Keen curator.. with the character of a painting

Mr Millan, a 77-year-old former school teacher, spearheaded the creation of the museum in 1980 when Bathgate's town clerk was concerned about having a local heritage centre.

A "Bathgate Bairn", proudly born and bred there, Mr Millan firmly believes the heritage of his hometown marks it as an area more special than others in West Lothian.

"Bathgate is world famous for five reasons", he said. "This is what picks us out from other places and makes us that wee bit more special."

The five claims to worldwide fame include Bathgate Golf Club, the only one in the world to have produced two Ryder Cup captains in Bernard Gallagher and Eric Brown.

It was also the home of James Young Simpson, world renowned for discovering the anaesthetic properties of chloroform for women during childbirth, and James "Paraffin" Young, the world's first commercial oil man.

Another claim to fame is Lizzie, 'The Bathgate Beast'. Lizzie is the earliest known complete land-living amphibian fossil ever found, discovered in a rock in the old Kirkton Lime Quarry and thought to have lived 340 million years ago.

Lizzie currently resides in the Royal Museum of Scotland, but despite not looking after one of the most famous local artefacts, Mr Millan has gathered an impressive collection over the years.

Items on show at the museum include a Roman coin found in Bathgate thought to be from around 249-251 AD. It also features a clock made of coal, an array of medals won by local people, a large Weir steam pump from the old Bathgate Baths, the old Bathgate Burgh lectern from where important announcements were made, and a paper with the Queen's signature dated 5 July, 1968, for the opening of the British Leyland factory.

"A heritage place, like the Bennie, is a collective memory," he said, "People love reminiscing, it's part of the human psyche. Everyone has a past, present and future, but their futures are constantly influenced by their pasts. It's terrible to lose interesting artefacts."

Mr Millan's love of Bathgate and the arts is well known in the town and he enjoys the status of being a bit of a character.

Local councillor Willie Boyle, said: "I have had the privilege to know Bill Millan for most of my adult life. He has several interests and the Bennie Museum has been important in pulling many of them together.

"The problem for myself and others would be how to sum him up. So let me put it this way. Bill is like one of his paintings - bold, broadly appealing with an extensive pallet and confident strokes, well composed with balanced proportions, a thoughtful perspective, considered use of the light and shade and an eye for detail."