Wallyford

Name: Wallyford Community Council
Address: Musselburgh

The village of Wallyford lies on the outskirts of Musselburgh and approx. 6 miles due east of Edinburgh.

Established in the early 16th Century, the village is overlooked by Fa'side Castle to the south and has wonderful views north across the Firth of Forth to Fife.

The village has seen a substantial growth in population over the last 25 years with the construction of new homes at Scarlett Park, Olipant Gardens and the Wallace and Park estates. Development continues at a pace with a further 2,500 homes being built at St Clements Wells, Ravensheugh, and Wallace Park.

A new modern primary school and library was completed in 2019 and Rosehill High School and Wallyford Community Hub, was completed in June 2023 with the first cohort of pupils welcomed in August 2023.

Other amenities include a small supermarket, general store, several small shops and take away food outlets. There is a beauty salon, a community centre, several play parks and a miners welfare club. Wallyford Industrial Estate offers a range of professional services while a car showroom and garden centre are located on the east side of the village.

Situated just of the A1, Wallyford is served by excellent public transport options including: Wallyford Railway Station (operated by Scotrail), regular bus services operated by Lothian Buses, East Coast Buses, and Prentice Coaches, and a park and ride facility with 313 parking spaces including 13 disabled spaces.

The nearest large town is Musselburgh where a wide range of shops, bars, sports facilities etc can be found, while Prestonpans and Tranent are also close by.

Please note that all photography has been used in good faith. Images have either been specifically taken by WCC members, taken from Wallyford social media sites, or with the kind permission of the owner including Angus Bathgate.

History

In its 500 year history, Wallyford has witnessed a number of significant historical events and has been home to a number of important people. Below we have listed several of historical significance.

The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (10 September 1547) was fought on surrounding fields of the village towards the River Esk.

Considered to have been the first 'modern' battle in the British Isles, it was part of the conflict known as the 'Rough Wooing' where Henry VIII of England tried to secure an alliance with Scotland by the marriage of his young son Edward to the infant Mary, Queen of Scots.

It was also the last pitched battle fought between Scottish and English forces, and saw the Duke of Somerset defeat the Earl of Arran in what became known locally as 'Black Saturday' with the English routing the Scots forces, leaving some 6,000 Scottish soldiers dead.

Despite the resounding defeat, the Scottish Government refused to come to terms with the English and the infant Queen Mary was smuggled out of Scotland to France, where she would later marry Francis, Dauphin of France, in 1558.

Fa'side Castle

Fa'side Castle overlooks Wallyford and was originally built in the late 12th/early 13th century. It has endured a turbulent past and has been destroyed and rebuilt on several occasion, most notably by the English army before the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh when the occupants were burned inside.

It played host to Mary Queen of Scots ahead of the Battle of Carberry Hill (15 June 1567) where the Queen surrendered to Kirkcaldy of Grange and was subsequently imprisoned at Lochleven Castle.

By the 19th century the castle fell into a ruinous state and was ear marked for complete demolition in the 1970s, only being saved when it was purchased and restored by Thomas Moodie Craig. The restoration work started in 1976 and was completed by 1982.

Coal Mining

Wallyford is probably best known for its coal mining. Dating as far back as the 16th Century when the village supplied coal to the Palace of Holyrood where Mary Queen of Scots was resident, the first of three modern pits was sunk in circa 1820, with the last mine closing in 1931. During that time 38 coalminers from the village lost their lives, the youngest being Thomas Gilroy who was just 14 years old. All 38 miners are commemorated by a memorial stone and two miners carts on Salter's Road.

Those who are remembered:

1857: James Losh

1859: Charles Fyfe

1860: John Neill; William Walters

1861: William Robertson

1863: William Howie

1869: W Wright

1890: John Hughes

1891: Robert Skirving

1896: Adam McNeill; Joseph Queen

1897: Robert Gordon

1901: William Hamilton; Patrick Hooligan

1902: Thomas Swan

1903: Robert McEwan; John Brown McNeil

1904: David McNeil; John Thain

1905: Percy Baker; John McGhee

1906: James Millar; William McKinlay; John McCutcheon

1907: Andrew Rutherford; Thomas Gilroy

1908: John Dickson; George Scott

1909: William McNeill; George Bourhill

1911: George Aithie; James Craig; Thomas Sandilands

1913: James Walker; Robert Watson

1924: David Drylie

1929: Hugh McKenzie

Crookston War Memorial

Crookston War Memorial commemorates the young men of Wallyford and Whitecraig who died during the Great War (World War I). It sits in the grounds of St Michael's Parish Churchyard, Inveresk having been moved from its originally erected at Crookston School on the west of the village. The school closed nearly 60 years ago and the memorial, bearing the names of the 61 soldiers from Wallyford, Whitecraig and Smeaton who were killed during the war, was moved to Inveresk Cemetery, where it is still located.

