2022

NT0669 : Old Co-op Buildings, Pumpherston

taken 2 years ago, near to Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland

Old Co-op Buildings, Pumpherston
Old Co-op Buildings, Pumpherston
If somebody from a hundred years ago was transported forward in time to today, they would quickly conclude that the only things people aren't willing to use the cars they now all have to drive for are haircuts and takeaways. Pumpherston has never been that heavy on hairdressers, but until recently was something of a phenomenon in takeaway density - a relatively small village, it once boasted seven, including 3 Chinese. I only spotted three or four open tonight; the rest were shuttered.
The big building ahead was once the village's main Co-op. This seems to have been more of an early shopping complex than the Co-ops we are familiar with today. It once housed a butchers, a drapers (in the olden days people made a lot of their clothes themselves, or at least paid somebody else to do so for them), a furniture store, a grocers and a general store. The building on the left, now divided between umpteen businesses, was built in the 1920s and was the Co-op bakery.
The Co-op, which was part of the West Calder Co-operative Society at the time, arrived here in the 1880s. They took over an existing store and upgraded and expanded it. Within 20 years, however, they demolished it all and built the building shown here, complete with the clock tower which now only tells the right time in the winter. The ScottishShale website has a lot of pictures of it (including a colour postcard), but even they have no idea of the purpose of the bell above the clock.
The old shop closed in the early 1980s. I'm not sure when the new Co-op opened, but it occupies a building which was formerly an independent store and can be seen in the distance, opposite the unseen side of the old building.

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Ian Dodds and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Village, Rural settlement Housing, Dwellings Business, Retail, Services Roads, Road transport Derelict, Disused other tags: Canmore Spot Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Building [2] · Small Village [2] ·
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NT0669, 21 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Ian Dodds   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 27 August, 2022   (more nearby)
Submitted
Saturday, 27 August, 2022
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 0667 6930 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:54.4633N 3:29.6690W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 0667 6930
View Direction
Northeast (about 45 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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