Villagers in Stoneyburn and East Whitburn have been fighting to complete a footpath linking two villages for the last two years.
And now it could soon become a reality.
Now after the council issued a demand to buy farmland to finish the safe walking route the final decision will be made by the Scottish Government.
Stoneyburn, whose residents call it the Island Village, has fought for years for improved footpath access in and around the village. It’s a problem shared by those living in East Whitburn.
In 2024 East Whitburn residents joined villagers from Stoneyburn and members of local walking groups at a meeting to discuss how best to press for building of the final few yards of a footpath to link their communities.
A survey at the time in East Whitburn showed more than 500 people regularly use the Foulshiels footpath and supported its completion to Hens Nest Road.
The main road connecting the two villages is Hens Nest Road, a narrow and winding B-road. It is only an eight-minute drive between the two communities, but a risky hour-long walk. The road is lined with dense vegetation on both sides for most of the way.
Frustratingly there’s only a few hundred yards gap between Hens Nest Road and the footpath built by the Scottish Woodland Trust through Foulshiels Wood to Stoneyburn.
That gap – the site of a railway junction for the narrow gauge railway that served the former Foulshiels Colliery – is now a muddied stretch that is navigable only when the ground is frozen.
Walking that route between the villages would take only 15 to 20 minutes.
While most of the pathway has been finished it stops within sight of Hens Nest Road. You could almost throw a stone from the farm gate to the road.
Since the pathway was built many more villagers from Stoneyburn have been using the Foulshiels path for daily exercise, but to get to East Whitburn you still need to walk, or cycle Hens Nest Road.
Last month Stoneyburn and Bents Future Vision group wrote on their social media site: “As you know we have been working alongside WLC for many years to secure a link from the Foulshiels Wood to East Whitburn. All possible avenues have been explored and now WLC have now submitted a Path Order under Section 22 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2023.”
They called for support for the path with the deadline for submissions and objections on 30 September.
Sandy Edgar from Stoneyburn group said: “Here’s hoping for a satisfactory outcome.”
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