List of names of those who died in the Great War:

Adams, H; Affleck, W; Aitchison, J; Aitchison, J; Aitkenson, T; Archibald, T;

Bowie, G; Brannan, W; Broadfoot, J; Brown, A; Brown, J; Brown, R;

Callum, A; Clark, J; Combe, T; Conlin, W; Connely, J; Connely, T; Cowan, J; Cowan, R; Cranston, G;

Davidson, J; Dickson, R; Duncan, D; Duncan, W;

Edgell, D;

Fulton, A;

Gilmour, G; Goodall, D; Gordon, W;

Hadden, J; Hardie, A; Hardie, R W; Howie, J;

Izatt, P;

Jardine, W;

Laing, J;

Mabon, W; Mcqueen, F; Mechan, A; Miller, J; Minto, J;

Nairn, H;

Ramsay, D; Reilly, P; Robertson, G; Robertson, A; Ross, P; Ross, W;

Simpson, A; Somers, J;

Thomson, A;

Vevers, T;

Wood, D; Wood, J; Wood, J; Wood, T; Wright, J; Wright, J

Wallyford Bing

Wallyford Bing is located to the south side of the village and covers much of the old pit area. The 6 acre of woodland is teeming with wildlife including foxes, rabbits, hares, the occasional deer, sparrow hawks, blue, coal and yellow tits, robins, magpies, wood pigeon and numerous insects. It is also a fantastic place to walk and remember to look out for stone sculptures focusing on the villages rich coal mining history.

Wallyford House

Wallyford House was an unassuming yet substantial building dating from around the early 17th Century. The outside was rather plain except for a Renaissance doorway dating from 1672, while the inside was reported to have enjoyed 'fine interiors'.

It was home to Sir William Binning of Wallyford, Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1675-67 and was the birthplace of 19th Century author Margaret Oliphant. The building was ravage by fire in 1884 and lay in ruins until 1948 when it was demolished to make way for the Inchview housing estate.

Wallyford Brickworks

Wallyford Brickworks were part of the NCB’s operations from 1924-69 before being sold to the Scottish Brick Corporation. Bricks from the works were prominently printed with ‘Wallyford’ in a kiln that was gradually fired to a temperature of 1000º. This allowed the bricks to dry out before baking, to prevent them from cracking.

The kiln held around 11,000 bricks, and a further four square ‘intermittent’ hand-fired kilns held between 25-30,000 bricks. The whole process took around 11 days. Wallyford bricks were used in many buildings including the Wallyford Miners’ Institute’. The brickworks closed in 1972.

St Clement's Wells Distillery

St Clement's Wells Distillery was established around 1786 producing lowland single malt whisky, most likely using water from a burn or seasonal watercourse situated close to the farm. According to the 1791 Statistical Account, St Clement's Wells Distillery was 'the most considerable distillery in Scotland.' The distillery was founded by George Milne, who distilled until he was sequestrated in 1809. It was then acquired by W & J Aitchison, who revived the site in 1813 and remained active until 1833, when the company was dissolved and the distillery closed.

Wallyford Dog Track

Wallyford Dog Track was in operation in the 1930s and covered race distances over 285, 470 and 660 yards. An 'Inside Sumner' hare was installed and the principal events run at the track were the East Lothian Sprint and East Lothian Derby.

The stadium was independent (unaffiliated to a governing body) and council plans to demolish the stadium in 1986 resulted in closure for a few months before re-opening in 1987. The approval of the Scarlett Park housing development led to the eventual closure in 1992.

Plans to resurrect the track failed to materialise despite the commencement of building a new stadium and the skeleton structure which stood at Victory Lane for a number of years was finally demolished in 2022 to make way for John Gilmour Butchers and a new housing development.

Famous sons and daughters of Wallyford

Sir William Binning (1637-1711)

Sir William Binning of Wallyford was a 17th-century Scottish landowner who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1675 to 1677 and was owner of Wallyford House.

Margaret Oliphant (1828-1897)

Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Born in Wallyford in 1828, her fictional works cover "domestic realism, the historical novel and tales of the supernatural".

Willie Park Senior (1833-1903)

Willie Park Snr was born in Wallyford on 30 June 1883. A 4-time winner of the Open Championship, Park started out as a caddie and later ran a golf equipment manufacturing business. He made his money from "challenge matches" against rivals such as Old Tom Morris, Willie Dunn and Allan Robertson, which were the most popular form of spectator golf in his era.

Jock Wallace Jnr (1935-1996)

John Martin Bokas Wallace was born in Wallyford in 1935. He was Scottish professional footballer and manager who played as a goalkeeper, and has the unique distinction of being the only player ever to play in the English, Welsh and Scottish Cups in the same season. As manager of Rangers FC over two spells in the 1970s and 1980s, he led them to the the Scottish League title 3 times, Scottish FA Cup 3 times, and the Scottish League Cup 4 times.

Yvonne Murray (1964-)

Yvonne Murray-Mooney MBE lived in Musselburgh but attended Wallyford Primary School. She is former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete who won the bronze medal in the 3000 metres at the 1988 Olympic Games and the gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Murray also won gold medals at European and World Indoor Championships, and the 1993 World Indoor Championships and the 1990 European Championships.

Micky Yule (1978-)

Micky Yule was born in Edinburgh in 1978 and was raised in Wallyford. He joined the British Army at the age of 17 and was a staff sergeant whe in March 2010, whilst on patrol, Yule stood on an IED. Yule was a member of the Army Powerlifting team before his injury, and took up powerlifting as part of his rehabilitation. He represented Great Britain in the -80 kg class winning the bronze medal in the men's 72 kg event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. In the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games Micky won Bronze for Scotland in the Men's Heavyweight category.

Wallyford Community Council