An architectural audio tour of Bo'ness with Geoff Bailey

Episode 15 celebrates an important June date in the Bo'ness calendar, the Bo'ness Fair. Visitors to HippFest will remember that the Bo'ness Fair Queen, who is crowned each year at the fair has joined us on several occasions at our HippFest Closing Night Gala to award prizes. The Bo'ness Children's Fair Festival, to give it its official name, was founded in 1897 and continues to be a major cultural event in Scotland, beloved by Bonessians at home, and further afield. Louis Dixon, the original proprietor of the Hippodrome, produced local topicals for the cinema, making films documenting the fair from as early as 1912 right through to his death in 1960.

To get in the spirit of the fair, and of Louis Dixon himself, We thought it would be fitting to share with you an adapted version of the walking tour led by local historian and archaeologist Geoff Bailey about the Hippodrome architect Matthew Steele.

Architect of the Hippodrome (1911), Matthew Steele has a lasting legacy in the streets of Bo’ness. His practice lasted from 1905-37 and in that time he created many private homes and public buildings in the town, in the Arts and Crafts, and later art deco moderne style.

Born in Bo’ness and trained in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Steele worked mainly in Bo’ness throughout his life and his designs are often very recognisable. Adapted from our online video tour released as part of HippFest 2021, this audio production hosted by Geoff Bailey will guide you
through Bo’ness to discover the buildings created by this influential architect.

So spend the afternoon in Bo'ness strolling from one building to the other as you listen along; or if you're tuning in from overseas and are curious about a building, you can do the exact same using Google Maps.

Happy Fair Day to all who celebrate!

Learn more about Bo'ness Children's Fair Festival: https://www.thefairday.com/

A full English transcript of this episode is available to read if preferred here: https://hippfest.wordpress.com/2024/06/28/hippcast-episode-15/

See the approximate locations of each point of the tour below:

• 00:03:57 | Hippodrome Cinema (10 Hope Street Bo'ness EH51 0AA)
• 00:08:07 | South Street (11 South St, Bo'ness EH51 0EA)
• 00:09:41 | Corvi's and the old Station Hotel (5-7 Seaview Place, Bo'ness EH51 0AJ)
• 00:12:37 | The Star Cinema (17 Corbiehall, Bo'ness, EH51 0AW)
• 00:16:00 | 'Coffin Close' (63 Corbiehall, Bo'ness EH51 0AX)
• 00:17:59 | 'St Mary's Buildings' (195 Corbiehall, Bo'ness EH51 OAX)
• 00:19:26 | Seaforth (43 Linlithgow Road, Bo'ness, EH51 0DW)
• 00:21:28 | Matt Steele's cottages (Dean Road, Bo'ness, EH51 9BH)
• 00:22:42 | The 'Venetian Houses' (Cadzow Cres, Bo'ness EH51 9AY)
• 00:23:45 | Duchess Nina Nurses' Home (Where Cadzow Crescent and Cadzow Lane connect, Bo'ness, EH51 9AY)
• 00:25:29 | Matt Steele's bungalows (Cadzow Crescent, Bo'ness, EH51 9AZ)
• 00:26:11 | Masonic Hall (Stewart Avenue, Bo'ness, EH51 9NJ)
• 00:28:03 | Commission Street flats (Main St, Bo'ness EH51 9NG)
• 00:29:29 | Matty Steele Building (South St, Bo'ness EH51 9NF)