OCTOBER 2020
TECHNOLOGY: LOCAL WALK:
LOCAL ENVIRONMENT:
P14
T
he clocks go back this month to mark the end of the strangest BST we’ve lived through, and into an autumn with more unknowns than ever. However, it’s comforting that nature’s routines carry on regardless, and I love the Local Environment column this month - the sedge warblers doing their thing before they head south for the winter, and other birds to look out for locally as the season changes. A scramble along the waterfront at Bo’ness, followed by ice cream and coffee from McMoos, was an afternoon very well spent recently. It’s around 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.
A new traders market is taking place in Livingston on Sunday 18th October. It is hoped that this will become a regular market and opportunity for local producers and makers to showcase their products - and a chance for us all to support local businesses. With a very practical contribution from Wardman UK on “making home working work”, and the wonderful range of columns from all our usual contributors, I hope you enjoy the magazine this month!
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THIS ISSUE Property Matters: Buy first or sell?........................12 Local Walk: Bo’ness waterfront.............................14 Garden Project: Miniature Gardens....................21 Film Review...................................................................22 Feature: Making Home Working Work...............24 Parenting: Getting Glasses.....................................27 Local Environment: Sedge Warbler....................28 Puzzles............................................................................30 Life Coaching: We’re all doing our best.............32 Health: Hair....................................................................33 Local Lab: Climate Change open debate........34
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PROPERTY MATTERS
Chicken or Egg? Buy first or sell? For homeowners wishing to sell their property and buy another, it’s the classic dilemma – which do you do first, buy or sell?
There is probably no all-encompassing answer. Typically, people initially investigate the market to find out what they can buy for their money. Inevitably, during this research they fall in love with the “ideal” property. As they have yet to sell, they find themselves in a weak position as purchasers and are unlikely to have anything but an asking price (or even higher) offer accepted. After all, why should a vendor limit the sale of their property to the saleability of someone else’s?
Even if terms are agreed, then what? You may end up being forced to sell quickly, possibly at a lower figure than you need to, so that you don’t lose your new property. Annoyingly, once a property goes under offer, everyone seems to want it! The difference between an expensive purchase and cheap sale could cost as
much as 20% more than the cost of the move in more controlled circumstances.
So be cool. Sell from a position of strength, and buy using the power of cash. A proceedable purchaser is a joy to the ears of an estate agent and their client. As for that dream home – isn’t it rather a coincidence that the perfect property just happens to be on the market at the precise moment you are looking? There is always another one around the corner, and it may even be better! And if you don’t find a suitable property in time, you are unlikely to be homeless, given the volume of quality rental properties in the area, and nobody is going to force you to sell until you are ready – it is entirely your decision. We aim to reduce the pressure of moving for our clients in many ways and our answer to the chicken and egg scenario is emphatic …the chicken!
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. 12 | BATHGATE
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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
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Bridgeness Tower stone building sted is a B-li
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 HelenJane 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. 16 | BATHGATE
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miniature gardenS Everyone can be fascinated by miniature landscapes and fairy houses – whatever age from grandparents to grandchildren.
Many of our regular grandparent customers look after their grandchildren’s miniature garden which they can enjoy every time they visit. Building your garden in a trough or large pot means you don’t have to bend down so far and you can also place it where you can see it from the house – on a patio or balcony for instance. To look after your miniature garden some regular clipping of your dwarf plants will keep your garden in order – all you then have to do is regular watering, a little liquid feeding and lots of enjoying!
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Fairy Garden Pick up our purple piglet project leaflet for full instructions and suggestions of the best plants to choose. October is a great month for creating a display that will delight you all winter. The gardening project is contributed by Dougal Philip, New Hopetoun Gardens. Inspiring, informing and entertaining, for more than 40 years.
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The word Tenet is a palindrome, which means it’s the same forwards and backwards. While I won’t spoil why I personally think the film is called Tenet, the film deals with the flow of time and how effecting the flow could end the world. Christopher Nolan has never shied away from telling stories around weird sci-fi concepts, with Inception being the most notable to date. Tenet is, in my opinion, Christopher Nolan’s most complex film. But just because it’s complex doesn’t mean it’s confusing.
