here fully appreciates the peace and quiet, the lack of through traffic, the attractiveness of the estate and the great community spir i t which comes through in every edition of The Wanderer.

Residents probably think little of it, but visitors notice the com-munity spirit while eve-ryone who lives at Wil-low Wood knows they can rely on neighbours as friends in times of need.

Hannah quickly picked up on our community spirit and pledged to take an interest in any park home matters that arise at Westminster. She also pledged to make her parliamen-tary colleagues aware of her experiences of her visit.

NEW MP IMPRESSED WITH PARK HOMES

The new Westminster Member of Parliament for Livingston (including Willow Wood), Ms Han-nah Bardell, took up an invitation to visit Willow Wood in late September—her first visit both to us and to any park home community. Hannah was accompanied on the visit by our own Angela Com-stance—our local MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Education at Holyrood.

Hannah writes on the politics pages and gives her own impressions of Willow Wood but suffice it to say she found her visit a bit of an eye – opener.

Like everyone who visits Willow Wood from deliv-ery men and meter read-ers to postmen and politi-

cians, every one is amazed at the internal size of the homes and

how well they are ap-pointed.

Everyone who lives

Editorial, Newsdesk , WWRA 2

Features— Joyce’s Kitchen, Snow Blower, Garden 3

Garden Competition, Septic Tank Makeover 4

Picture Page 5

The Politics Pages, Letters, ‘ 6/7

Politics continued, Mike Larkman –an appreciation. 7

Stop Press, Notices, Advertisements 8

Inside this issue:

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Summer /Autumn 2015

31 October 2015

Willow Wood Residents

Association

AGM 2015

As no objections have been

raised to the proposal to post-

pone the AGM from November,

the next AGM will now be held

in May 2016

Mike Larkman

It is with great sadness we report the recent death of Mike Larkman who played such a part in bringing justice not only to Willow Wood residents but also to the whole Scottish Park Home Community. Mike must be credited with leading the charge for a better deal for mobile or park home users but unfortunately did not live to see the greatest fruit of his labours become a reality. Mike campaigned for real change to Park Home licensing and the Housing (Scotland) Act of 2014. which he saw become

law last year, will not become fully operational until 2017 but on that day we should remember who pioneered the change. Mike will be sadly missed.

HANNAH BARDELL MP VISITS WILLOW WOOD

ON THE MOVE

Kate Jones (No37) has left the park to live in Eliburn, Livingston. We understand her home is under offer.

Catherine Munro (No 10) has moved to Edinburgh and the new residents moving there shortly are Douglas and Isa-belle Horn from Bathgate. Isa-

belle is well known locally hav-ing been a nurse at Stoneyburn Health Centre.

LIBRARY VAN

The Wanderer regrets to note the withdrawal of the library van service.

FISH VAN

Thursdays about 4pm Car Park

DIAL A BUS

For those residents who don’t drive, the dial a bus service is available on Tuesdays. The bus will take you into Livingston, leave you for two hours, and then return you home. Book your seat in ad-vance. Call Margaret Taylor 763912 for more information

NEW FACES

Eagle eyed readers will note some

changes to The Wanderer style in

this edition with the addition of

some new names against our re-

ports.

It is over ten years since the first

Wanderer and in that time the editor

has been writing, editing, producing

and printing this publication single-

handedly. It is however now ten

years later and what should have

been a quiet retirement has turned

out to be busier that a working life.

The Wanderer was suffering with

delays to production, hence the

amalgamation of the summer and

autumn editions of 2015 so to over-

come these difficulties and to assure

the continuance of The Wanderer

we have recruited additional team

members who have been learning

the mysteries of this small part of

the press.

Volunteers, Susan Meiklejohn,

Lorraine Woodmore and Linda

Lennox have joined the Editor

most weeks this summer and have

assisted the Editor with the compi-

lation and production of this edi-

tion. You will see their by-lines

where they have written stories

and attribution where they have

contributed pictures. They have

been willing learners. Their first

big challenge will be to produce

the Christmas card edition of the

newsletter in early December. The

team will be taking to the deep end

since the editor will be away from

late November for a couple of

months spending Christmas and

New Year with family in Austra-

lia. I am sure they will do a great

job but go easy on them.

