Burgh Beautiful Linlithgow
Working with Other Groups
We work with other local community groups and very much welcome their involvement in beautifying Linlithgow.
The Rotary Club of Linlithgow Grange is perhaps the main local voluntary organisation which has become involved. The club plants and maintains a substantial, prominently-situated circular flower bed at the corner of West Port and St Ninian’s Road, at the west end of the High Street, as shown on left. In contract with the annuals once planted there, the bed contains mainly low-growing shrubs but does include some annuals over both summer and winter, reflecting the traditional Rotary colours of yellow and blue. The club has also taken back responsibility for an attractive raised flower bed near the far end of Blackness Road, at its eastern junction with Springfield Road, and it provides a summer display of annuals around the category ‘A’ listed St Michael’s Well in the High Street using plants provided by Burgh Beautiful.
The Rotary Club of Linlithgow & Bo’ness should also be mentioned. Although it doesn’t undertake the ‘hands on’ work done by the other club, it is a very generous sponsor and we play a part in the Club’s fundraising activities to mutual benefit. These activities include selling tickets for its annual Duck Race and selling the calendars that it produces annually.
Above: Floral displays planted and maintained by the Rotary Club of Linlithgow Grange.
Also important to our activities is the very welcome assistance that we receive from local uniformed youth organisations, particularly the Scouts and the Guides.
Scouts – Every year, the Scouts (4th West Lothian) help us with preparations for planting our 120 hanging baskets, including filling the baskets with compost and reorganising the furniture at our Clarendon base to clear the polytunnel for planted baskets, as shown in the photograph on left. For several years, we also received help from the Beaver Scouts (the youngest section of the Scouts) with very enthusiastic litter picking!
Guides – Throughout the year, a local Guide group (the 1st Linlithgow Guides) carefully plants and maintains (under appropriate supervision) a set of three of our prominently-situated floral planters at The Vennel. Judging from the photograph below, the girls involved seem to very much enjoy making a positive difference to the appearance of our High Street.
Various other local organisations have become involved in Burgh Beautiful activities over the years. Many of them, such as the Linlithgow Round Table, Linlithgow Heritage Trust, the Deacons’ Court, Linlithgow Community Development Trust, Pubwatch and the Ale Trail, Linlithgow Business Association, Springfield Community Education Wing, the Linlithgow Ladies Choir, Linlithgow Rugby Club Choir, Linlithgow Jazz, the Fraternity of Dyers and the Linlithgow Reed Band, not to mention the Rotary Club of Linlithgow & Bo’ness referred to above, provide us with very much appreciated sponsorship money every year without which we could not continue. The town’s Business Improvement District (BID) also provides us with a substantial grant each year.
Recent examples of co-operation in planting have included collaboration with the Linlithgow Union Canal Society to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Union Canal through a redesign of the canalside bed. We have supported the installation of a floral planter in the High Street, firstly in a disused telephone kiosk, then in a more free-standing location nearby, by the Ex-Tinguishers.
In preparation for visits of Beautiful Scotland or Britain in Bloom judges, groups like the Linlithgow Flyers Netball Club and the Rotary Clubs have provided much-needed practical help to make the town appropriately spick and span!
Above, from top left to bottom right: Floral display commemorating the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Union Canal; Scouts at our Clarendon base; Ex-Tinguishers after converting a disused telephone kiosk into a novel planter; members of the Linlithgow Flyers Netball Club after a pre-judging clear-up; Rotary Club members after another clear-up; Ex-Tinguishers in the process of relocating their special planter at The Vennel.