridge opened. Minox 16mm negative.

Several photos from 1975/6. My favourite shot of the shale bings near West Calder. This one was taken using infrared film. Edited again in 2013.

In the distance there are two lonely streets on the hillside, namely Napier Avenue and Crosshill Drive. In the foreground, in front of St Mary's Academy, is British Leyland's truck factory - if memory serves me well.

Further east along the same hill side is the Boghall housing estate. On top of the hill is Whitelaw Drive and Limefield Crescent and Place. Boghall's streets are all named after the Royal Family - except for Cowan Street.

Note the complete absence of pirate CDs in this picture. I don't think CDs had been invented when I took this shot. There weren't any home computers just yet.

I wandered about this place before it was open and was intrigued by the geometry.

Sort of a '70s selfie

Signs of the seventies in Livingston Mall

Signs of the seventies in Livingston Mall - a wider view

'70s black & white negatives 1st scanned 1999 on a Nikon Coolscan. 5½ years later, scanned again at 1200DPI and edited down to screen size.

Facing south across the River Almond. That's me, standing in the shadows.

This picture also features yours truly in 1977.

Vertical format better suits the subject.

There's two vehicles visible on the underpass this time, one of which was mine. It's a Ford Escort estate car in the livery of Comet Radiovision Services.

I prefer this vertical composition as it's more aesthetically pleasing - to my eye at least. I scanned the negative again in 2005 to provide a better quality image.

More foreground detail in this picture.

Taken on a hot summer's day using infrared film and a long lens with a red filter

This shot features a half-timbered car, a Morris 1000 estate car if I'm not mistaken...

Taken using normal FP4 film, this shot shows the mirage effect caused by the refraction of the hot air.

Where the Bo'ness to Linlithgow road crosses and connects with the M9. Taken almost directly into the sun on a wet day. You can read the sign near the centre.

The road from Breich to Forth

Filling in Kaimes Quarry just north of the A70.

All our non-recycled crap went here. (2001 photos)

A view to Dalmahoy Hill from the A70

The old quarry is getting full of our discarded junk.

The red slag-heaps / spoil-tips / bings are the residue of the shale mining industry pioneered by James 'Paraffin' Young. This photo, taken from the bank of the Union Canal, shows the railway line to Bathgate in the foreground.

Nine wrecked cars at the bottom of the south slope of the bing at Winchburgh. These have probably been stolen then pushed over the edge.

From the same vantage point but showing more of the surrounding area. Beyond the Niddry Burn the land appears to have been got ready for an expansion to the local golf course.

A strange manmade landscape photographed from the top of a manmade hill. Most of the land surface is grey and apparently devoid of all life. Hopefully the golf course proprietors won't allow herbicides to contaminate the nearby burn.

The old mining village of Winchburgh as photographed from the bing.

The first of four shots of Niddry Castle. The main Edinburgh - Glasgow railway line runs from left to right in a cutting behind the castle.

Another shot from the top of the bing. The footbridge crosses the Niddry Burn. Running parallel to the railway line is the Union Canal.

Taken from ground level, this shot shows the footbridge up close. Hundreds of tiny fish and tadpoles were swimming in the burn.

The final shot of Niddry Castle shows how it's dwarfed by the bing. Photographed across a field of oil seed rape.

Looking south east toward the Pentland Hills from the top of the Broxburn bings. East Mains Industrial Estate can be seen at the right.

Ratho: The view west from the bridge over the Union Canal at Baird Road.

Looking back towards the bridge from further along the canal path. The Bridge Inn is a popular starting point for boat cruises along the canal.

Along the canal towards Broxburn is this island. Two strange artifacts are on this tiny island, more details in the next two pictures.

There appears to be a gentleman wearing a bow tie and goggles, driving a car resembling the one in the film 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'.

The island is 'protected' by this wee castle. The banner proclaims Murder and Mystery Dinner Cruises and gives a phone number.

The M8 motorway as seen from near Ratho Quarry. The slip road ducks underneath the main carriageway before heading north to Newbridge. The spoil tip / slag heap / shale bing at the far left is beside Broxburn. The curving viaduct in the middle distance carries the railway line over the Almond valley.

This can be seen from the same point as the last M8 motorway photo. South Platt Hill is the location of this quarry which is currently (March 2003) being transformed into an Adventure Centre, for indoor climbing.

This view shows Ratho Quarry and also part of Craigpark Quarry and its pond. Hidden from view between the two quarries is the Union Canal. More detail of the construction work in progress can be seen here.

Same standpoint as Broxburn Bing above but a wider view showing the track overlooking the motorway. The photos of Ratho Adventure Centre were taken from here.

I took this photo in 2001 because the line of trees (1km away from the camera) is on the horizon as seen from my window - but 12km away.

Looking east along the slip road that connects the M8 to the M9 just south of Newbridge. A white bus is crossing the bridge on Baird Road leading north west from Ratho to Harvest Road at Newbridge.

Turning the camera a little to the south shows the muddy track running parallel to and overlooking the M8 slip road.

This letterbox shaped picture shows how the Adventure Centre looked in March 2003.

This aqueduct carries the Union Canal high over the River Almond. To cross the canal at this point you can descend some steps, pass under the canal, and climb up more steps at the other side. A path leads to Almondell and Calder Wood Country Park.

The view down to the river from the aqueduct. The Almond Viaduct can be seen at top right.

Numerous high stone arches carry the main Edinburgh to Glasgow railway over the Almond Valley and the A89 main road.

When the M8 motorway was built, the canal was ignominiously confined to a pipe below it. This is the new bridge which carries the canal under the M8. Its construction caused some traffic disruption.

This is what it's like under the M8. Cars and lorries thunder by only about 1 metre above. A slower pace down here, where it will soon be possible to sail right across Scotland once more.

Looking out the other side towards the footpath to Broxburn.

Taken from the bus back from Livingston in April 2016.