Nestled in the Bathgate Hills, just beyond the historic town of Linlithgow, Beecraigs Country Park covers an area of 900 acres. I had driven by on a few previous occasions and today we mounted a mission to explore some of the walking trails within. The visitors centre has a café and a well-stocked gift shop. I bought a handful of postcards and we picked up a bunch of leaflets about other local attractions. Interesting how this type of promotional literature remains popular in an ever-increasing paperless society.
A panoramic viewing window provided a sweeping outlook across the Forth estuary and an even better vista could be obtained from a raised platform beside the cattle barn. Half a dozen Highland calves were inside and we decided to head down to the field that contained the fully-grown beasts. The hardy Heilan' Coo withstands harsh windy environments with ease and the shaggy long-horned livestock has become a symbol of Scotland. As a child, I loved McCowan's Highland toffee. It featured a hairy bovine face on the packaging, although the confectionary was actually produced in Stenhousemuir, about 10 miles from where I stood, firmly within the lowland central belt. Another world-famous grazer - also present at Beecraigs - is the Belted Galloway, whose black coat is divided by a circular white band. As the name would suggest, this cattle breed originates from the southwest of Scotland. It has been exported all over the world and is known among American children as the Oreo-cookie cow, due to the colour scheme resembling the sandwich biscuit. I'm always up for a bit of cow spotting but I was about to find way more than I'd bargained for. Not only were the aforementioned breeds sharing a field, but two of them were close enough to be captured within the same picture.
The image below is now heading for 100 likes on Instagram. The Kardashians don't get out of bed for such paltry figures but I'm happy with this little piece of Scottish imagery.
It was a chilly day and we had to keep moving. A circuit of Beecraigs Loch seemed like a nice walking option and we wandered through a patch of woodland before picking up the shore path. The body of water was artificially created between 1914 and 1918 by German prisoners of war, who constructed an embankment dam from stone and clay across the Riccarton Burn. Progress wasn't plain sailing however, as the captured soldiers didn't exhibit the same work rate as the tough navvies who normally built such engineering projects. Conscientious objectors were drafted in to held speed up the process. The lake served as a reservoir until its decommissioning in 1972. It is now stocked with fish and is a popular spot among the local angling fraternity. It was now time for lunch. Unfortunately, the only bench we could find sat below the level of the loch's surface and we ate our sandwiches while staring at the imposing bulwark. We rounded off our circuit and headed back up to the visitors centre. The Bathgate Hills remain something of a hidden gem, as no major roads go through them. The height of the range is modest, barely topping 1000 feet. Fine views however can be obtained of the central lowlands. The quirky Korean War Memorial is just a couple of miles from Beecraigs.
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