Burgh Beautiful Linlithgow

18/10/2026

🌱 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐠𝐨𝐰’𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬! 🌸🏆✨
Our local youngsters have been growing their own flowers with fantastic success this year, supported by Burgh Beautiful and made possible thanks to generous funding from the Rotary Club of Linlithgow & Bo'ness!

A massive thank you to Burgh Beautiful’s Youth Coordinator, Lesley Cook, and to all the amazing kids who took part! 👏💚

Here are this year's top champions:

🏆 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫: Congratulations to Linlithgow Bridge Primary School for taking home the schools gardening trophy with the highest percentage of children sending in photos of their flowers!

🥇 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐋𝐞𝐨 𝐌𝐜𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐡 (Linlithgow Primary School) took the top prize for producing three varieties of healthy plants bursting with abundant blooms!

🐝 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨: 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐬𝐳𝐲𝐤 (Linlithgow Bridge Primary School) won for her two amazing macro shots capturing a bumblebee on a nigella flower and a hoverfly on a cosmos flower!

💰🙏 With Rotary funding secured for at least another 3 years, we’re already looking forward to inspiring next year's Primary 3 children to get growing…and maybe even become future Burgh Beautiful volunteers! 🌿

13/10/2026

🌟 Big Thanks to Our Little Gardening Champions! 🌿🌼👏

A huge shoutout to the fantastic 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝟰 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙇𝙤𝙬 𝙋𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮, who lent us a hand at Learmonth Gardens recently!

These absolute superstars spent over an hour weeding the paths and flower beds, leaving everything looking s***k and span. They also got stuck into planting colourful pansies and packing a narrow bed along the eastern wall full of spring bulbs! 🌷🌱

Their enthusiasm and hard work were truly incredible! Burgh Beautiful is so grateful for all their help 💛💛💛 We can’t wait to see their hard work bloom into a stunning spring display.

Swipe through the photos to see the amazing before-and-after progress on the beds and paving! 😍😍😍

📸 Lesley Cook, BB’s Youth Coordinator
💛 Friends of Low Port Primary School

09/10/2026

Some pictures taken on Tuesday, showing how good many of our flower beds and floral planters can still look in October! In fact, so good that many of our volunteers have mixed feelings about removing the plants where it is necessary to replace them with winter/spring annuals (a process now under way). A big 'thank you' as always to all our volunteers for their hard work throughout the year and, of course, to our greatly-valued sponsors without whose financial support very little of this would be possible.

08/10/2026

🌱 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁! 🌻

Have you noticed how gorgeous the four planters near First Adventures Nursery have been looking all summer? You can thank some very special, tiny helpers for that!

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙉𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙮 have been out with their watering cans to keep our local blooms thriving. Twice a year, these superstar gardeners roll up their sleeves to help clear the planters, getting them ready for fresh seasonal planting.

Back in spring, they even gave some Primulas from the Railway Station Platform 3 planter a second life, recycling and replanting them in their own nursery garden, where they are now flourishing! 🌸✨

It’s truly heartwarming to see children as young as this taking pride in our town and helping keep Linlithgow looking beautiful.

Huge thanks to the team and little green thumbs at First Adventures Nursery! 👏💚

📸 Lesley Cook

04/10/2026

🎉 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗵 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄!

A massive thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday! Together, we managed to get 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿, a new record for us!

Here is a quick recap of what we achieved:

🌾 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Lesley and her granddaughter got busy broadcasting Yellow Rattle seeds across the slopes. We can’t wait to see the display next summer!

🐸 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆: The meadow was buzzing! Beyond the usual toad, frogs, and newt, we spotted a lovely (if "rather worn"!) Angle Shades moth.

🛠️ 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 & 𝗦𝗰𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: Huge thanks to Jon, Judith, Kathy, Katherine, and Margaret for their supercharged raking efforts. A special shoutout to Corinne for lending us the scythe, it made the heavy lifting so much easier!

Here are a few snaps from yesterday’s action 📸

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴!

See you next season! 🐝🌸

01/10/2026

🥳 Forget BYOB… It’s Bring Your Own Shears!🌿✂️

Looking for a weekend party where turning up with a rake and garden shears won't get you in trouble? Join Burgh Beautiful for our annual 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆!

Whether you can spare 20 minutes or two hours, we’d love your help keeping this local haven vibrant and humming with life.

📅 When: Saturday, 3rd October at 2:00 PM

📍 Where: Wildflower Meadows by the canal, above Xcite (Park at Xcite close to the canal)

🧤 What to Bring: Gloves, a garden or springy rake, something to kneel on, and garden shears if you have them (spares provided!).

🌾 Progress Update: The Scythe Success!

Great news! Both of the higher levels have now been cut using the traditional scythe (check out the photos!). This has saved us heaps of backbreaking work and leaves plenty of time for raking and seeding… and if we've got the energy, maybe even tackling the third, bottom level!

