Home Report Bathgate

Bathgate is a town of about 20,000 people in West Lothian, close to Livingston and roughly 18 miles from Edinburgh City Centre. It primarily serves as a commuter town for residents working in Edinburgh and West Lothian, with easy access to the M8 motorway, regular bus services, and Bathgate railway station. Indeed, in recent years it has been named as one of the most appealing commuter towns in Scotland for its location and travel time to Glasgow and Edinburgh, plus, average house prices coming in significantly lower than in the capital. In recent years Bathgate was marked as a designated Business Improvement District and has benefited from investment and improvements within the local community, with more planned in the coming years.

In terms of amenities, Bathgate is well served with independent cafes, shops, and eateries of all kinds. It also boasts a thriving nightlife with plenty of popular pubs and entertainment on tap at Bathgate Cinema, the Regal Theatre or Chalmers entertainment venue. There’s also fantastic fishing opportunities on offer at Ballencrief Fishery, as well as golf at Bathgate Golf Club, which is home to two Ryder Cup Captains. For outdoorsy types, the Bathgate Hills presents fantastic walking and running opportunities. Cairnapple Hill is of particular note, it was used and re-used as a major ritual site over about 4000 years, and in its day would have been comparable to better-known sites like the Standing Stones of Stenness. Cairnpapple Hill has a dominating position in central lowland Scotland with views from Arran in the West to North Berwick Law in the East.

Livingston and its shopping centre and an array of amenities there are close enough for residents of Bathgate to enjoy. The nearby Meadow Park plays host to the annual West Lothian Highland Games too.

As for schooling, the local secondary schools are Bathgate Academy and St Kentigern’s Academy. The primary schools are Balbardie, St Mary’s, Boghall, St Columba’s, Windyknowe and the newer Simpsons Primary.