Take a trip back in time

A historical walk through the ancient village of Westhouses is set to tell the story of the people that lived there hundreds of years ago.

Robert Hogg on the walk

Mayfield and Easthouses Community council chairman Robert Hogg is the man behind this new historical walk, which is funded by his group, McSence and Scotmid.

He said: “There is a lot of history up there. It’s surrounded by history. There is a bronze age camp fort at the top of the hill. And there was a village called Westhouses further down from the camp.

“We have printed up about three thousand leaflets that will be handed out throughout the community, and Midlothian Council will put it on their website. We want to encourage people to go up there.

“It’s all part of our heritage. A lot of people that live in the community don’t know what they are sitting on and the historical value of that.”

Robert, who hopes to soon give talks on the walk to local schools, revealed one of the stories he discovered during his research.

He said: “I have been working on this for a good few years.

“I found out about one of the residents of Westhouses – Grant Thorburn– who was deported to America. I discovered his memoirs. He made his fortune as a nail maker.

“There was a demand for slate roofs at the time so he landed at just the right time. He became what we would now call a multi-millionaire.”

The ‘Westhouses Historical Lime Kiln Walk’ launches today (Thursday), 7pm, at Mcsence Business Enterprise Park in Mayfield, with free refreshments from 6.30pm.