Uphall

Uphall (Scots: Uphauch, Scottish Gaelic: Ubhalaidh)[1] is a village in West Lothian, Scotland. It is a swiftly growing village in a conurbation with Broxburn to the east, Dechmont to the west and the major town of Livingston to the south west. Uphall is 30 miles from Glasgow and 14 miles from Edinburgh in the Scottish Lowlands.

Uphall
  • Scottish Gaelic: Ubhalaidh
  • Scots: Uphauch

Strathbrock kirk, on the north side of Uphall
Uphall
Location within West Lothian
OS grid referenceNT058718
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBROXBURN
Postcode districtEH52
Dialling code01506
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament

Uphall has a public golf course, a lawn bowls club (Middleton Hall) and a selection of public houses including The Volunteer Arms, The Dovehill Arms, The Oatridge Hotel and Houston House Hotel.

Uphall was historically known as Wester Strathbrock, with its neighbour Broxburn being Easter Strathbrock. Until the second half of the 19th century, both Uphall and Broxburn were small rural communities. The discovery and exploitation of local oil shale triggered massive growth as many people moved to the area to gain employment in the oil shale mines and associated oil works. Surrounding villages expanded rapidly as rows of miners' cottages were erected to accommodate the influx of people, most of whom came - in search of money - from Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland.

This growth continued until the oil industry went into terminal decline in the 1920s and only post war industrial development at Greendykes and East Mains Industrial Estates, coupled with new employment throughout the West Lothian district and increased commuting to Edinburgh, helped to offset the depression that followed.

Notable residents
  • The Rev Alexander MacAndrew Gillespie OBE FRSE FRCPE FSAS FRGS (d.1984) minister and physician[2]
  • Paul di Resta, the DTM champion 2010, and Formula One race driver in 2011–13 with the Force India F1 Team was born in Uphall on April 16, 1986.

References
  1. List of railway station names in English, Scots and Gaelic – NewsNetScotland
  2. https://billiongraves.com/grave/alexander-MacAndrew-Gillespie/7128442



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.