Housing Visitor Report for the Month Ending the 28th February, 1973.

Ladywell, Howden, Knighstridge

 By and large the tenants of Knightsridge feel they are ‘pioneering’ and have a feeling of being out of contact with the rest of the town.

The feeling is partly engendered by being in West Lothian and the children attending schools in eans, Bathgate and Broxburn. As a good number have taken tenancy over the dark winter period there does not seem to have been the usual neighbourliness. One charming little staff nurse is feeling particularly ostracised but implies this is because she is coloured. She would have been happier in Deans where she has friends. She occupies a ground flat and the neighbours upstairs upset her while she is studying, although they are not unduly noisy. She may settle in better in April when her sister comes to live with her.

At one point where there are OAPs facing on to a cul-de-sac there is some ill feeling about it. A) They do not have cars themselves but have them parked there – in one case the cars are parked almost against the gable wall. B) The cars are a disturbance C) People are tending to use the parking bay for repairing cars.

Untaxed cars are lying about in various places on the schemes.

The residents in Knightsridge would like the mobile library service extended to their area and this is apparently under consideration. Several tenants in Ladywell have expressed the concern that they think the Corporation has been niggardly by installing false drawers in the kitchen where there was room for proper drawers and also the area under the sink is open.

There are complaints also that the plants put in by the LDC at the front are too near the house and impede window cleaning.

A picture of the community space in Knightsridge, 1979

The 10,000th House in Livingston was opened in Deans in the 1970s



Deans Community High school under construction in the 1970s



Housing Visitor Report for the Month Ending the 28th February, 1973.

Craigshill and Deans

This month I had a four day absence from work and consequently visited 138 tenants, 49 of these being new to the town, the rest included in two surveys we are carrying out at present. The surveys brought me into contact with many people I might not otherwise have met until some distant future date and about 80% of these people had problems they wished to discuss – mostly relatively minor and easily dealt with, never-the-less this slowed down both the survey and the visiting of new tenants.

The foremost problem of the month came from Deans where tenants are awaiting with trepidation the arrival of their electricity bills. [A tenant] and friend from two doors away drew my attention to this, though others followed. In [the tenant’s ] case, the Electricity Board representative had called and explained that she would need to pay £14 per month to run her heating (electricity warm air system) which only heats the lower regions of the house. Upstairs she has one night storage heater and the Electricity Board Rep warned her that she was better not to use this as the monthly payment would have to be higher still. [The Tenant] is in a five apartment house, so far the seven apartments in the area have not come to my attention as they have not been let.  [Another tenant] has the same system with just one storage heater upstairs which certainly does not heat the whole upper floor, she tells me her bill is going to top £50 for 3 months (and the house has not really been warm) since she has read her meter weekly and then calculated the cost. She is a very worried woman, as are others I spoke to.

I am still in some doubt as to who is responsible for elderly people and disabled people’s gardens. When Councillor Duggan raised this matter at a recent Old Peoples’ Welfare Committee meeting he was told LDC would investigate, although when I raised the question Mr Leitch concerning a tenant on Melbourne Street, and his garden I was told that this was a matter for Mr Drummond who in turn told me the matter was a question for the property department of the LDC. Perhaps it would be possible to raise the questions – could disabled persons have their invalid carriages garaged at a cheaper rate? These small contraptions appear to be a target for petrol pilferers and hooligans looking for something ot damage and they are of course a necessity in the life of these crippled people.

A tenant on Brisbane street has at last succumbed to the efforts of Mr Leitch and myself and has ‘cleaned’ up her house. The house is still very iffused, full of condensation and dirty but in comparison to last we week we had to admit there had been some improvement. She also paid a further £10 off her rent arrears.

Arrangements have been made with Miss Sill for one of her visitors to call on a [named tenant] in the evenings to help ease her loneliness problems.

A tenant on Spruce Grove has been supplied with a wardrobe and dressing table since she was short of these two articles and has a big family, she is trying very hard to please us.

