Motherwell
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| Town andadministrative centre | |
 Panorama over the town centre of Motherwell | |
  Motherwell Location withinNorth Lanarkshire | |
| Area | 14.28 km2 (5.51 sq mi) [1] |
| Population | 32,840 (2020)[2] |
| • Density | 2,300/km2 (6,000/sq mi) |
| • Edinburgh | 31 mi (50 km)ENE |
| • London | 335 mi (539 km)SSE |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MOTHERWELL |
| Postcode district | ML1 |
| Dialling code | 01698 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 55°47′02″N3°59′07″W / 55.7839°N 3.9852°W /55.7839; -3.9852 | |
Motherwell (Scots:Mitherwall,Scottish Gaelic:Tobar na Màthar[3]) is atown and formerburgh inNorth Lanarkshire, Scotland, around 12 miles (19 km) south east ofGlasgow.[4] It has a population of around 32,120.[5][6][7]Historically in the parish ofDalziel[8] and part ofLanarkshire, Motherwell is the headquarters forNorth Lanarkshire Council. Geographically theRiver Clyde separates Motherwell fromHamilton to the west whereas theSouth Calder Water separates Motherwell fromCarfin to the north-east andNew Stevenston andBellshill towards the north.
Motherwell is also geographically attached toWishaw and the two towns form a large urban area inNorth Lanarkshire, with both towns having similar populations and strong community ties.
ARoman road[9] through central Scotland ran along Motherwell's side of theRiver Clyde, crossing theSouth Calder Water nearBothwellhaugh. At this crossing a fort and bath house were erected, but theRoman presence in Scotland did not last much later than this. Motherwell's location in theScottish Lowlands means that it would have been inhabited by theBritons. Motherwell's name reportedly comes from a well, the Lady Well,[10] formerly dedicated to the Virgin Mary.[11] The site of this well is now marked by a plaque on Ladywell Road.[12] The name "Moderwelt" appears on a map of Lanarkshire made byTimothy Pont some time between 1583 and 1611 and printed in theNetherlands in around 1652.
By the start of the 19th century, Motherwell was a small hamlet, a farming community of some 600 people living adjacently to the 16th century laird's manor,Jerviston house.[15] The hamlet remained reasonably small, reaching 1,700 people by 1841, and centred on the crossroads between the main road following the Clyde, and the road connectingEdinburgh withHamilton and the west.
Motherwell's fortunes changed dramatically in the second half of the 19th century. With the coming of the railway in 1848, came industry and money. By 1881David Colville had opened both an iron and steel works; Motherwell had a new piped water supply; had been granted burgh status and had its population swelled to 13,800 people.[15]
By the end of the 19th century,Motherwell Town Hall andDalziel High School had been built, thelocal football club had been founded, and its stadium,Fir Park, had been constructed.
At the start of the 20th century, Motherwell stood a large and growing industrial centre, a town of 37,000 people and a wide variety of heavy industries such as munitions, trams and bridge components. By the 1930s most of Scotland's steel production was in Motherwell, and owned by the Colville family. In 1959 the Colville family were persuaded by the government to begin work of a vast new steel works, which would becomeRavenscraig. Within a few years, Ravenscraig was producing more than a million tonnes of steel per year. Following nationalisation of the steel industry, production at the plant was raised, with the Motherwell blast furnaces producing 3 million tonnes each year.[12]
40 locals from Lanarkshire travelled to becomevolunteers of the International Brigades to fight for theRepublican cause in theSpanish Civil War. TheSpanish Civil War memorial in Duchess Park in Motherwell commemorates them.[16]
By the middle of the 1970s, Motherwell's steel industry employed more than 13,000 people.
The 1980s brought a catastrophic collapse in the industry of Motherwell. The steel strike of 1980 lostBritish Steel Corporation important contracts and markets, followed by the closure of important local customers such as theLinwood car factory andBathgate truck factory, Ravenscraig employed only 3,200 people by the end of the 1980s.[12]Ravenscraig closed on 24 June 1992, and was demolished in July 1996, bringing 400 years of Scottish iron production to an end. Today the Dalzell Plate Mill is all that remains of Motherwell's industrial heritage, rolling steel fromMiddlesbrough into steel plates of various sizes.
By the start of the 21st century, Motherwell had begun to transform itself with the service industry thriving, the large scale unemployment of the previous twenty years had been largely remedied. Through the expansion of both towns, Motherwell andWishaw are now effectively one continuous urban area, although the towns remain distinct.
