Housing Visitor’s Report On Craigshill And Deans For October, 1972

New tenants seem to settle quickly but they all complain to a certain extent of loneliness and strangeness, this not being so severe where there are relatives in the area. I have made a point of leaving a card even when the tenant is in, with my name on and urge them to ‘phone and ask me to call to see them rather than them feel there is no one interested, this they seem to accept gladly, perhaps if they have a shoulder to have a weep on without their husbands being aware they will be able to cope more adequately. People in Craigshill seem to be blessed with friendly neighbours; in fact it is a very friendly area.

Deans is a far tougher nut to crack, people are very wary and recently I did a garden survey in this area. The result of this was rather enlightening; in only four cases during my 76 visits did anyone invite me in. I found it rather bewildering to endeavour to overcome their reticence and decided to complete my survey with the maximum of friendliness and the least expectations. There could be a lot of problems under the surface in Deans and it will be comparatively difficult to win their confidence. They are still simmering about many things, at least this is the feeling I get. Perseverance is the only solution. I imagine once the housing visitor is well known by even visiting shops and buying things the word will be passed around and ice broken.

Housing in Deans. The district of Deans was based around the older village of Livingston Station, which itself had grown up around the shale oil industry in the 19th Century.