Almond Valley Heritage Centre

Few visitors to Scotland, or even few Scots themselves, know that the country was the first place in the world to start oil production. It was in Livingston, West Lothian, that James ‘Paraffin’ Young first pioneered extracting oil from shale. This great family attraction has a museum dedicated to this grand period of the region’s past, including a reconstruction of a mine shaft, with the rest of the site home to a kids’ farm. All manner of fauna can be found here with plenty of hands on opportunity to pet the animals. There is also a miniature train and a there are tractor rides too. The section across the Almond river itself is home to playpark and trampolines, while the main part of the centre also features soft play and a café restaurant at what is one of Central Scotland’s top family attractions.