Walk the Shale Trail

You may have noticed little black and white signs with "Shale Trail" on them, dotted through West Lothian.

They are markers on a 16 mile walking route between West Calder and Winchburgh. Called “The Shale Trail” and as “The pathway of Scotland’s Oil Rush,” it commemorates various human, social and industrial aspects of the all-consuming industry which dominated West Lothian for 100 years from the 1860s to the 1960s.

This walk for Konect covers the western half of the trail from West Calder to Howden in Livingston.

Start on the Main Street of West Calder, at the memorial bench in front of the old Co-op clock. This is the location of the first story on the trail; read the stories on the website as you go along. From here, walk up Northfield Court, where a footpath heads off the road and down towards Five Sisters bing which you can see in the distance. Follow the well-surfaced path through until it comes out onto the road, Tenant’s March.

Turn right on the footpath, and the trail now follows the road for a while, turning left onto Mossend and continuing up to the new housing estate. This estate is at the site of the historic mining hamlet of Mossend. The Trail story at this point tells about the original village – and its football team.

A little further along the road, you’ll spot the sign indicating the trail turns left, leaving the road. It take you down some steps through a small wooded area, then skirts some fields.

Crossing the B7015, it takes you alongside Breich Water, and it’s a very pleasant stretch of the trail on a good surfaced path, all the way through the fields to the point where Breich Water joins the River Almond. Here you cross a bridge and continue alongside the Almond, striking across more or less open ground with some nice wooded areas. The path is well marked although it was quite muddy in places here when I did this walk.

You eventually arrive at Almond Pools, the site of the former Livingston Quarry. The Trail story here explains how these tranquil pools, now a wildlife haven, were created when the Almond was diverted away from the shale deposits for the quarrying. It’s a lovely peaceful spot.

Shortly past the pools, the trail takes you up onto the road (Simpson Parkway) briefly then turns down the footpath into Livingston Village, through Thirlfield Wynd and out by Almond Valley Heritage Centre. Follow the sign through the housing into the historic heart of old Livingston Village. From Livingston Village, the Trail follows the River Almond, passes the Civic Centre and continues along the river.

At Howden Bridge, pause to see and read about the Howden Rock Ramp, a fascinating wildlife engineering project that is bringing salmon and other wildlife back up the Almond – an extraordinary achievement given the Almond used to be so polluted by industry that it had a chemical smell as it ran though Livingston.

Howden is just less than the half way along the Shale Trail. It’s a good spot to get back on the road and get a bus back to the car in West Calder, if you don’t feel like retracing your steps back along the trail. There are plenty of refreshment options in West Calder.

For more information please visit the Shale Trail dedicated website at https://shaletrail.co.uk/

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Published in Konect March 2021

Author: Helen-Jane Gisbourne