No groundworker listed in Philpstoun yet.

A groundworker handles the unseen work that supports a building - excavation, foundations, drainage runs, sub-bases, site clearance and grading - everything below ground level before the bricklayers and joiners arrive.

Get a soil and ground-conditions check on any site you don't already know - clay, made-up ground or peat each call for different foundation strategies and ignoring this is the most expensive mistake on a build.

Make sure any drainage work is signed off in writing - groundworks that fail building control later are a nightmare to retrofit once a slab has been poured.

Philpstoun is a small village between Linlithgow and Broxburn, with roots in the shale oil industry that once dominated central West Lothian.

The Union Canal passes nearby and the surrounding countryside is predominantly agricultural, with the Bathgate Hills rising to the south and views north across the Forth valley.

Linlithgow is the nearest town, giving residents access to rail connections, a full range of shops and a GP surgery.

The village has seen modest new housing in recent years, attracting households who want a quiet rural base within commuting distance of Edinburgh and Falkirk.

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West Lothian is a council area in the heart of the central belt, sitting between Edinburgh to the east, Falkirk to the north and North Lanarkshire to the west.

It is a county of contrasts: historic royal burghs like Linlithgow and ancient villages like Torphichen sit alongside the new town of Livingston and the former mining and shale oil communities that shaped the landscape in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Livingston is the county's main centre - Scotland's fifth-largest settlement - but West Lothian's character is defined as much by its smaller towns: Bathgate, Broxburn, Whitburn and Linlithgow each have their own distinct identity.

The oil shale industry, pioneered here in the 1850s by James Young, left a lasting mark on the landscape in the form of distinctive pink bings - the waste heaps of the shale works - that have become recognised landmarks in their own right.

West Lothian has excellent transport connections, with the M8 and M9 crossing the county, two rail lines linking it to Edinburgh and Glasgow and Edinburgh Airport on its eastern edge.