Share gala memories

Record for posterity in WL

The Living Memory Association at The Centre, Livingston, a charity which carries out reminiscence projects by recording memories for future g e n e rat i o n s , is appealing to everyone in the West Lothian area to tell them their most memorable gala day stories.

Working in conjunction with West Lothian Heritage Services, the charity is gathering stories about Gala Days in Armadale, Blackridge, Broxburn, West Calder and Whitburn for an exhibition and book, scheduled to be unveiled on September 28 at their premises in The Centre, to where they moved in March this year. The project is funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund.

Heather Robertson, secretary of The Living Memory Association, said: “The famous gala days in West Lothian were a special time when people came together for that one special day of the year. They were a great day out and many of the Gala Days are still going strong today.

“So much organising went into them, including choosing the gala queens, decorating streets and gardens and judging the races.

“We have already received a lot of artefacts, anecdotes and memorabilia,including pictures of some brilliantly decorated floats dating back to 1900, however we are keen to receive more stories, highlighting just how important a date this was in the family calendar.

“To be able to pull this project together the Living Memory Association has been helped by the huge amount of support we’ve received from various organisations, including The Heritage Lottery Fund, West Lothian Heritage Services and the wonderful Centre management team, which we are hugely grateful for.”

Jennifer Bruce, marketing manager at The Centre, said: “The Living Memory Association is a wonderful charity which we are more than happy to help in any way we can.

“Reminiscing and recording these fantastic stories of a celebration which was a really big part of people’s lives, and still is, is a great idea – we will be very much looking forward to attending the unveiling in September.”

To help the charity with this exhibition and ongoing projects, The Living Memory Association which currently has 12 volunteers is looking for an additional 10 volunteers to help with everything from administration to interviewing and editing to web design.

The famous gala days were a special time . . .