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Daily Record
18-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Family run West Lothian butchers celebrates half a century of business
Boghall Butchers in Bathgate welcomed the community to their shop where they marked half a century of trade with a performance from a local piper and a visit from their first ever customer. A West Lothian butchers has celebrated 50 years of business. Boghall Butchers in Bathgate welcomed the community to their shop on Thursday, May 15, where they marked half a century of trade with a performance from a local piper and a visit from their first ever customer. Paul Boyle, the owner of Boghall Butchers, told Edinburgh Live: 'Our anniversary was on Thursday and we had a great turnout. We had the front of the shop all decorated. 'It was the 15th of May 1975 that we opened, and Thursday was our 50 years. So yes, we had a great day. 'We had a piper, we had the kids up from the nursery and the primary schools and a lot of the public and our first customer and our second customer from all the years ago. 'We really had a great time and a great excitement for the staff as well.' The occasion was a joint one as the butchers also celebrated their recent win at the British Pie Awards in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire where their kebab pie was named the 'pie of pies'. Paul said: 'We recently won a big award down in Melton Mowbray, the supreme champion for our kebab pie, so it was a joint celebration and all the customers were delighted for us, really. It caused a great stir in the community. 'It's not on a high street here, it's in a community surrounded by houses and everybody takes part in it and everybody enjoys any celebrations like that, so it was a really good day.' Paul's father originally opened the shop, with Paul joining him shortly after that. Soon, his daughter Mariesha will take over the business. He continued: 'My father opened in '75 and I came just shortly after that. I've been in the business since since '75 as well. 'My father sadly is no longer with us, but my daughter, she's been in the business with me now for 30 years, so it's a great chance for Mariesha to network with all the different customers. 'She's a people person and she really enjoys it and the customers enjoy her being there. Certainly we enjoy everything we do.' With 50 years of business under their belt and plans for Marisha to take over when Paul retires, the Boyle family are gearing up for many more successful years in Bathgate. When asked what he credits his success to, Paul added: 'I think it's because we involve the community in everything we do. 'It causes a great excitement and a great buzz when we've got competitions coming up and it just so happened that just after a big competition this time it was our 50th anniversary. 'So really I think that's the secret to involve the customers and everything that you do. And they in turn are, you know, they're faithful to us. 'Through COVID, they all stuck with us and we opened through COVID and they appreciated that. Really it's it's a great community here.'
Edinburgh Live
17-05-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Live
Family run West Lothian butchers celebrates half a century of business
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A West Lothian butchers has celebrated 50 years of business. Boghall Butchers in Bathgate welcomed the community to their shop on Thursday, May 15, where they marked half a century of trade with a performance from a local piper and a visit from their first ever customer. Paul Boyle, the owner of Boghall Butchers, told Edinburgh Live: "Our anniversary was on Thursday and we had a great turnout. We had the front of the shop all decorated. "It was the 15th of May 1975 that we opened, and Thursday was our 50 years. So yes, we had a great day. We had a piper, we had the kids up from the nursery and the primary schools and a lot of the public and our first customer and our second customer from all the years ago. "We really had a great time and a great excitement for the staff as well." The occasion was a joint one as the butchers also celebrated their recent win at the British Pie Awards in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire where their kebab pie was named the 'pie of pies'. "We recently won a big award down in Melton Mowbray, the supreme champion for our kebab pie, so it was a joint celebration and all the customers were delighted for us, really. It caused a great stir in the community. "It's not on a high street here, it's in a community surrounded by houses and everybody takes part in it and everybody enjoys any celebrations like that, so it was a really good day." Paul's father originally opened the shop, with Paul joining him shortly after that. Soon, his daughter Mariesha will take over the business. He continued: "My father opened in '75 and I came just shortly after that. I've been in the business since since '75 as well. "My father sadly is no longer with us, but my daughter, she's been in the business with me now for 30 years, so it's a great chance for Mariesha to network with all the different customers. "She's a people person and she really enjoys it and the customers enjoy her being there. Certainly we enjoy everything we do." Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sentstraight to your messages. With 50 years of business under their belt and plans for Marisha to take over when Paul retires, the Boyle family are gearing up for many more successful years in Bathgate. When asked what he credits his success to, Paul shared: "I think it's because we involve the community in everything we do. "It causes a great excitement and a great buzz when we've got competitions coming up and it just so happened that just after a big competition this time it was our 50th anniversary. "So really I think that's the secret to involve the customers and everything that you do. And they in turn are, you know, they're faithful to us. Through COVID, they all stuck with us and we opened through COVID and they appreciated that. Really it's it's a great community here."