Tenet is a globe-trotting spy film that has mindblowing action set pieces, from a highway heist to a siege during an orchestra performance. The action is fast, exciting, well shot, well edited and is just leagues better than the action in other Christopher Nolan films.
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All of the acting is great, the only weak performance in the entire film is Kenneth Branagh; I don’t think he does a good job and every scene he’s in just slightly suffers because of it. John David Washington and Robert Pattinson are the true stands out and do an amazing job. The soundtrack is also just spectacular and just adds to the film in every way. Tenet is an experience. It’s a film that must been seen not just the on biggest screen but the biggest IMAX screen you can see it on. It is really worth going to see in a cinema but please only go if you feel 100% safe.
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. 22 | BATHGATE
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Making Home Working Work With almost half of the UK workforce now being home-based we’re facing challenges none of us could ever have anticipated. So, what can we do to help focus attention, minimise distraction and perhaps most importantly, not end up totally burnt out? Research shows that negative emotions narrow the ability to focus while positive emotions can broaden it; when people feel good, they are more creative, adaptable and efficient. Try to notice what information you’re consuming. Especially during the working day, really try to limit the negativity you expose yourself to and where possible take an hour to do something that makes you feel good. 1) Plan for your most productive moments
We all have two types of attention: Proactive - the two to the three hours a day that we are at our most productive; Active - the few hours afterward where we are still able to focus but are not as effective. For most of us, our proactive attention peaks during the morning, so this is the time we should use to generate new ideas or tackle the most important tasks of the day. Try to resist the temptation to simply get through emails as soon as the working day starts as you risk squandering your proactive, most productive time. Instead, use your active attention time to catch up on emails, do routine jobs and take calls. Making a ‘to-do’ list at the end of every day can help you delegate your time most efficiently between proactive, and active hours. 2) Break goals into small tasks
Starting a large work project while at home can feel really tough; by breaking it down into small chunks it will be much more manageable to get going and once you’re underway, easier to stay with it. We’re less likely to have our productivity derailed if we 24 | BATHGATE
allocate tasks into 15-minute slots and use these small increments to build towards the bigger goal. 3) Use a shared calendar
Using a shared company calendar is great. It’s far better for your colleagues to know when you’re taking a break for lunch or picking the kids up. Being open and upfront about commitments stops the frustrations of being out of contact by managing expectations. It’s ok to be balancing work and home life! At Wardman UK, we’re working together to overcome these challenges using our expertise and technology to promote positive attitudes and habits. Working securely, collaboratively, communicating with ease and managing large workloads is part of the DNA of our business. It’s our belief that if we can understand what you do, the culture you have and your concerns that we can boost your business with technology that makes your team happier and more productive. If we can help your business through these times and beyond, please get in touch! 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. Visit:
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PARENTING
Getting glasses! When my littlest came home from nursery after a preschool eye check with a letter saying we should take her to an optician…to say I was surprised would be an understatement. She could see just fine. She was getting on great at preschool. I would have known if she needed glasses… wouldn’t I? But I also knew if she did need glasses this was going to be a big milestone for her. And our first step was taking her to the right place. Somewhere that would make the experience positive and where I felt I could trust what they were doing. So after a glowing recommendation we took her to Clearvue Opticians in Currie. We talked about everything that might happen before we went, and watched an episode of Topsy and Tim where Tim gets glasses. We arrived in plenty of time so that she could check the place out and she had good fun spotting Harry Potter-style glasses. But despite our best efforts when she sat down in an unfamiliar room full of crazy looking instruments she took one look at me and said “Mummy, I’m a bit scared”. My heart was in a puddle on the floor. I wanted to scoop her up and do my mummy thing. The only thing that allowed me to stand on the sidelines was seeing that she was in @KonectMagazines
such good hands; the optometrist Jonathan was absolutely amazing with her. I’d been sold on the place after reading he had a special qualification in Paediatric Eye Care but nothing can tell you what a person will really be like. He was so calm and talked to her (and us) about everything he was doing…and answered all of our endless questions. By the time all was said and done she was so happy with herself. Now if it were me facing the prospect of getting glasses I’d be thinking of it as a fun opportunity in accessorizing. I wasn’t so sure that’s how she’d see it. I was worried about her being vulnerable to teasing, about them being uncomfortable or her not wanting to wear them. She’s only 4 but…fourmones are a real thing! In the end I think if it had turned out she didn’t need glasses she would have been disappointed.