SAD LOSS

There have been too many deaths

from the park over the recent past,

some five in fifteen months, and

every one brings tragedy to their

nearest and dearest and sadness to

all of us who were neighbours.

The loss of Mike Larkman, how-

ever, is a particular loss not only to

those who knew him directly but

also to those who knew him by

reputation. Mike was a ’doughty

fechter’ for the rights of park home

residents acknowledged by the

many people who sent their condo-

lences ranging through senior politi-

cians and government officials to

people on park home estates many

miles from Willow Wood and as far

away as the South of England.

While Mike will be remembered for

bringing us a footpath and street

lighting in Westwood Road and bus

shelters nearby and for ensuring,

with others, that Willow Wood was

properly completed, his greatest

achievement was obtaining justice

for park home residents throughout

Scotland, freeing them from the

hands of unscrupulous site owners.

Page 2

EDITORIAL

T HE WI LLOW W OOD WA ND E RE R

WILLOW WOOD RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION by Susan Meiklejohn

The social side of WWRA with Wilma as social convenor has had a successful summer. We have had

two more coffee mornings at numbers 17 & 31 which has helped to swell the funds. Then the garden

party in June which this year had a Country and Western theme with live music from Archie and his

friend on keyboard and guitar. All who attended had a great time and as the weather was good all were

able to make full use of the garden which looked in tip top condition.

In July some 14 members went on a mini bus trip to Leadhills Mining Museum and then on to Gretna

Outlet Centre, via Dumfries, for coffee and a quick look around the shops before heading home. Most

recently the Fish Supper Supper was a great night with good food and excellent company. The mar-

quees look great on both occasions with the new red chairs to go along with the new tables.

NEWSDESK 1

The Wanderer Next Edition Xmas Card Edition

Contribution deadline 15 November 2015

Why not contribute to The Wanderer?

Send your letter, article or photograph to the

Editor

STOP PRESS NEWS Just as we go to press The Wanderer can report that as well as a snow blower the WWRA have access to a tractor snow-plough and a grit spreader. The good fortune came about by a combination of circumstances when a number of residents volunteered donations of sums substantially larger than the £23 general donations. Several people pledged three figure sums and one resident offered a sub-stantial loan if a suitable vehicle could be found. By chance, in researching the availability of snow ploughs on the internet on behalf of WWRA, Donny Woodmore came across the offer of a complete winter maintenance package which had previously only been used for ex-hibition use and had never been used outdoors at a price much less than £2000. As a result of the donations and loan, Donny has been able to acquire the vehicles on behalf of the WWRA. The loan will be defrayed by the Bonus Ball income. The equipment has now been delivered to the park and is being prepared for first use with insurance in place and driver training scheduled. Wyldecrest have been requested to provide adequate supplies of winter salt as they are required to do .

Wanderer articles, editorial com-

ment, letters and photographs are

published in good faith. The Publish-

ers take no responsibility however,

for any errors, inaccuracies or omis-

sions. The views of contributors are

not necessarily those of the Publish-

ers.

WANDERER NOTICES Stoneyburn & Bents

Walking Group Meets every Tuesday at 10.00am

at Bowling Green, Stoneyburn.

This is a friendly

group who go for a

leisurely walk in the

village and sur-

rounding areas. Cost

is £1, which covers

a cuppa after our

walk and occasional

trips to a walk outwith the area.

New members are very wel-

come.

For further information contact

Evie on 07704264483

‘Creating a Community’

Chair: Jim Haluch (Tel:01501 762190)

Secretary: Susan Meiklejohn (Tel: 01501 760190)

www.willowwoodwestlothian.co.uk

THE WILLOW WOOD WANDERER

11 Cuthill Brae

West Calder EH55 8QE

EDITOR: JIM HALUCH

TEL: 01501 762190

WILLOW WOOD RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

Breich Valley Church Stoneyburn

Minister, Rev. Robert Malloch Worship every Sunday at 10.30a.m.