Telegraph
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
I tried the Kebab Pie and it's definitely a winner
The weather is driech – Scottish for bleak – but I'm feeling anything but as I sink my teeth into a pie. It's not just any old pie, but a kebab pie from Boghall Butchers in Bathgate, west Lothian, in Scotland. That's right – a Kebab Pie. This outlandish creation has just beaten over 900 entries to become a winner at the esteemed British Pie Awards. Held annually in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, the Awards are a huge event on the pie calendar. 'Dad is there right now,' says Mariesha, who now runs the Boghall Butchers, following in the footsteps of her father Paul and granddad William. 'It's our 50th anniversary of the shop so it means a lot to us.' So what is a Kebab Pie? It's a kebab in a pie (well, sort of). Mariesha's team make a deep crust variety but it's the traditional Scotch pie version that I tuck into, still warm from the oven, outside the shop. Admittedly I'm a little trepidatious, having not ingested a kebab since something like 1986. For me they come under the banner of drunk food, devoured hungrily on night buses to blot up the booze. As for the hot chilli – if you weren't careful it would squirt out and could blind a passer-by. Thankfully, munching my way through a kebab pie is a far more pleasant experience. The blend of chicken and beef in a chilli marinade and sweet chilli sauce works extremely well encased in pasty. The meaty filling is tender and pleasantly spicy, the sauce is fruity and just sweet enough. It tastes homemade and nothing like that gloopy filling-rattling bottled stuff. And there's just enough to moisten the meat without it exploding all over my jumper. I assume the pastry is hot water crust, traditionally used for Scotch pies (my mouth is full so I can't ask). It's soft – somewhere between pliable and crisp – with a lid that sits a little lower than the rim (also de rigueur for individual pies north of the border). My Scottish husband tries to persuade me that this is so gravy can be poured on and thus contained in a sort of lake. But that's just ridiculous. Never mind kebabs and outlandish gravy behaviour – I'm not even a pie person normally. For me, lunch on the go is usually a Pret a Manger tuna salad or a prissy little egg and spinach pot. How senseless that is, I realise now – particularly on a driech day when what you really want is carbs, a spicy meaty filling and chilli heat. I can't say I'll be scarfing one down every day. But generations of Scottish football fans know that, as a hand-held snack, the humble Scotch pie is always a winner. The kebab pie might be a new incarnation but the Scots are not averse to combining carb-heavy components that could happily exist as individual parts. The macaroni pie (macaroni cheese encase in pastry) is a national favourite and my north Lanarkshire-bred husband admits to enjoying a pie in a roll – ie entire pie as roll filling. Yes, you read that correctly – in his youth. As I perch on a wall to eat my pie, customers stream in and out of the butcher's shop. The birthplace of Lewis Capaldi and former Doctor Who actor David Tennant, Bathgate was once a thriving industrial town. Robert the Bruce gave his daughter, Marjorie, a castle here and the world's oldest known reptile fossil was discovered nearby. Nowadays it feels as if there's not an awful lot going on – at least in this corner of residential Boghall. Grey metal shutters are down on Café Shandar and the Elizabethan Chip Shop. However, Boghall Butchers is bustling and inviting, the staff cheery and full of smiles. The walls are covered with awards, the chill cabinet filled with temping chicken schnitzel, lamb kofta, haggis truffles and plump sausages. And pies, of course, of every description from mince 'n' tattie to macaroni, chicken and steak. 'An excellent overall bake and presentation,' commented one of the judges on the team's kebab pie. Kevin, a regular customer, approves of the creation but cites his favourites as 'traditional steak and gravy or a mince round. I've been coming to this shop for 19 years,' he says. 'There's often a queue round the block.' Today, kebab pies are selling like hot cakes but Mariesha tells me that their traditional Scotch pies – mince flavoured with their own secret blend of herbs and spices – are perennial best-sellers. 'We were World Scotch Pie Champions in 2005 and 2009,' says a proud Kenny who works in the shop. 'Say aye tae a pie' reads the blue and white sign outside the shop. With my belly full I have to admit that it makes sense – and that I have finally discovered the joy of the pie. My husband will be delighted. Happily, at 60 years old I am also grown up (and sober) enough to eat it without dropping it all over my shoes. Thanks to Boghall Butchers, 65 Margaret Ave, Bathgate EH48 1SN Laura Hadland, a judge at the British Pie Awards, reveals why the Kebab Pie made the grade 'To become the 'Pie of Pies', Boghall Butchers have beaten 900 other entrants through a rigorous judging process. The Kebab Pie has a wonderfully rustic appearance, with great kerb appeal. There's something about an handmade pie of this quality that always catches my eye as a judge. 'Cut the pie in half, and you'll notice that the pastry is an even thickness all the way round, perfectly baked and strong enough to hold that deep filling of kebab meats. It's quite a wet filling, so kudos has to go to the maker for crafting a pie that is structurally sound as well as delicious. 'It's fantastic that this year's Supreme Champion is from the new 'Fusion Pie' class. It's not hard to see how something this innovative took the top prize. Judges can taste their way through 20 or even 30 pies over the course of the judging day. An unexpected ingredient or a daring new combination will help a pie to stand out from the crowd. 'Boghall Butchers have offered a totally new combination of flavours and textures to this year's British Pie Awards. By backing up the novelty of their idea with a robust focus on the quality of the pastry, the bake and the seasoning, they've created a deserving winner.'
