The Courier and Almond Valley Heritage Trust have teamed up to take readers on a trip down memory lane.
The West End area of Fauldhouse was blessed with a railway station connecting to Scotland’s major cities, and the district’s only hotel.
The village of Fauldhouse grew up around a handful of settlements created in the mid 19th century to serve the iron and coal mining industries. In the 1850s the area around West End was still open countryside. The only features marked on the earliest Ordnance Survey map were 12 cottages.
Fauldhouse grew quickly during the 1860s and 70s with the development of mining and quarrying industries. The Caledonian Railway’s new route between Edinburgh and Glasgow, opened in 1869, swept through the area.
Its rival, the North British, constructed its East Benhar branch at about the same time. The East Benhar route included construction of an iron bridge over Fauldhouse main street, which then separated West End from the Falla Rows.
Most of the solid rows of stone-built housing in West End were constructed by Thomas Thornton & Co.
Thornton’s also operated a general store to supply the needs of the mining community. In 1895 Peter Thornton constructed an impressive Caledonian Hotel on a site close to the railway station.
For many years the Caledonian was at the heart of commercial and social life in Fauldhouse, and was venue for many grand meetings and celebrations.
Prior to 1910, the original row of houses was cleared, leaving an unrestricted view between the hotel and the station.
The fortunes of Fauldhouse, and those of hotel, declined following World War One and by 1938 much of the surrounding housing lay derelict.
As new homes were built on these sites, the Caledonian Bar remained a popular hostelry although it seems, was not always appreciated by its neighbours.
The Caledonian was damaged by fire in 1985, and finally called time in 1992 before being converted into flats.