(Family Service the First Sunday in

the month)

You are invited to

JEWELLERY

PARTY 8 November 2015 2.30pm -

4.30pm

at

22 Cuthill Brae

(by kind agreement of Diana McGovern)

(Party sponsored by Linda Griffiths)

Come and inspect the range of silver jewellery ranging in price

from £10

All welcome to enjoy an after-noon of chat, coffee and nib-bles and some early Christ-

mas Shopping

Raffle proceeds to WWRA

Please call Linda Griffiths Tel 762531 to book your place

The Wanderer

Christmas Card Edition

Will be published again this

year. Card spaces at £10

and £5 donation to WWRA.

Bookings taken during

November.

SU MM ER /AU TU M N 201 5 Page 6

THE POLITICS PAGE MIKE LARKMAN

An appreciation...

Mike was born in Hessle near Hull

in 1939 and after school trained as

an electrician but his career took a

different turn with Mike entering

the freight industry and proceeding

to the highest levels of the indus-

try.

Mike met his wife to be, Gillie, at

the age of 16 and they married at

21 having four children, twins

Joanne and Steven and Andrew

and David,

Mike retired from managing the

Cardiff and Swansea Freightliner

terminals in 1996 combining this

with running a successful guest

house on the south coast of Wales.

Mike was greatly moved by natu-

ral beauty, particularly island land-

scapes and enjoyed many family

holidays on the Greek Islands but

the beauty of the Scottish High-

lands and Islands always drew him

back to Scotland which Mike

really called ‘Home’.

Mike could turn his hand to most

things, builder, engineer, me-

chanic, electrician but especially a

gardener. But in later years his

passion was caravanning with

Gillie and his grandchildren.

Mike believed in community and

when he found himself living in

one of Scotland’s first dedicated

park home sites, Mike made it his

business to ensure a fair deal for

park home residents everywhere

but particularly in Scotland where

his tenacity wrote a chapter of his-

tory in his community that will

long be remembered.

RIP

Politics goes pink for breast cancer

awareness

Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, has shown her sup-

port for women with breast cancer by dressing up in pink and

encouraging her constituents to take part in Breast Cancer

Now’s flagship fundraiser ‘Wear it Pink’ on Friday 23rd October.

Wear it Pink, the UK’s biggest ‘pink’ fundraiser, calls on sup-

porters across the country to ditch the day-to-day colours and

pull on some pink to raise money for Breast Cancer Now’s life-

saving breast cancer re-

search. Angela joined fel-

low parliamentarians in

‘wearing it pink’ in Holy-

rood this week to encour-

age people across Scotland

to get involved. Now in its

14th year, Wear it Pink raises over £2 million each year for

world-class research into breast cancer, and this year it is back

and bigger, brighter and bolder than ever before.

Anyone can take part, whether in school, at work or at home,

simply by wearing something pink and donating whatever pos-

sible.

Angela said: “Right now breast cancer is at a tipping point.

Every year in Scotland around 4,600 women are diagnosed

with breast cancer, and sadly nearly 1,000 people still lose their

lives to the disease. This is why we all must come together to

support Breast Cancer Now’s cutting-edge research, and, in

Wear it Pink, there is a fun and simple way for everyone to get

involved.“Together, we can make a big difference for women

with breast cancer, now and in the future; I hope everyone in

the local community will join me in wearing it pink on Friday

23rd October and show their support for Breast Cancer Now.”

For more information or to register for wear it pink visit

www.wearitpink.org.

Angela Constance

is MSP for the Almond Valley constituency which in-

cludes Willow Wood

and Cabinet Secretary

for Education in the

Scottish Government

With winter coming fast I thought a simple Cottage Pie might just fill the bill for a cold night. You will need:

400 grams of minced beef

A large onion chopped

175 grams of mixed carrot and tur-nip/swede (frozen will do)

A desert spoonful of olive oil

A little fresh thyme and some ground cinnamon. Say a teaspoon-ful of each.

