Uddingston

Uddingston (Scots: Uddinstoun, Scottish Gaelic: Baile Udain)[2] is a small town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the north side of the River Clyde, south-east of Glasgow city centre, and acts as a dormitory suburb for the city.

Uddingston
Uddingston
Location within South Lanarkshire
Population6,370 (mid-2016 est.)[1]
OS grid referenceNS696603
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townGlasgow
Postcode districtG71 7
Dialling code01698
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament

Geography and boundaries

Uddingston is located 7 miles [11 km] to the south-east of Glasgow city centre and approximately 2 miles [3 km] east of the Glasgow City Council boundary (ending at the former Glasgow Zoo at Broomhouse - part of Baillieston). It is bounded to the south-west by the River Clyde as it flows north-west towards Glasgow, separating Uddingston, along with some woodland, from the neighbouring towns of Blantyre to the south and Cambuslang to the west. As such, the Clyde Walkway and National Cycle Route 75 both traverse the town. The nearest settlement to Uddingston is the large village of Bothwell, almost contiguous to the south-east; the two main streets are 2 miles [3 km] apart.

The village of Uddingston, which is contained exclusively within the boundaries of South Lanarkshire, houses around 6,400 residents.[1] However, the nearby North Lanarkshire settlements of Tannochside, Calderbraes, Fallside, Viewpark, Birkenshaw and Spindlehowe form almost a continuous conurbation with Uddingston (although separated by the M74 motorway) and are often considered districts of Uddingston due to its greater historic significance. The population of this larger "Greater Uddingston" manifestation is approximately 23,000 residents,[1][3] and shares a boundary with the nearby town of Bellshill (the town centres are 3 miles [5 km] apart). Within South Lanarkshire, the combined population of Uddingston and Bothwell (which is also a council ward) is around 13,000,[1][4] and is located about 4 1⁄2 miles [7 km] north-west of Hamilton.

Facilities

Uddingston is home to Tunnock's confectionery factory, famed for its caramel wafers and tea cakes. The factory (which also operates a small tea room on the Main Street) contributes much to the village's economy, as does the industrial estate and retail park located on Bellshill Road; this is named Bothwell Park but is located within Uddingston.[5] In earlier times, coal mining was a major industry.[6]

Uddingston has a police station, three supermarkets, and traditional main street shops with a selection of restaurants and pubs. It also has several sports clubs including two municipal gyms, a multi-sports club featuring cricket[7] (established in 1883, with the Bothwell Castle Cricket Ground having hosted List A cricket),[8] hockey (established in 1975), rugby union (Uddingston RFC, established in 1906)[9] and running,[10] and a combined bowling and tennis club (formed 1863) within the centre of the village,[11] plus Calderbraes Golf Club to the north-west, Bothwell Castle Golf Club immediately to the south and a Junior football club, Thorniewood United (based in Viewpark) in the vicinity.

Uddingston was also home to Glasgow Zoo from when it opened in 1947 until its closure in 2003; it was once a major attraction before folding due to lack of finances. The site now contains several private housing developments, effectively creating a new suburb known as Broomhouse which, despite sharing Uddingston's G71 postcode, lies within the boundaries of neighbouring Glasgow City Council and is geographically closer to the east end suburb of Baillieston than Uddingston.

Transport
Map of Uddingston published in 1923

Uddingston railway station is served by Scotrail trains running often two hourly services on the Argyle Line and a third hourly service on the Glasgow Central to Edinburgh line. On the train running to Dalmuir or Milngavie via Glasgow, the next stop to the west is Cambuslang; Glasgow Central is six stops and approximately 16 minutes' journey time from Uddingston on the Argyle line, and one or two stops (dependent on the train) from Glasgow Central on the Edinburgh line train, a journey time of roughly twelve minutes. In the opposite direction towards Larkhall and Lanark on the Argyle line, the next stop to the south is Motherwell, while on the Edinburgh line, the next stop to the east is Bellshill.

Uddingston is served by three buses, two operated by First Glasgow[12][13] and one by Coakley. The First 255 and 240 buses run from Motherwell to Buchanan Bus Station in Glasgow. The 255 runs through Hamilton and Bothwell then through the east end of Glasgow via Parkhead to the city centre. The 240 runs via Bellshill and adjoins with the 255's route after Uddingston. The Coakley 107 service runs circularly through Uddingston, Hamilton, Wishaw, Motherwell and Bellshill.

The M74 motorway runs directly to the north and east of Uddingston, with junctions situated at either end of the town (J3A Daldowie giving access to the M73 and M8, and J5 Raith for the major A725 which also links to the M8). Its construction has led to a physical separation of the southern centre of Uddingston from the peripheral settlements to the north, with the motorway being used as the administrative border when the local authority areas of North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire were created in the 1990s.

Education

There are two local primary schools, the Roman Catholic St John the Baptist Primary School on North British Road[14] and the non-denominational Muiredge Primary School on Watson Street.[15] Uddingston Grammar School, the non-denominational secondary school, is located on the Meadowbank floodplain off Old Glasgow Road; originally founded in 1884, the school relocated to a new campus adjacent to the old buildings in 2009 (a year behind schedule).[16] In addition to Muiredge, Uddingston Grammar's catchment extends over both the motorway and the river, encompassing primary schools in Bothwell, Birkenshaw, Tannochside and Newton (Cambuslang). The closest Roman Catholic secondary schools are Holy Cross High School, Hamilton and Cardinal Newman High School, Bellshill.

Notable residents

The wider Uddingston area has been home to a few successful footballers: Jimmy Johnstone, George McCluskey and John Higgins of Celtic; Tommy McQueen (Aberdeen, West Ham, Clyde, Falkirk); Iain Munro (player, coach and manager, Hibernian, St Mirren, Sunderland); Gary MacKenzie (Dundee, Blackpool); Lindsay Hamilton (Stenhousemuir, Rangers, St Johnstone, Dunfermline); and John Robertson who most notably played at Nottingham Forest, winning the European Cup.

Barry Burns, the pianist/guitarist of the Scottish instrumental group Mogwai comes from Uddingston.

Uddingston was the birthplace of James W. Black, (14 June 1924 – 22 March 2010) the Scottish doctor and pharmacologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for work leading to the discovery of Propranolol and Cimetidine.[17]

References
  1. "Mid-2016 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  2. List of railway station names in English, Scots and Gaelic – NewsNetScotland
  3. Viewpark (2018 estimate), City Population
  4. Bothwell (2018 estimate), City Population
  5. Uddingston, Bellshill Road, Bothwell Park Industrial Estate, Canmore
  6. Housing Conditions of Miners 1910, Bothwell Parish, Scottish Mining Website
  7. About Us, Uddingston Cricket and Sports Club
  8. "Ground profile: Bothwell Castle, Uddingston". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  9. The History of Uddingston RFC, 1906 - 2014, Uddingston RFC
  10. Home, Hamilton Harriers Road Running Club
  11. Home, Uddingston Bowling & Tennis Club
  12. "Frequency Guide" (PDF). First Glasgow. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  13. "Glasgow Network Map" (PDF). First Glasgow. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  14. St John the Baptist Primary School
  15. Muiredge Primary School, EducationBase
  16. McNeill, Alastair (12 June 2008). "Setback in plans for move to new Uddingston Grammar school". Daily Record. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  17. Black, Sir James W. "Autobiography". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 23 March 2010.

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