Motherwell hosted theNational Mòd in 1983.[17]
Strathclyde Park previously hosted the major Scottish music festival,T in the Park, until 1996, when it was moved to a disused airfield inBalado, Kinross-shire. It houses Roman bath ruins, in said park, and is a 2 hour drive away from some remnants of Hadrians Wall.
Motherwell is the headquarters for bothNorth Lanarkshire Council, which is one of Scotland's most populouslocal authority areas, and ofPolice Scotland "Q" division. These organisations cover an overall population of 327,000 people (59,000 in Motherwell andWishaw) throughout the 183 square miles (470 km2) of North Lanarkshire.
Motherwell was noted as the steel production capital of Scotland, nicknamedSteelopolis,[18] home ofDavid Colville & Sons during the 19th and 20th centuries, with itsskyline later dominated by thewater tower and threecooling towers of their Ravenscraig steelworks which closed in 1992.[19][20] The Ravenscraig plant had one of the longestcontinuous casting,hot rolling, steel production facilities in the world before it was decommissioned. The closure of Ravenscraig signalled the end of large scale steel making in Scotland, although the town's Dalzell steel plate works continues to be operated byTata Steel Europe.[21]
In the past decade,[when?] Motherwell has to an extent recovered from the high unemployment and economic decline brought about by this collapse ofheavy industry. A number ofcall centres andbusiness parks such as Strathclyde Business Park have since set up in the region. Large employers includeWilliam Grant & Sonswhiskydistillers and theheavy equipment manufacturerVolvo Construction Equipment/Rokbak.[22]
Motherwell has been aFairtrade Town since January 2007.[23]
The town has two stations,a main railway station (known simply as Motherwell),Airbles andShieldmuir. The main station runs on theWest Coast Main Line fromGlasgow to London and on the East Coast Main Line viaEdinburgh andNewcastle, and is located next toMotherwell Shopping Centre. National train operators;Avanti West Coast,CrossCountry andTransPennine Express, pass through the main station, but not all stop there. The station is also served by Abellio ScotRail who provide direct services to Carstairs, Coatbridge Central, Cumbernauld, Dalmuir, Edinburgh, Lanark, Milngavie and North Berwick.London North Eastern Railway also provide a direct daily service betweenLondon King's Cross andGlasgow Central that stops at Motherwell. The smaller station in theAirbles suburb of Motherwell only runs on the line toDalmuir viaGlasgow Central low level andHamilton Central; however, it is closer to the Civic Centre andFir Park stadium than the main-line station. That station is served by Abellio ScotRail.
Formerly, Motherwell, Wishaw and Hamilton were served by the Lanarkshire Tramways (closed 1931), which were connected to the very large Glasgow electric tramway system (closed 1962) at both Cambuslang and Uddingston. At its maximum extent, the 200-mile system extended to Balloch, Milngavie, Airdrie, Larkhall, Clarkston, Barrhead, Kilbarchan and Renfrew, besides providing a dense network of lines offering pollution-free electric transport in the city centre.
The (now defunct) firm ofHurst Nelson was a major railway rolling stock manufacturer based in the town. The company built trains for theLondon Underground, and tramcars, as well as vehicles for main line railways.
Motherwell is very accessible, as it is right next to theM74 motorway beside theRiver Clyde. This road leads toCumbria on theAnglo-Scottish border, where it becomes theM6. It is also about 3 miles (5 km) drive from theM8 motorway, between the two largest cities of Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh. In the future, there are plans to build a dual carriageway, that will travel through the town linking the two motorways.
There are a number of different bus companies that travel through the town to various different locations. Some examples includeFirst (Routes 201, 240, 242, 254 and 355), JMB Travel (Routes 41, 56, 211 and 802), Whitelaws Coaches and United Coaches (Route 1).
Some of the places that can be accessible by bus from Motherwell:
The three acute hospitals in Lanarkshire can also be reached by bus from Motherwell:
Since theM74 Extension has been completed, access toGlasgow Airport has become easier. The airport is approximately 16 miles (26 km) away from Motherwell.Edinburgh Airport is further away, at 31 miles (50 km), and can be reached by the M8.