The most problematic case in Craigshill is that of XXXX. In six months she has only paid £21 rent and with legal fees now owes us £70. I have taken her into the Mall office to discuss the situation with Mr Leitch but her story is very incomprehensible. It appears her husband is... [away]  and hasn’t been sending her money. Throughout the six months that I have visited the girl I have not heard a really coherent version of what is going on and I rather think there is some dire marital difficult here. She has a baby, her house is very clean and well furnished. Mr Leitch and I are awaiting the outcome of our conversation with her which ended in her saying she would try to pay us £41 these weekend the 2^nd March 1973.

Throughout the past months I have been trying to forestall this situation by calling on her because I felt there was going to be a problem here, she does not appear to fully realise her financial predicament, or alternatively she is so worried by the circumstances that the financial problem is insignificant. I am worried about what is going to happen here.

There have been problems with newcomers in Craigshill this month, one a hysterical woman with shattered nerves – I called in the Doctor and she was given tranquilisers with good effect, I am calling regularly to see her meantime. The other problem was marital difficulties for [a named tenant]. This problem could be sorted out now after a long talk with her, she has our card and phone number in order to contact me should things not run smoothly.

Since the appearance in the evening papers of the names and addresses of the people responsible for letting their dogs run loose and the fact that they were fined, this has resulted in a few less dog roaming about the town. How long this improved situation will last is a mute point.  

Housing Visitor's Report For Month Ending The 31st December, 1972

Craigshill And Deans

During this month I made 137 visits, 65 of these being to new tenants and 27 of these were abortive visits but cards were left. A point is often is often made of leaving a card with a new tenant who is in when I call just in case a problem should arise and they feel they have someone to contact. People expressed pleasure at the advantages of their house were settling in well. No one so far would care for an open fireplace and seemed surprised that the question should arise. I noted that in 9 out of every 10 houses they had the imitation grates with electric fires irrespective of the type of central heating in the house. Each person, when asked why they had installed the imitation grate and electric fire, told me that they liked the glow from the imitation coals. This is their compromise in place of the open grate.

I found no discontent regarding the workings of the Social Security Dept., at Bathgate except in one instance and that was not the Social Security’s fault. The problem that arose was a family McGregor at 63 Fremantle Street, a young couple, who paid their rent and found they had left themselves with no money they had expected their Social Security payment that day and it had not arrived. I ran them into Bathgate to the Social Security and the payment had been made out but not posted, they were paid then and there without any further preamble. They said they had always got their money regularly and the fault was theirs that they were without money and food.

Once more complaints were made to me about the bus services, especially to Glasgow, people tend to feel very cut off from their “home” town especially the younger ones. The older influx tend to have their younger families here and consequently do not use the buses to Glasgow except for an infrequent visit to shop.

I have had one Jewish family named XXXX at XXXXX who had asked me to put them in contact with other Jews in Livingston, Mr is a purser and away for long periods of time and his wife is lonely. Unfortunately I have had no success in this direction, I contacted Mr. Orr but so far we have had no success in this direction, I contacted Mr. Orr but so far we have had no success in tracing other Jews in Livingston. I shall make a point of calling on Mrs to cheer her up.

This past month in Craigshill I have had one marital problem which, after some very careful handling, appears to have resolved itself, Loneliness has troubled several younger woman who have come here from Glasgow. I have made a point of several calls on them until they appear to have revised their ideas and then left a card so that they can contact me should they feel depressed.

Regarding Deans area, there seems to be some thawing out of people in this are now, since I have made repeated visits to Deans in the past month, either to visit new people or to investigate rent appears. It would appear to be a question of “getting known” as a part of the general scene and thence being accepted. I have had one or two family problems in this area, now running smoothly, and hope that the word will get around that we are here to help not to pry.

(this entry was slightly edited for data protection reasons)

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.