We headed out to The Centre, Livingston to get her kitted out and she now has her very own glasses case and cleaning cloth. And it’s amazing how many “glasses buddies” she has found in the family and at preschool to make her feel like she is part of a special club. As it turns out the biggest problem has been perfecting the art of wearing glasses and an Alice band at the same time! I’ve never had glasses so this has been a learning curve - for both of us! I’m so glad we did a bit of research into local opticians and took her to just the right place to start her on this journey. 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. BATHGATE | 27
LOCAL ENVIRONMENT
Sedge Warbler: Showing Off During an early walk around the Wester Inch ponds, Bathgate, a small bird with a loud call was making his presence known. He soon found the highest point in the bushes and started filling the sky with his song, showing off to the females and defending his territory. The sedge warbler makes quite the introduction! They’re common throughout Summer when they head to our shores for breeding season.
again. Our favourites include the flocks of fieldfare, redwing, and waxwings all who love to gorge on our berry covered trees and bushes. Waxwings are so popular there are Twitter accounts dedicated to reporting their appearances, normally to be found in a supermarket car park by a busy road!
In winter we’re treated to some exceptional bird life who come across from Scandinavia and Russia, which we’re excited to see
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
Now they’ll be heading south again and it leaves us at an interesting time in the birding calendar when our summer migrants have left and our winter visitors haven’t yet arrived, or are only starting to. As we’re now in meteorological Autumn, there’s a lot to look forward to such as huge skeins of geese flying overheard, the beautiful golden colours of autumn spreading across the trees, crunchy leaves, and horse chestnuts scattered across the ground.
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They return from October onwards so keep your eyes on the skies because they are beautiful birds who are a welcome and colourful addition to the darker days, which we can all enjoy.
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PUZZLES
CROSSWORD
Solution in the November edition of Konect ACROSS: 1. Fog (4), 3. Travellers (8), 9. Table support (7), 10. Entrance (5), 11. Clarifications (12), 14. Epoch (3), 16. Sphere (5), 17. To drink (3), 18. Uses camera (12), 21.Largesea(5),22.Lawngame(7),23.Mixing(8),24.Steak(4). DOWN: 1. Mumbled (8), 2. Snooze (5), 4. Poem (3), 5. Ice-box (12), 6. Proverbs (7), 7. Painful (4), 8. Untangled (12), 12. Amid (5), 13. Alcoholic appetiser (8), 15. Accomplish (7), 19. Dwelling (5), 20. Grave (4), 22. Tin (3).
We’re sorry that the grid for the September crossword was wrong, and hope you enjoy this month’s crossword as usual.
Solution in the November edition of Konect
SUDOKU
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LIFE COACHING
We Are All Doing OUR BEST Can you bring to mind the last time that something you did had an exceptional result? What was special about that time and what did you do to achieve that result? When I ask people to do that little exercise, they often really struggle to find that positive thing to focus on but can give me ten examples of the time that something went wrong. And yet, it’s as simple as changing what we decide to see. Is it that one time we ‘kerbed’ our tyres or those hundreds of times when we drove smoothly and calmly and nothing at all out of the ordinary happened? This new habit would be one of the most supportive things we can ever do for ourselves. When we decide to focus on those good results and on what we do well, we don’t waste time and valuable effort on worrying about the times things didn’t work out. We learn whatever lessons there are to learn from the experience and we move on. Sometimes we play the “ah but’ game when someone gives us a compliment on something we have done, on a meal we have prepared the clothes we have chosen to wear. We find ourselves saying ‘ah but, this bit didn’t work, I put too much seasoning/too little seasoning in, I think this colour doesn’t really suit me”. Suddenly a feel-good moment is overshadowed and the unfortunate soul who ventured to offer us a compliment 32 | BATHGATE
scuttles away doubting both themselves and their judgement. One of the most important gifts we can give ourselves is the realisation that, with some things, good enough is good enough. This is really important for us and for any young people we are caring for. We can all feel that we are never good enough or achieving enough and a gentle reminder of the times we did something really well has a huge impact on the self -esteem and confidence we need to take us all forward. I believe that it takes three weeks to make or break a habit, wouldn’t it be great if we all decided today that we are just going to stop criticising and judging and see the amazing things we are all doing on a daily basis? Let’s start today and see where we are three weeks from now. The Life Coaching column is contributed by Francine Orr. Francine is an NLP coach, hypnotherapist, and rekik practitioner, based within Linlithgow Chiropractic on a Wednesday afternoon. She helps people to find real and practical solutions to the things that hold us back in life. See www.orrganise.co.uk @KonectMagazines
ONE WASH, TWO WASHES, NO WASHES?