🌸 A Little Local History

This wonderful green space was started back in March 2016 by the late Averil Stewart. Thanks to a grant from the Foundation Scotland Comic Relief Fund, wildflower plants were put in to soften the visual impact of the new ramp. Every year since, Burgh Beautiful volunteers cut back and rake the slope to impoverish the soil—keeping harsh, rank grasses at bay so delicate blooms can thrive.

Since 2016, an incredible 65 different flower species have been spotted on this small patch of land!

🌼 Fun for Kids:

Children are particularly welcome to help broadcast Yellow Rattle seeds! This clever little plant acts as a semi-parasite on tough grasses, weakening them to give delicate wildflowers room to bloom.

Come along, get your hands dirty, and help keep our community beautiful!

Everyone is welcome. 🐝✨

20/09/2026

🥳 Forget BYOB… It’s Bring Your Own Shears 🌿✂️

Looking for a weekend party where turning up with a rake and garden shears won't get you in trouble? Join Burgh Beautiful for our annual 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆!

Whether you can spare 20 minutes or two hours, we’d love your help keeping this local haven vibrant and humming with life.

📅 When: 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝟮:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠

📍 Where: Wildflower Meadows by the canal, above Xcite (Park at Xcite close to the canal)

🧤 What to Bring: Gloves, a garden or springy rake, something to kneel on, and garden shears if you have them (spares provided!).

🌸 A Little Local History
This wonderful green space was started back in March 2016 by the late Averil Stewart. Thanks to a grant from the Foundation Scotland Comic Relief Fund, wildflower plants were put in to soften the visual impact of the new ramp. Every year since, Burgh Beautiful volunteers cut back and rake the slope to impoverish the soil—keeping harsh, rank grasses at bay so delicate blooms can thrive.

Since 2016, an incredible 65 different flower species have been spotted on this small patch of land!

🌾 What’s Happening This Year?

The Scythe Experiment: Thanks to Corinne, we’ve borrowed a traditional scythe to do a pre-cut a few days before. If all goes to plan, there will be far less manual shearing and much more easy raking!

Fun for Kids: Children are particularly welcome to help broadcast Yellow Rattle seeds! This clever little plant acts as a semi-parasite on tough grasses, weakening them to give delicate wildflowers room to bloom.

Come along, get your hands dirty, and help keep our community beautiful!

Everyone is welcome. 🐝✨

13/09/2026

🌱 𝟭𝟳 𝗕𝗮𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵, 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱! 🧹✨

What a fantastic turnout for today’s community litter pick! Around 18 amazing volunteers stepped up to help keep our town blooming beautiful. It was especially wonderful to see so many young faces getting involved and bringing so much energy to the day. 🧹🧽🚮

Huge thanks to our Burgh Beautiful volunteer, Linda McLaren, for coordinating another brilliant clean-up.

Here is what today’s efforts achieved:

* 17 full bags of litter collected and lined up for council pickup!�
* Several new volunteers equipped with gear to keep up the great work around their own neighborhoods.�
Check out some photos of today's crew below! (Apologies to a few of you who missed the group photo shoot!)

Feeling inspired to tackle a spot near you?
If you’d like to organise your own litter pick, Burgh Beautiful has equipment you can borrow to get started!
📧 Contact Linda directly at [email protected] to arrange equipment borrowing.💚🌍

We are proud to work in partnership with the West Lothian Litter Pickers (WLLP), who help coordinate rubbish uplifts with the West Lothian Council

13/09/2026

If you’re feeling spontaneous our autumn litter pick starts in 40mins - what a beautiful day to get out too! 14:00, no equipment needed, St Ninians Way, Lochside car park
More details ⬇️

𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸! 🍂🧹
We are excited to invite everyone to our upcoming community litter pick! Let’s come together to protect our local environment, keep Linlithgow clean, and make a real difference in our community.

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀
🗓️ : Sunday, 13th September
⏰ : 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
📍 : St Ninians Way Lochside Car Park

👭👬: All ages are welcome! (Children just need to be supervised by a parent or guardian).

🧹🧽🚮: All equipment (pickers, bags, and hoops) is fully provided—including smaller pickers perfect for kids!

We are proud to work in partnership with the West Lothian Litter Pickers (WLLP), who help coordinate rubbish uplifts with the West Lothian Council. This event is hosted under the Burgh Beautiful banner as one of our two annual group picks.

Want to Organise Your Own Pick?
Need equipment for a youth group, local business team-building day, or just a get-together with passionate neighbours? Linda McLaren, our Burgh Beautiful Litter Picking Coordinator, has you covered!

📧 Get in Touch:
Contact Linda directly at [email protected] to arrange equipment borrowing.

Let’s keep our town beautiful! 🌱✨

10/09/2026

Sunshine and... chickweed! ☀️🌿

While we’ve all loved the summer sunshine, the dreaded chickweed has had a field day in our planters!
Here’s a photo of the Edinburgh Road planter.

Thank you to Judith and all of our volunteers this summer for battling the weeds to keep Linlithgow looking bright and beautiful! 🌸✨

📸 Judith Ogilvie