In the archives: Robert Taylor Incident.

One enquiry that we get quite a lot at the Archives and Records centre relates to the Robert Taylor Incident – the only alleged alien encounter in the British Isles to be ever opened as a criminal investigation by the police – and it happened right here in Livingston.

Bob Taylor was employed as a foreman forrester by the Livingston Development Corporation.  On the 9^th September 1979 he drove his Landover from the Deans area of Livingston, where he resided with his wife, and parked opposite the entrance to the now defunct Bangour Village Hospital. Walking with his dog, Lara, on Dechmont Law, he was there to inspect the work of his men from the previous day.

He never changed his story as to what happened next. Coming on an opening in the forest he claimed he saw an unidentified object, saucer shaped, on stilts, grey coloured.  From beneath the saucer came two objects – similar to mines used at sea during war, four to five feet high with protruding spikes. These objects rolled towards Robert. They grabbed his trousers. He smelled a strong odour.

“I could barely breathe. The smell caught the back of my throat,” he later said.

He felt he was going to faint. 

He was saved by his dog Lara, who had been running off in the trees, but returned and barked and the alien objects retreated.

Robert returned to his Landrover but, still suffering from whatever gas that odour had belonged to - he was unable to make the vehicle start. Instead, he ran home.

When he arrived home his wife was shocked by his condition. He wanted her to ring him in sick at work, but after persuasion he told her what had happened. She told his supervisor who in turn rang the police.

Taylor’s boss and the police went to the site but found no craft. They did, however, find tread markings and circular holes in the ground which were difficult to explain, being in a difficult to reach place (up a track with two locked gates) but could have only been caused by heavy machinery. No vehicles at the LDC had the same tread marks. The ground was soft, but no tread marks led to, or led away from the site. Looking at Taylor’s Landrover it could be seen that someone had tried – and failed – to get it away.

Examined at Bangour hospital, Taylor was found to have burn marks on each side of his neck. The police took his trousers away for forensic examination – the only thing found were tears around the area he said had been grabbed. Similar trousers were tested and it was found that only extreme force could have torn them.

Having stuck resolutely to his story, and perhaps ridiculed, Taylor later moved away from Livingston. His trousers ended up in the hands of a ufoologist. It was generally agreed that Taylor did not have a fanciful character, was not prone to making up stories. He did seek fame or money from his experiences. He never changed his story, and the markings in the ground were never adequately explained.

In 1992 the Livingston Development Corporation installed a boulder and commemorative plaque at the site – reported by the Independent as being the world’s first monument to a UFO. This boulder is still in place can still be seen and a photo has been uploaded onto Google maps - https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=dechmont+law&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x4887d96ba7f0d5e9:0xb14eaaa33e2f792d,Dechmont+Law&gl=uk&t=p&ei=nMmLUcz6LeKl0wXg74DYAg&ved=0CKQBELYD

The enquiries that we get about this incident usually ask us if we have any files or information on the incident. Unfortunately we only have one file, com

Sketch of UFO incident site

piled about the time of the setting of the commemorative plaque. It consists of newspaper clippings from the time, which, due to laws governing the reproduction of newspapers I can’t place on here; there are also a couple of typed reports of the incident, but these have been written later , are not official, and largely replicate what can be found in the newspapers.  Every once in a while I do go into the archive and try and find information on this incident, even the briefest mention, – but the accident books kept by the Corporation were destroyed in 1996 when the Corporation was wound up, as were employee records. There was, allegedly, an investigation by Taylor’s supervisor Mr Drummond, but no notes or files from this survive. The Corporation took thousands of photographs in its lifetime – but did not take any of the UFO site. I would love to be able to add a little information to this story, a little documentary evidence, but none appears to exist in the LDC archive. Perhaps the phlegmatic Scots of the 1970s and 1980s did not think any papers and files were worth keeping, which is a pity, because as archivists we want to try and build up a general public interest in the material we have – and what better way would there have been than a cornucopia of information on an attempted alien abduction!

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 For The Month Ending The 30th November, 1972

This month, as winter closes in, I found a great many complaints about the bus services and get the feeling that whatever survey the S.M.T carried out they didn’t do it as thoroughly as they thought for many folk said they knew nothing about it and they cannot all be lying.