Mashed potato (frozen is OK)

White part of two leeks chopped very finely

3 tablespoons grated Scottish Ched-dar cheese

S UM ME R 20 1 2 Page 3

The Community Garden from Tom Meiklejohn

The Wanderer Features

Pre heat your oven to 200c/gas 6. Heat the oil in frying pan to very hot

then add the onion carrot and turnip cooking /stirring then on a high heat

FOOD & GARDEN

by Joyce

Garden Report August 2015

Where did the summer go or did I blink and miss it? It has certainly not been what we were all hoping for. How

did we manage to get such a nice day for the Garden Party - somebody

up there must like us. Having said that the garden didn’t look too bad

that day. The grass had another feed after the party and with plenty of

rain it looks the best it has ever looked. Weeds thrive, no matter what

and I am sure they pop up behind you as you work your way round the

garden. It has been a case of doing the work if and when the weather

permits. Regardless of the weather however, we have completed two

major projects. The garden hut to house the new chairs and tables and

of course, the marvellous completion of the long awaited septic tank

area improvement. Thanks to Jimmy Richardson for the hut and

Donny Woodmore for his help in erecting it.

for about 5 minutes to brown the veg. at the edges

Mix into the vegetables the mince, the thyme and the cinna-mon, seasoning to taste. Put the mixture into a square baking dish.

Spread the mashed potato over the mince and vegetables and sprinkle your chopped leaks over the potato and then sprinkle on the grated cheese.

Cook in the oven for 35/40 min-utes till the top is browned and crunchy.

Remove from the oven and let your pie rest for about ten min-utes before serving.

SNOW BLOWER from Linda Lennox Following the open meeting in August, the consensus of opinion was that the proposed snow plough was too expensive and would not give value for money. Eric Morgan suggested that the RCA Garage in Stoney-burn be approached to clear the snow on a contract basis. Unfortunately the proprietor had sold his plough but he showed us a snow blower he had for sale, which he offered us instead.

Whilst not as powerful as the snow plough, this petrol driven machine (looks like a large lawn mower) will clear snow and blow it to the side of the road, leaving a track around the park to get vehicles in and out. We will of course be careful not to block any drives as we go! The cost of the blower and a shed to house it, worked out at £23 per home. We are delighted to report that Linda Lennox received this amount from everyone on the park.

The Association has put the blower on their insurance and named drivers will be covered. Anyone willing to be a driver, please let Linda at No.17, know as soon as possible. Please note that you don’t have to be in the Association to be a driver.

Disappointing as it is that Wyldecrest has been ’absolved’ of any action regarding snow clearance, the power of the community has shone through! This is a classic example of everyone coming together for a common purpose. Well done everyone well done indeed! SNOW BLOWER

http://www.wearitpink.org

Page 4

Willow Wood’s first ‘Best Kept Home’ competi-tion was held on 15 August 2015.

The object of the com-petition, sponsored by Park Homes Scotland Ltd, was to recognise the excellent efforts made by many resi-dents in maintaining their homes throughout the year

The criteria used for judging was maintenance of the home, use of planting, lighting and the overall impression of the property.

Our judge was Eric Burton, previously of Oatridge Agricul-tural College, who did a su-

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDITOR, THE WILLOW WOOD WANDERER, 11 CUTHILL BRAE EH55 8QE

T HE WI LLOW W OOD WA ND E RE R

a n d D i a n a McGovern at No.22.

Eric provided a re-port for each entrant breaking down their scores and giving practical advice.

Although we had only 9 entrants (the Committee excluded themselves) it was

noted that almost everyone on the park made an effort to have their home looking good.

It will be an annual competition so hopefully next year we will have a few more entrants.

Everyone should be very proud of how well Willow Wood looks. Well done!

perb job. Eric is a keen gar-dener himself and he entered into the spirit of the competi-tion with great gusto.

Eric awarded first place to John and Pat Wemyss at No. 30, second to Geoff and Joyce Raven at No.35 and third place to Roger and Susie Eastland at No.9. Highly commended was Peter

Extreme Makeover From Lorraine Woodmore A long overdue makeover has taken place to the sep-tic tank area. Most residents agreed that this had been a bit of an eyesore to us all and was certainly in need of some TLC. After much deliberation, the RA committee agreed that while the responsibility for the area lay squarely with the site owners it would be fruitless to ex-pect them to act in the light of past experience and that some self help was appropriate. We were lucky that Donny Woodmore’s brother- in-law kindly came along with a digger and removed all the weeds and debris which Tom Meiklejohn, Jim and June Elphick and Lorraine and Donny Woodmore loaded on to a hired skip. Weed suppressing material was laid by Donny and Tom and around six tonnes of chip stones were shovelled and spread by Tony Shelton, Tom, Jim Haluch, and Donny and Lorraine. Back breaking work I can tell you—great teamwork guys!

