Bathgate Hills Venture

29/05/2026

Delighted to offer a new shared walk in the Bathgate Hills - fancy joining us? Saturday 20th June from 5pm to 7pm.

We will walk round Ravencraig chatting about wildlife, local legends, Bronze Age history and hidden stories on a free guided evening walk with Jim Easton and Debbie Worden.

Pre-booking is essential so we don't have more people than we can support. Please read more and book using the link below if you are interested.

Hope to see some of you there!

Discover wildlife, local legends, Bronze Age history and hidden stories on a guided evening walk through Ravencraig woodland.

05/12/2023

Hello! Any and all remembering the recent ring road concern, will recall that at the meeting of the 27th October, it was generally agreed that a Local Place Plan was a good idea, and some community volunteers stepped forwards.

As a result, Bathgate Community Council has agreed to the set up of a group of local people who will put a draft Local Place Plan together, gathering views from local people and local businesses.

Would you like to protect the Bathgate Hills and other green areas around the town from further development? Are you worried about infrastructure in Bathgate? How do you feel about local amenities, business, transport, roads?

This community group will be in touch with people locally over the next month or so, but if you would like to get more directly involved, you would be very welcome, so please contact us; [email protected]

21/10/2023

Great day meeting people at Xcite today at the Bathgate Twinning hosted Organisation Fayre.

Wonderful to meet lots of like minded organisations that we'd love to collaborate with going forward.

Thanks to everyone who visited us!

26/09/2023

Bathgate Hills Venture is a charity that formed to celebrate, protect and enhance the natural beauty and heritage of the Bathgate hills.

Having seen the draft Community Development Plan, regardless of who is proposing this, we fully oppose it.

While some environmental and societal elements are included, we suggest that these should be considered separately, and not alongside a ring road proposal that would change the hills forever.

Thought useful to share a few links that have been in public circulation today.

If you’d like to know more then you can find it here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1dtR8kY39V-KQ-LvSPqdaJTPmwlaqKDBI?usp=drive_link

You can provide feedback here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSec2MiuaoVoZeXr1rBhKOio7ioU4Dtu-MpI9HjlTCnXfVr3OA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR1F_8VxMvF9hIJcjcbb-l0p0M8OCm2sDEC4yM6gaW2CtIfEDKVpeyRinEI

And if opposed, you can sign a petition here:

https://www.change.org/p/preserve-bathgate-s-natural-beauty-say-no-to-bypass-and-urbanisation?recruiter=280598826&recruited_by_id=5e2b4c50-e6c1-11e4-8c7f-89d7d3fd86b3&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&utm_medium=copylink

05/10/2022

We have received an amazing 433 entries to our Bathgate Hills Storytelling Competition!

Winners are being told directly or through schools this week.

And we are excited to exhibit them this Sunday (9th October) at Linlithgow Burgh Halls from 10:30 to 12:30. Please do come and see all our wonderful local stories.

Here is a little taste of some of the titles:

The Small Alien of Beecraigs

The Withering Rose

The Old Lady Ghost

The Rumours

The Robert Taylor Incident

The sunset of the stunning Bathgate Hills - a beauty

Monster in the Forest

The Witches of Witchcraig Woods

June 6th, 1944

Magical Wonders of Cosmo

The Shadow Soul

The Sound of The Birds

Mysterious Nowehere

The Hill Called Cockleroy

Please do come along to see the display. We have been blown away by the local storytelling talent.

27/09/2022

Good Morning. Our local foraging walk with Monica Wilde has sold out!

If you’d like to hear more from Monica, why not come along to our storytelling afternoon at the Reconnect Regal Bathgate. Hosted by Scottish actress, Libby McArthur, this will be an excellent opportunity to share stories of the hills.

Alongside Libby and Monica, other guest speakers include local photographers, historians including the Bennie Museum, authors and writers.

Tickets are £1 and can be purchased from the Regal. All proceeds will be donated to the Bennie Museum. Our aim is to chat and share stories in a relaxed atmosphere over coffee and biscuits on a cold October Sunday afternoon. Link below for tickets.

https://www.flowte.me/storefront/reconnect-regal-theatre?e=29669

22/09/2022

It is getting close to the closing date for our storytelling competition. All part of our Bathgate Hills Storytelling Day in October.

We have had some great entries. Thank you!

Thought we'd share our poster giving details again along with the prizes we are delighted to offer 😊 Big thanks to Far from the Madding Crowd, the Regal and HES for supporting us with these prizes 👏👏👏

If you have a story to tell, or a photograph, or a painting that tells a story then please share it with us. All entries will be exhibited at Linlithgow Burgh Halls and also shared on our Bathgate Hills website.

https://bathgatehills.co.uk/stories-of-the-bathgate-hills-storytelling-competition/?nonamp=1&fbclid=IwAR2XSN-LBlPN9QJF5vchR3bWec6PzBGCC1eiL2uH1MAJPALe9dP4Btx2yKc -3133

18/09/2022

Storytelling Day - Foraging Walk tickets

Huge thanks to Monica Wilde for offering a foraging / herbalist walk in the Bathgate Hills - part of our Storytelling Day on 9th October.

Come along and join her to learn the stories of our local plants.

Tickets can be bought directly from Napiers shop in Bathgate, or online via the Regal Theatre.

They are selling out quickly - fab to see such great interest and support!

https://www.flowte.me/storefront/reconnect-regal-theatre?e=29732