I discovered that after the first two or three weeks of settling in each person, especially the younger ones, were assailed by thoughts that they “may have made a mistake moving” and that they were better off where they were before. This seemed very commonplace and was initially caused through bus services not being very good, telephone installation being slow and folk feeling they were cut off from the outer world. Fortunately good sense prevails and these initial worries wear off. They console themselves, in many cases, with the thought that it is far better for the children. I have pointed out that they are “in at birth of a new town” and that small annoyance will soon be rectified as the town expands.

Interest has been shown too in the new building developments that are going on, Dedridge and the shopping complex, people now see something being created and watch almost daily for further progress. They have an avid interest in expansion.

There seems to be genuine concern that there is nothing much for the older teenager to do in an evening. Perhaps a community centre where teenagers could have coffee and soft drinks with all their interest centred under one roof. Having firsthand knowledge of this problem myself I can understand the anxiety of parents of older children.

In the Archives: Alternative Livingston Town Centres



Livingston was, largely, a town planned from scratch. There were a few villages, but there was nothing that you might call a town centre with shops, services, leisure facilities and the rest.  Clearly, quite a lot of what defines a town is this centre.  One of the more interesting challenges for those first town planners, who decided what Livingston was going to be like, was how to design a town centre that meant had character. It must have been quite an exciting challenge to design something so monumental from nothing. However, it was a challenge that soon ground on beyond endurance for most, the planning stages lasting over six years, and the shopping centre at the heart of the town centre not opening until 1977 – some 15 years after ideas were first put forward.

Early design concepts for Livingston town centre. c.1965.

 It was a task complicated by the designation of Livingston town centre as a regional centre – there had to be a massive shopping centre incorporated into any plans for the new town. Unsurprisingly this shopping centre, known today simply as The Centre, has come to dominate the town.

The evolution of plans for Livingston’s town centre can be traced in the archive. There are some quite interesting alternatives to the final scheme which I want to look at here. Today, Livingston’s town centre is found south of the River Almond in on a site that is contained in a rectangular grid of roads, just off the A889. It is quite a simple, utilitarian design that gets the job done.





Initial plans for the town centre were more ambitious. Plans to build the town centre on both sides of the River Almond were quite far advanced. The town centre was to be linked across the river by a series of bridges and was to include a number of river side squares and shops – there was also to be completely segregated pedestrian zones. This scheme was thwarted by the extra deep glacial silts surrounding the River Almond – these silts required deeper than average foundations, which made what was quite a nice sounding idea too expensive.  On a more fortunate note, the town centre was originally planned to incorporate high rise residential flats, these were dropped at a late date and there are no high rise dwellings at all in Livingston, having been developed a little after these fell out of architectural favour.

A second idea was to damn the River Almond to create two artificial lochs, which could be used at the heart of a park and to create space for boating and fishing etc. This was too expensive as well.



A plan from when artificial lochs were still envisaged (c.1966)



A final nail in the lid of any kind of imaginative town centre design came in 1971. The Livingston Development Corporation had wanted to fund the building of the town centre itself. This would have allowed the town to be built in phases across a number of sites over a number of years.  In 1971 the Scottish Development Department decided that the shopping mall had to be funded by a private company. This meant that the plans for various phases and sites had to be altered, to allow the private developer a single site for the new shopping mall. In the end, despite 6 years of planning,  the shopping centre project was sent out to tender in 1972. Ravenseft Properties won the bid with a plan that would create one of the largest indoor centres in the UK. The shopping centre was also to include Scotland's largest superstore. Almondvale Shopping Centre was opened in the autumn of 1977, with 320,000 sq ft of retail space available. This was subsequently known as Phase I.



 As early as 1979 plans were explored to expand the shop

A model of the 'regional centre' when its planning had become more concrete



ping centre in Almondvale Phase II, but difficulties in funding, and proposed rival 'mega' shopping centres in Bathgate and at Gyle in the suburbs of Edinburgh, delayed the expansion of the shopping centre until the 1990s. Ravenseft, renamed Land Securities, and owners of Phase I, agreed to fund Phase II developments by Amec and the Safeway group. Phase II was opened on the 17th August 1996 and contained three department stores and an additional 41 shop units. The Centre continued to develop after the dissolution of the Corporation. Phase III was completed in 2008. As of 2012 retail space at The Centre is now over 1 million sq ft and dominates Livingston's town centre.