Very positive feed back has been received from the residents, particularly those adjacent to the area who are happy to have a more pleasant outlook than before. Even Wyldecrest have com-mented favourably and the area manager has asked his Head Office to make a donation to-wards the work

GLORIOUS GARDENS Well Done Willow Wood! By Linda Lennox

FROM NEIL FINDLAY MSP

Fracking - be aware

of the threat

West Lothian was the birthplace of

the UK's oil industry. James

"Paraffin Young" was a pioneer in

developing the technology and

processes to extract oil and oil

based products from shale. All

around our countryside we see the

reminders of that industry - the five

sisters bings, a few minutes from

Willow Wood is our most iconic

example.

Energy production is of course a

huge priority for any government,

that is why the debate about shale

gas extraction from fracking is such

an important one for people across

West Lothian. Fracking involves

the drilling and water injection of

rock deep down below the ground

to release gases trapped in the rock.

Whilst this may on the face of it

seem like a harmless and cheap

method of securing a new energy

source there are huge concerns

about the consequences for our en-

vironment. Where fracking has oc-

curred there have been reports of

drinking water contamination, wa-

ter table pollution, air pollution

from dangerous vapours and gases,

impact on the food chain and earth

tremors. The Scottish Government

have a temporary moratorium in

place until next year but my fear is

that once the Scottish elections are in

place fracking will begin and West

Lothian could be a prime site for it.

For my part I am opposed to fracking

and until I see evidence that is safe

and does not damage our environ-

ment I will remain opposed to it. I

would urge everyone to watch devel-

opments in relation to fracking very

closely.

Neil Findlay MSP for the Lothians

Page 5

New MP Visits Willow Wood

T HE WI LLOW W OOD WA ND E RE R

It's a privilege to represent the Livingston Constituency as the local

MP, having been born and brought up in Craigshill and felt like I

knew the West Lothian area well - however I don't think I really ap-

preciated the full diversity of the constituency until I was elected.

Travelling around the area and really getting to know each village

and town more intimately has been an eye opening experience, and

my recent visit to Willow Wood was no different. My colleague An-

gela Constance described Willow Wood before

we visited as one of her favourite places, I now

understand why. The tranquility was the first

thing that struck me about Willow Wood, not to

mention the friendly reception from local resi-

dents. It was clear to me that the residents have worked very hard to create a vibrant

and active community. The folk I met had come from all walks of life to live in

these beautiful surroundings and have a deep desire to not only keep the grounds

beautiful, but ensure they look after each other, keep in touch with each others lives

and run a variety of activities and competitions to keep folk engaged. I look forward

to visiting many times again in the future and commend all of the residents and as-

sociation committee for creating such beautiful surroundings and sense of place in

West Lothian.

Neil Findlay

is a List MSP

in the Scottish

Government

and a long-

time supporter

of Willow

Wood

Hannah Bardell MP

represents Livingston

Constituency at West-

minster

LETTERS

From Gillie Larkman

May I, through the columns of The

Wanderer, thank all my neighbours,

friends and particularly my whole

family who rallied round on Mike’s

sad passing. Thank you all for your

flowers, cards, your support, your

donations to Cancer Research and

your friendship - all of which helped

to make an unbearable time just a

little more bearable. Thank you all.

Gillie

A Happy Grandad

Eric Morgan writes... My 14 year old

grandson, who lives at Linlithgow Bridge

has been selected for West Lothian

County Schools under 15 football team.

Currently he plays for Linlithgow Acad-

emy under 16s who recently beat West

Calder 6-1 while in his spare time he

plays for Livingston FC juniors

(Under15). Gregor Lewis Morgan—

Watch this space. My Granddaughter,

Holly Victoria (17) is off to ‘Bon Ac-

cord’ Robert Gordon’s University in

Aberdeen to study radiology and Nurs-

ing. A great life ahead of them. Eric