As well as thetown's Country Park, TheNorth Lanarkshire Heritage Centre, formerly the Motherwell Heritage Centre on High Road, situated next to the town's railway station, is a building that displays the history of Motherwell from the Roman era. The building also has a viewing tower on the fifth floor, giving visitors a good view of the town and other parts of Lanarkshire, as well as of mountains as far back asBen Lomond.
Motherwell Civic Centre is the headquarters of North Lanarkshire Council (since 1996, previously the offices ofMotherwell District Council within theStrathclyde region since 1975).[24] A number ofpantomimes and musicals have taken place in the concert hall and theatre within the complex.[25] As well as this, top-levelsnooker (theScottish Masters event) was also held there.[26]
TheDalzell House is a building that is situated to the south of the town, right on the banks of theRiver Clyde. This house is protected as a Category-A listed building.
One of the main attractions in Motherwell is theM & D's Amusement Park, which is situated next to Strathclyde Loch inStrathclyde Park.
The Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Good Aid, popularly known asMotherwell Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral which is the Mother Church of theRoman Catholic Diocese of Motherwell. It is the seat of the Bishop of Motherwell and its current bishop isJoseph Toal. The cathedral is open to the public most days. It is used as a venue for performances of the Motherwell Diocesan Choir.
The following primary schools are located in Motherwell:
Dalziel High School is located on Crawford Street near Duchess park, serving areas including North Motherwell, The Globe, Greenacres, Airbles and North Lodge. and has a school roll of around 1,000 pupils. Notable alumni of Dalziel include former Motherwell, Wigan and Rangers playerLee McCulloch and international television journalist,Alan Fisher
Another High School on Fir Park Street, Firpark High School which is Right next to Motherwell Football Club stadium, Fir park and has a Primary school attached to the high School and it is all named after the Football team right beside the High School (Fir Park Stadium)
Braidhurst High School, in theForgewood area of Motherwell, serves areas including Forgewood,North Motherwell, The Globe and Jerviston. With a roll of around 500, Braidhurst is one of the smaller secondary schools in Lanarkshire. The main school building was recently modernised, with the outdated pink and yellow panels replaced by a modern-looking glass exterior. Notable alumni of Braidhurst include Elaine C Smith (actress), formerScotland national football captainGary McAllister andTam Cowan (comedian and writer).
Our Lady's High School is aRoman Catholic secondary located in Dalzell Drive, nearFir Park Stadium in Knowetop, the school serves areas including Knowetop, North Lodge, Airbles, Glencairn and Muirhouse. At one point it was the largest school in Western Europe, but the current school roll is around 700. Notable alumni of Our Lady's includeManchester City footballer andManchester United managerSir Matt Busby, Celtic F.C. footballer Billy McNeill,Derby County footballerStephen Pearson,Celtic F.C. footballerKieran Tierney andMotherwell F.C. footballerChris Cadden.
Other secondary schools in the Motherwell area (though outside the boundaries of the town itself) includeBrannock High School inNewarthill,Taylor R.C. High School inNew Stevenston and Clyde Valley High School inOvertown. The nearest private school isHamilton College in Hamilton,South Lanarkshire.
Another former pupil of Garrion Academy, (later Clyde Valley High School), Deborah Orr, became an award winning journalist in London & was married for a time to Will Self. Her personal memoir "Motherwell" 2020 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson ISBN 978 1 4746 1146 6, gives a clear eyed description of the town as she knew it from the 1960s onwards.
There is a Further Education college in Motherwell, known asNew College Lanarkshire. This was located next to Our Lady's High School in Dalzell Drive, though in 2009 relocated toRavenscraig, about 1 km away from its former site. The current roll of students at the new building is approximately 20,000 students.
The former site at Barons Grange is now being regenerated into a modern housing area.
Motherwell Football Club was established in 1886. Known as the "Steelmen" because of the history of steel making in the area, they play in theScottish Premiership from their home ground atFir Park Stadium. Like many smaller clubs in the area, Motherwell struggle to attract a large fanbase due to the attraction of Glasgow's "Old Firm":Rangers andCeltic. The team attracts a regular home support of between five and six thousand fans. Motherwell is one of the most established clubs in the top division of theScottish football league system, having been in the top flight continuously since the mid-80s. Again, due to the Old Firm's dominance of Scottish football, Motherwell's list of honours is somewhat modest. The club's last major trophy was the1990–91 Scottish Cup, when they beatDundee United 4–3 in thefinal. Motherwell have qualified for European football several times in recent seasons, usually competing in the qualifying rounds of theUEFA Europa League. It has been reported that the famousViking Thunder Clap originated fromMotherwell F.C. and was passed onto Icelandic football clubStjarnan when they played them in aEuropa League game in 2014.
