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Community life
West Lothian was a mainly rural county before the advent of the shale oil industry, and the influx of labour required to work and process the shale had to be accommodated in new housing, often built in the shadow of the oil works. These company villages were often remote from established centres of the population and quickly developed as distinct, self-reliant communities.
Whereas the shale villages section of this website records the bricks-and-mortar of company housing, this section celebrates the people who served the industry and the everyday life of the shale oil communities.
West Lothian histories
Other Resources
Other sections of the website related to community life
Shale Villages
A listing and description of the company housing constructed to house oil workers and miners.
We are happy to licence use of many images, extracts, and other resources of this website under a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial licence (Scotland). See full copyright statement. Such material should be attributed to Almond Valley Heritage Trust and, where practical, a hyperlink provided to www.scottishshale.co.uk.