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Howden Short Route

Route: Football Stadium - Civic Centre - Skate Park - follow river to concrete bridge - back to Civic Centre.

Route length: 2.5km

Estimated duration: 35 mins

On-route facilities: Toilets at Civic Centre, toilets and Café at Howden Park Centre.

Points of Interest/History/Heritage

  1. Livingston Football Stadium - built in 1995 to house Meadowbank Thistle FC (previously Ferranti Thistle) from Edinburgh, who were encouraged out to the New Town of Livingston by LDC (Livingston Development Corporation).
  2. Civic Centre Meadows - the grass in front of the Civic Centre, nearest the river, is managed as a species-rich grassland. In summer, look out for white clover, yellow
  3. bird's foot trefoil and pink common spotted-orchids. You may also see several kinds of bumblebee feeding on nectar from the flowers.
  4. Bridge of Remembrance - was renamed in 2015 to mark the anniversary of the end of WW1. It goes from Livingston Centre to the war memorial and is likely to have been built around the same time as houses in the local area.
  5. 'Whirlpool' mural - part of the 2017 project to brighten up areas in and around Almondvale Park.
  6. River Almond - when crossing the bridge, there is a good view both upstream and downstream along the river. If you watch carefully, you may see Kingfishers feeding as they fly along the river and dive in and out of the water.
  7. Livingston Skate Park - Scotland's first purpose-built skate park, built in 1981 by LDC. It has become an important part of the area, and has also achieved international status. The North wall of the park that the route goes past was designed as a climbing wall - you can still see the metal hook points embedded in the concrete.
  8. Area just east of the Skate Park - originally designed as a 'trim course', this area was covered with tracks for running. The large wooden cross in the area, still there today, was sometimes used as a place for ceremonies and celebration events.
  9. 'Old Men of Hoy' art installation - cast concrete, created in 1976. The Old Men stand at the confluence of the Dedridge Burn and the River Almond. The ground in this area is very wet and supports trees that thrive in wet conditions, such as willow and alder, creating an important habitat known as 'carr'. Wet, decaying wood makes good habitat for invertebrates and willow/alder carr also supports many birds that feed on the birch seed and alder catkins.
  10. When crossing the concrete bridge - you can see the Almond Valley Bridge that carries the dual carriageway. Built in 1972, it helped to join different areas of the 'New Town'. The old stone bridge in front of it was the original way into the area. In 1965, Craigshill was the first area to be developed by LDC, as part of the New Town - residents would come through East Calder and over the old stone bridge to get into Craigshill area.
  11. 'Concrete Jungle' mural underneath concrete bridge - part of the 2017 Almondvale Park restoration (see Almondvale Park Public Art Map (PDF, 1 MB)(opens new window) for more information on Almondvale park artworks).
  12. View of Howden - part of New Town development - built in the early 70's by LDC. All areas of New Town have distinct naming systems with a theme, and as you go around the area, they are in alphabetical order. Howden's streets are all named after places in Canada e.g. Toronto Avenue, Huron Avenue. (See notes at end of document for full naming systems).
  13. View of the Skate Park and The Centre across the river - the original part of The Centre (Almondvale) was started in 1976 by LDC to create a 'town centre' for the New Town. Extended over the years, it opened as 'The Centre' in 2008.
  14. Sustrans Millennium Milepost - found across the UK, these mileposts celebrate the freedom and diversity of the National Cycle Network (NCN). This post marks the NCN75 route, which spans right across central Scotland.
  15. West Lothian Civic Centre - opened in 2009 and thought to represent the broadest public sector partnership in Britain. The building is shared by the headquarters of West Lothian Council, a divisional headquarters for Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Courts Service, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and the West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. It includes the Council Chamber, Livingston Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court. Bringing these public services together under one roof was intended to facilitate the delivery of coordinated services. (Gazetteer for Scotland, 2022)