The building of the model village at Westquarter by the County Council in the 1930s saw coal miners and their families move from squalid insanitary conditions at Standburn to modern well-appointed accommodation. Chief amongst the clean new standards were running water and the provision of electricity, though as the Memories Group noted :
“most residents found it too costly to run so the landing light would be used to light up the bedrooms at night. Paraffin lamps were still used a lot until the 1950s” (Westquarter Project 2011, 19). “What a contrast to Standburn! As one worthy said, at the flick of a switch he had instant light that let him see to fill his paraffin light!” (ibid, 72).
Coins were needed as :
“most homes were fitted with electric meter so you were always looking for a shilling for the meter” (ibid, 78).
The initial wiring was undertaken by E Masson of Denny. Some tenants hired electric cookers but most used coal-fired grates for cooking and heating water. In the 1970s immersers and new kitchen units were fitted. The area was designated as a smokeless zone and the tenants got the choice of storage heaters, electric fires or smokeless fuel fires.
Falkirk Local History Society 