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History
The current Bathgate & West Lothian Highland Games Association were not the first to hold a highland gathering in Bathgate.
The first gathering in Bathgate took place in July 1922, where the events included highland dancing, solo piping, pipe band contest, drum major contest, young marathon, high jump, long jump and field events. The following extract is taken from the West Lothian Courier on Friday 28th July 1922:
“The Scottish Gathering and Highland Games held at Mill Park, Bathgate, on Saturday last under the auspices of the Scottish Society of Bathgate, were an outstanding success from every point of view. The brilliant weather conditions with which the gathering was favoured brought out the spectators in large numbers, over 3000 being present, and the handsome prize money offered for the various events was responsible for an exceedingly large entry all round.”
However, this was very much a one-off event. The games as we know them began on the last Saturday in the May of 1972 with a pipe band contest. Unlike the 1922 gathering, these games were not blessed with “brilliant weather conditions” as it rained all day long – a tradition which sadly continues.
In 1973, a highland dancing competition, solo piping contest and heavy athletics events were started. The Salvation Army designed our logo, and the Bathgate Highland Games were born.
Bathgate Highland Games hosted the British Pipe Band Championships for 11 years, and then in 1990 held the European Championships. It was also in this year that our name changed to Bathgate & West Lothian Highland Games.
In November 2002, we took the bold step of starting a Youth Forum, where young people aged 11-21 can have an influence on the future of the games. We remain the only Highland Games to have such an initiative. With the help of the Youth Forum and other innovations such as our new online entry system, Bathgate & West Lothian Highland Games hopes to stay at the forefront of modern Highland Gatherings.