Motherwell, North Lanarkshire

infobox UK place
country = Scotland
official_name= Motherwell
gaelic_name= Tobar na Màthar
scots_name= pronounced "Motherwill"
population= 30,311 (2001 census)
os_grid_reference= NS756563
map_type= Scotland
latitude= 55.78396
longitude= -3.98522
unitary_scotland= North Lanarkshire
lieutenancy_scotland= Lanarkshire
Traditional= Lanarkshire
constituency_westminster= Motherwell and Wishaw
constituency_scottish_parliament= Motherwell and Wishaw
constituency_scottish_parliament1=Central Scotland
post_town= MOTHERWELL
postcode_district = ML1
postcode_area= ML
dial_code= 01698

Motherwell ("Tobar na Màthar" in Gaelic) and ("Motherwill" in local Scots - local people tend not to pronouce the 'e' in Motherwell) is a large town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south east of Glasgow. The town was a burgh from 1865 until it merged with the burgh of Wishaw in 1920.

Motherwell was noted as the steel production capital of Scotland, nicknamed Steelopolis, with its skyline dominated by the water tower and three cooling towers of the Ravenscraig steelworks which closed in 1992. The Ravenscraig plant had one of the longest continuous 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. In the past decade, Motherwell has to an extent recovered from the high unemployment and economic decline brought about by this collapse of heavy industry. A number of call centres and business parks such as Strathclyde Business Park have since set up in the region. Large employers include William Grant & Sons whisky distillers and blenders.

Motherwell is the headquarters for both North Lanarkshire Council, which is one of Scotland's most populous local authority areas, and of Strathclyde Police "N" division. These organisations cover an overall population of 327,000 people (93,000 in Motherwell and Wishaw) throughout the convert|183|sqmi|km2 of North Lanarkshire.

Education

Primary Schools

The following primary schools are located in Motherwell:

*Calder Primary School
*Cathedral Primary School
*Glencairn Primary School
*Knowetop Primary School
*Ladywell Primary School
*Logans Primary School
*Muirhouse Primary School
*Muir Street Primary School
*St. Bernadette's Primary School
*St. Brendan's Primary School

Secondary Schools

Dalziel High School is located in Crawford Street and has a school roll of around 1,000 pupils.

Braidhurst High School, in the Forgewood 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.

Our Lady's High School is a Roman Catholic secondary located in Dalzell Drive, near the home ground of Motherwell F.C. At one point it was the largest school in Scotland, but the current school roll is around 700. Notable alumni of Our Lady's include Manchester United legend [Sir Matt Busby] , [Celtic] legend [Billy Mcneill] and current Derby County footballer Stephen Pearson.

Other secondary schools in the Motherwell area (thought outside the boundaries of the town itself) include Brannock High School in Newarthill, Taylor R.C. High School in New Stevenston and Clyde Valley High School in Overtown. The nearest private school is Hamilton College in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.

Sport

Football

Motherwell Football Club was established in 1886. Known as the "Steelmen" because of the history of steel making in the area, they play in the Scottish Premier League from their home ground at Fir Park. Like many smaller clubs in the area, Motherwell struggle to attract a large fanbase due to the attraction of Glasgow's "Old Firm" of Rangers and Celtic. However, the team attracts a regular home support of between five and six thousand fans. Again, due to the Old Firm's overwhelming dominance of Scottish football, Motherwell's list of honours is somewhat modest. The club's last major trophy was the Scottish Cup in 1991 where they beat Dundee United F.C. by four goals to three in a thrilling final. More recently, they faced Rangers in the 2005 CIS Cup Final, but were unfortunately on the wrong end of a 5-1 scoreline.In the 07-08 season,Motherwell (led by Mark McGhee) finished 3rd behind Celtic FC and Rangers FC meaning that in the 08-09 season ,Motherwell have the chance of playing European(UEFA cup) football.

peedway

Motherwell hosted motorcycle speedway racing at two venues. In 1930 and 1932 racing took place at a site in Airbles Road and the 1930 speedway venture was known as "Paragon Speedway". The venture was run by a group of riders who were regulars at White City in Glasgow and known collectively as "The Blantyre Crowd".

Speedway returned to the town in 1950 and the then newly constructed greyhound racing stadium (The Stadium)in Milton Road. The Lanarkshire Eagles staged open meetings from July to September 1950. In 1951 the Eagles started out in the National League Second Division with veteran ex-Glasgow Tigers Will Lowther and Joe Crowther in the line up. They operated until the end of the 1954 season.

The top man was Derrick Close, signed from the Newcastle Diamonds in 1951, and he was supported by Gordon McGregor who was a founder eagle. Eagles also featured Aussies Keith Gurtner and Ron Phillips who moved over when Ashfield left the League. Popular Australian Noel Watson was sadly 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.

Tommy Miller, one of the top Scottish speedway stars of the day, joined the Eagles in 1954 but moved on to the Coventry Bees mid-season. A short season in 1958 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 represented Lanarkshire Eagles and England in the 1952 Speedway World Championship Final. He was the third Scottish based rider to achieve this feat after Ken Le Breton (Ashfield Giants and Australia) in 1949 and Jack Young (Edinburgh Monarchs and Australia) in 1950 and 1951.

Rugby Union

Dalziel Rugby Club play at Dalziel Park (formerly Cleland Estate) between the villages of Carfin and Cleland (both near Motherwell). They currently compete in the BT Scottish National League Division One and have played at a similar level for many years now, with relatively little movement up or down the divisions for some time. The club has a strong mini and midi section which is quite impressive given its location in football-mad Lanarkshire.

trathclyde Park

The largest "Fun Park" in Scotland is based within Strathclyde Park in the Motherwell vicinity. The park contains many sports and leisure facilities and has sites for bird-watchers and anglers. The woodland and grass areas are ideal for picnicking and leisurely strolls. Excavations in the park have revealed a site of archaeological interest including a Roman mosaic, Roman bath house and bridge (currently closed for health and safety reasons). It also hosted two live outdoor events, parklife and retrofest.

Location Grid

External links

* [http://www.northlan.gov.uk/ North Lanarkshire Council]
* [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/steelworks/Steelworks%20index.htm Scottish Steel Industry History and photographs]