Often, we can find our hair becoming oily and greasy at the roots and this prompts us to wash our hair much more. In truth less is more when it comes to shampooing, the more your scalp is cleansed the more oil your scalp will produce.
The reason for oil being there in the first place is to protect it after all. Aim to wash every two days and use dry shampoo on your off days. Make sure to use water that’s not too hot for washing your hair. I love a super-hot shower in the morning but water that’s too hot can leave the hair looking dull and dehydrated.
Apply minimal pressure when massaging the root of the hair, your hair is most fragile when it is wet so be gentle but thorough.
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Less is more when it comes to shampooing I would always recommend two shampoos, one for purifying and deep cleansing. Then think of the second shampoo as a targeted shampoo, for example, if your hair is dehydrated then your second shampoo should be targeted at moisture. Conditioner should always be targeted, think of the condition when picking this product. It should be applied to the mid-length and ends and worked through for at least 3 minutes. Rinse it thoroughly and complete this step with a cooler rinse to help seal the cuticle shut making the hair much shinier. The Hair column is contributed by Sophie Laidlaw. Sophie is Director @wonderland Livingston. www.wonderlandlivingston.co.uk
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LOCAL LAB
How do we mitigate climate change? Adam Smith’s Panmure
House
Take part in an open debate and quiz scientists about how we can combat climate change. As the world grapples to avert economic and societal disaster in response to a global pandemic, we shouldn’t forget that there is an environmental disaster on the horizon. Climate change is an issue with fundamental implications for all of society.
Scientists from Heriot-Watt University are researching a wide range of solutions to climate change, from smart systems to renewables, energy efficient construction to rapid scale up of carbon capture, utilisation and storage technologies.
But climate change cannot be solved by scientists alone, and so in October, the university is launching a new series to enable all of society the chance to debate, discuss and influence how the world adapts to an unprecedented rate of environmental change. The Hutton Series on Climate Change is a series of events taking place across 2020-21 at Adam Smith’s Panmure House, bringing together a diverse cross-section of experts, business leaders, scientists, and concerned 34 | BATHGATE
citizens in the service of one simple aim - To identify ten key priorities, innovations and actions to mitigate the climate crisis.
Panmure House in Edinburgh is the final remaining home of globally renowned philosopher Adam Smith. During his twelve-year tenancy between 1778 and 1790, he regularly hosted key luminaries of the Scottish Enlightenment to debate the most pressing issues at the brink of the first industrial revolution. More than two hundred years later as the world grapples to avert environmental disaster by shifting to new energy sources while recovering from a global pandemic, the Hutton Series aims to recreate these groundbreaking discussions – both virtually and at the
same historic location in Edinburgh’s world heritage site.
The first event on 6 October will feature speeches by the environmental and polar scientist Professor Sir Ian Boyd, former chief scientist at DEFRA and member of SAGE, and the CEO of Natwest Group (formerly RBS), Alison Rose. Member of the public can submit real-time questions to the debate panel, and share their own thoughts and solutions. Further details are available online ( www.hw.ac.uk/hutton )
The Local Lab column is contributed by Heriot-Watt University to engage the public in a range of their research projects. @KonectMagazines