Stoneyburn is a village in West Lothian

West Lothian

West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Nearby towns include Bathgate

Bathgate

Bathgate is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the M8 motorway west of Livingston. Nearby towns are Blackburn, Armadale, Whitburn, Livingston, and Linlithgow. Edinburgh Airport is away...

, Whitburn

Whitburn, West Lothian

Whitburn is a small town in West Lothian, Scotland located halfway between Scotlands's two largest cities being about east of Glasgow and west of Edinburgh...

, Addiewell

Addiewell

Addiewell is a former mining village in the Scottish council area of West Lothian. A new prison, HMP Addiewell, opened in 2008.-History:A small industrial village in West Lothian, Addiewell lies to the south of the Breich Water, 2 miles south of Blackburn. The village developed in association...

 and Blackburn

Blackburn, West Lothian

Blackburn is a town in West Lothian, Scotland next to Bathgate and five miles from Livingston. It is situated about from Edinburgh along the old A8 road between Edinburgh and Glasgow.- History :...

.

Geography

Stoneyburn is situated in the middle of central Scotland, some 4 miles from Bathgate in the north and 5 from Livingston in the east. At approximately 25 miles from the centre of Scotland's two major cities, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 and Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, the village is situated 2 miles away from junction 4 of the M8, Scotland's main motorway.
Despite this, it is situated in a semi-rural area, surrounded by dairy farms and fields.
Around three thousand people inhabit the village, which is around 1.5 miles in length, clustered around the B7015 to Fauldhouse

Fauldhouse

Fauldhouse is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.-History:Fauldhouse is known since the Middle Ages, and was known until the 19th century by the names "Falas" or latterly "Fallas." The seventeenth century Dutch mapmaker Willem Blaeu features...

 and Livingston.
Traditionally, the village is divided between Stoneyburn proper and Bents, the latter in the days of railway travel being the location of the railway station. Stoneyburn has recently received 17 speed bumps along the main road which has created much controversy as many commuters claim that they have needed to change their suspension and other parts due to the long term damage.

Community

Stoneyburn is home to a vibrant and friendly community, supporting a bowling

Bowls

Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...

 club, junior

Scottish Junior Football Association

The Scottish Junior Football Association is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the Junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "Junior" refers to the level of football played...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team Stoneyburn F.C.

Stoneyburn F.C.

Stoneyburn F.C. are a Scottish football club based in Stoneyburn, near Bathgate, West Lothian. Members of the Scottish Junior Football Association, they currently play in the East Region South Division. Their home ground is Beechwood Park....

, two primary schools (Stoneyburn and Our Lady's) a Masonic Lodge

Masonic Lodge

This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

 and a catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 church, Our Lady's, of which the parish priest is Father Ryszard (Dick) Holuka S.T.L., M.A., who was ordained in 1974. In addition there is also a Church of Scotland and a Pentecostal Church in the village. Stoneyburn is also home to a Loyalist Flute Band called the Stoneyburn Crown Defenders http://stoneyburn-crowndefenders.co.uk The village also has local shops including a Cafe, florists, post office, chemist and convenience shops. There is also a Community Centre and a Health Centre within the village.

The public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

s in the village are the Ewington Hotel and The Bentswood Inn.

Relationship to other places

Stoneyburn is traditionally regarded as something of a backwater by its near neighbours but is swiftly shaking off this reputation as a younger generation of native Stoneyburners and new blood move into the area, taking advantage of less-inflated house prices and excellent local amenities (West Lothian Council are the UK's council of the year 2006).