Motherwell hosted motorcycle speedway racing at two venues. In 1930 and 1932 racing took place at Airbles Road which would soon be called theClyde Valley Greyhound Track and the 1930speedway venture was known asParagon Speedway. The venture was run by a group of riders who were regulars at White City in Glasgow and known collectively asThe Blantyre Crowd.
Speedway returned to the town in 1950 at the then newly constructedParkneuk Sports Stadium in Milton Street. TheLanarkshire Eagles staged open meetings from July to September 1950. In 1951 the Eagles started out in theNational League Second Division with veteran ex-Glasgow Tigers Will Lowther andJoe Crowther in the line up. They operated until the end of the 1954 season.
The top man was Derrick Close, signed from theNewcastle Diamonds in 1951, and he was supported byGordon McGregor who was a founder Eagle. Eagles also featured Aussies Keith Gurtner and Ron Phillips who moved over when Ashfield left the League. Popular AustralianNoel Watson was killed in his home country in 1953. However, due to his "never say die" approach, the fans' favourite was Bluey (Eric) Scott, who joined the Eagles in 1951. The pioneer Eagles featured Bill Baird from Forth who became the only rider to ride for all four Scottish teams.
Tommy Miller, one of the top Scottish speedway stars of the day, joined the Eagles in 1954 but moved on to theCoventry Bees mid-season. A short season in 1958 under former Glasgow Tigers promoter Ian Hoskins saw the end of the events at The Stadium but a short lived Long Track venture and a small speedway track staged four events – three on the long track and one on the short track – in 1972.
Derrick Close representedLanarkshire Eagles and England in the1952 Speedway World Championship Final. He was the third Scottish based rider to achieve this feat afterKen Le Breton (Ashfield Giants and Australia) in 1949 andJack Young (Edinburgh Monarchs and Australia) in 1950 and 1951.
Motherwell had two greyhound tracks in the town. The first opened in 1932 and was called theClyde Valley Greyhound Track, it was located on Airbles Road and closed in 1959. The second was theParkneuk Sports Stadium near Milton Street and was opened in 1949 but closed in 1972.[27]
Dalziel Rugby Club play atDalziel Park (formerly Cleland Estate) between the villages ofCarfin andCleland (both near Motherwell).
There are cycle routes based in Motherwell and in neighboring Strathclyde Country Park. TheGreenlink Cycle Path is a cycle path that acts as a direct route from Strathclyde Park to Motherwell Town Centre. The path was formed in 2005 and may expand into Ravenscraig in the future.
Motherwell has agolf course based within the town, the Colville Park Golf Club, based at Jerviston Estate, on the former site ofJerviston House (the ruins are still visible in the grounds). A second golf course is located at the Dalziel Park Hotel and Golf Club.
Torrance Park Golf Club is a third located in Newarthill.
The Motherwell Hockey Club and Dalziel High School Former Pupils (D.H.S.F.P) Ladies Hockey Club arefield hockey clubs based at the astroturf hockey pitches in Dalziel Park.
Athletics is a popular sport in Motherwell, as the town has a number of athletics clubs in different locations. The main club, Motherwell Athletics Club, is based at the Boathouse Gym at Strathclyde Country Park. In recent years there have been top class sports facilities built just outside the town, first Dalziel Park and most recentlyRavenscraig Sports Centre, with the latter containing a top-class indoor athletics track. The sports facility in the new town ofRavenscraig hosts athletic events and was one of the main venues for the 2011International Children's Games.
Strathclyde Country Park contains many sport and leisure facilities and also has sites forbird-watchers andanglers. As well as theM&D's theme park, there arewoodland and grass areas that are popular for picnicking and walks. Excavations in the park have revealed a site ofarchaeological interest including aRomanmosaic, Romanbath house and bridge (currently closed for health and safety reasons). The park is on the site of the former mining village,Bothwellhaugh, and much of the town was submerged after it was abandoned.
The park was a venue for the2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2011International Children's Games. It hosted thetriathlon event in both. It was previously a venue for the rowing events at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.
Motherwell istwinned with:
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