Livingston town centre under construction, 1970s







Phase 1 of Livingston Regional Centre complete, c.1977







Ladywell/Howden/Knightsridge - Report for November 1972

Once again, I have found this month that new tenants are generally in employment, able to furnish their houses, and well prepared for coming here in that they know what to expect and are ready to make an effort to settle.

I would like to report that SWD is now fully staffed and much more able to take referrals from HV (LDC policy of more selective letting has also helped here). The SWD is now split into two teams – one for Ladywell/Howden/Calders and one for Craigshill/Balerno/Currie. This agrees with the areas of LDC HVs and AHOs.

There is an impression in the town that the employment situation is improving – several men I have known as long-term unemployed have started jobs. Again, the policy of selection has helped.

Three families I have spoken to are using a rented house as a ‘stop-gap’ until they can find accommodation to suit their (middle class) needs. It seems unfortunate that the town should lose these people to Bathgate, Edinburgh etc. As we do not provide housing which is ‘exclusive’ or ‘expensive’ enough.

We will be faced again this winter with many cases of disconnected electricity. Is there no way in which this can be prevented?

The information sheet for Knightsridge tenants has not yet been received, and Rev. Hughes has communicated his anxiety to me about the possibility a temporary community hall for the area.

I would like to note that the tenants of Whinbank seem particularly disconnected, although they do not mix with one another (or because they do not mix with one another)

In the Archives: Advertising Livingston

Livingston new town was created with two main aims – the first was to build houses that could take people from Glasgow who were being displaced by slum clearances in the city. The second aim, and one which was increasingly important during the 1970s, was to develop in Livingston as an economic base for the Lothians. The idea was that there would need to be a drive to counteract the decline of the old heavy industries that employed so many in the area – especially mining.

Livingston was created with jobs as a focus then, and it was here that it was perhaps most successful.  In 1975 there were 7,930 people employed in Livingston, by 1995 this had risen to 25,694.

To encourage firms to locate in Livingston there were various beneficial rates available and to advertise the benefits of making it in Livingston there were various advertising campaigns.  The first, shortlived slogan was “Livingston: The Pacesetter”, but this was soon replaced by two or three slogans that were to last twenty years. These were “Make it in Livingston” , “Locate in Livingston” and, to a lesser extent, “Livingston: Europe’s Most Logical Location.” The Livingston Development Corporation at first used an advertising consultancy, Halls of Edinb

urgh, to lead its marketing campaigns, but as the expertise of staff grew, more and more functions were brought in house. The advertising campaigns used by  the Corporation were seen all over the world, from newspapers in the US and Japan, to the walls of the London Underground.

The increase of advertising knowledge at the Corporation was echoed by its technical and commercial staff who became experts at designing factories that could be used by the most demanding of technology companies. The burgeoning technology industry was an area of high growth, and brought with it changes in the job market and also to society more widely.  A skilled workforce and an appropriate environment for technology combined to make Livingston capital of Silicon Glen.  In the 1970s the Livingston Development Corporation developed Kirkton Campus, a technology park, at a time when many advanced technology companies from the USA and Japan were seeking an appropriate location for their European operations.  The LDC kept tight control on Kirkton Campus, keeping it as a place that only technologically demanding firms could locate – this made it one of the first high-technology parks in the UK.

This combination of facilities and successful advertising (and wining and dining) made Livingston quite successful in attracting international firms. The Japanese connection included NEC (Nippon Electric Company), one of Scotland’s seven semiconductor companies, as well as Shin-Etsu, the UK’s only producer of silicon wafers, the industry’s raw material.  The Japanese companies not only brought jobs and wealth to Livingston but added a touch of the exotic to the town.  Special efforts were made to make the overseas visitors feel at home such as arranging a Saturday school for Japanese children.  The new families introduced Livingston to Japanese cooking through the International Club at Craigs Farm and to their culture during festivals and special occasions. 

NEC made one of the largest ever investments by a Japanese company in Europe and became one of the town’s largest industrial employers.  Its closure in 2002 was a major blow to the local economy.

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.