Cumbernauld

Cumbernauld

Coordinates: 55°56′N 3°59′W / 55.94°N 3.98°W / 55.94; -3.98

Cumbernauld
Scottish Gaelic: Comar nan Allt
Scots: Cummernaud
Cumbernauld is located in North Lanarkshire
Cumbernauld

 Cumbernauld shown within North Lanarkshire
Population 49,664 [1] (2001 census)
OS grid reference NS763736
Council area North Lanarkshire
Lieutenancy area Dunbartonshire
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town GLASGOW
Dialling code 01236
Police Strathclyde
Fire Strathclyde
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
Scottish Parliament Cumbernauld and Kilsyth
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Cumbernauld (Scots: Cummernaud,[2] Scottish Gaelic: Comar nan Allt)[3] is a Scottish new town in North Lanarkshire. It was created in 1956 as a population overspill for Glasgow City. It is the eighth most populous settlement in Scotland and the largest in North Lanarkshire. The name comes from the Scots Gaelic comar nan allt, meaning "meeting of the streams" as, geographically, from its high point in the Scottish Central Belt burns (streams) flow west to the River Clyde and east to the River Forth.

Contents

History

Cumbernauld's history stretches to Roman times, with a settlement near the Antonine Wall, the furthest and most northerly boundary of the Roman Empire. The security that the wall gave from possibly hostile tribes to the north probably allowed the foundation of a settlement. A rural population grew in the area where Cumbernauld's housing estates now stand, with the centrepoints being the 18th century Cumbernauld House, built close to the site of the medieval Cumbernauld Castle, and Cumbernauld Village nearby.[citation needed]

Cumbernauld House stands on the site of the old Cumbernauld Castle, first built as a Norman-style motte and bailey. Owned by the Comyns, it was situated at the east end of the park, where the motte (mound) is still visible. The Fleming family built their castle where the house now sits. One original wall can be seen in the allotment area. The castle played host to the royalty of Scotland, including Mary, Queen of Scots, who visited the castle and planted a yew tree at Castlecary Castle, only a mile or two away, which still grows there. The roof of the great hall collapsed while the queen was staying there,[citation needed] though she was not hurt.

Royalty often visited the town to hunt the mysterious Scottish ox, or white cattle, which roamed in the woods around Cumbernauld. These woods were a surviving fragment of the ancient Caledonian Forest, in which the oxen abounded. Cumbernauld House was designed by William Adam and is currently unoccupied. The old grounds are used today as a park, known as Cumbernauld Park. A mining and quarrying industry flourished after the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal, notably at Auchinstarry Quarry which is now a popular location for climbing and abseiling, and at Glencryan, where the old clay mine and its associated structures are still clearly visible.

Weaving was an important part of the town's industry before the Industrial Revolution, when all the work of that kind moved to neighbouring bigger towns such as Glasgow.[4]

The Scottish Gaelic name from the town, Scottish Gaelic: Comar nan Allt, comes from its being located where streams flow west into the Clyde and east into the Forth rivers, and translates into English as 'The Meeting Of The Waters'. It was long a staging-post for changing horses between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It has variously been in Stirlingshire, Dunbartonshire, and the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District of Strathclyde region. Since 1995 it has been part of North Lanarkshire.

New Town

After the Second World War Glasgow was suffering from chronic shortages of housing and poor housing conditions, particularly in areas such as the Gorbals. As a direct result the Clyde Valley Regional Plan 1946 allocated sites where satellite new towns were to be constructed to help alleviate the problem through an overspill agreement.[5] Glasgow would also undertake the development of its peripheral housing estates. Cumbernauld was designated a new town in 1955, the third to be designated in Scotland. The others were East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Livingston and Irvine (Cowling 1997).

South Carbrain viewed from Cumbernauld railway station

The development, promotion and management was undertaken, until 1996, by the Cumbernauld Development Corporation (CDC). This was a quango appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland (Cowling 1997).

Cumbernauld is the most clear example of a modernist new town vision in the UK.[6] Housing was originally delivered through constructing a series of satellite neighbourhoods which were clustered around the hilltop town centre. Separation of people and cars was a major element of the first town masterplan and this was carried through for much of the development of the town. Cumbernauld pioneered designs for underpasses and pedestrian footbridges as well as segregated footpaths. Early neighbourhoods were designed by the CDC and were constructed at Kildrum, Cumbernauld Village, Seafar, North Carbrain and Greenfaulds. Other neighbourhoods were later developed at Condorrat, South Carbrain and Abronhill. Much of the housing of these areas won awards for their innovative designs.

During its construction, under the designer's eye of Geoffrey Copcutt, Cumbernauld town centre's daring megastructure architecture was highly praised. Architects, designers, town planners and students of many disciplines visited Cumbernauld from around the globe to marvel at the town, for many years heralded as a utopian construction[citation needed].

When originally designated a New Town the target population was 50,000. In 1961, only five years after becoming a new town, the Area to the north of the A80 was included in the town's area with new planned neighbourhoods at Balloch, Dullatur, Westerwood and Eastfield. As a result a revised target population of 70,000 was predicted.[7] However only now[when?] is the population starting to climb above 50,000, but this is expected to increase substantially with 2,100 houses being built between 2001 and 2008.[citation needed]

After the creation of the new town, diverse industries such as high-tech, electronics, and chemical and food processing became large employers, along with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The main industrial estates were developed to the east and west along the A80 at Castlecary, Wardpark and Westfield. Areas at Luggiebank and South Carbrain to the south of the town have also been developed for industry.

Modern times

East elevation, Cumbernauld Shopping Centre, 2005

Since then, the outlook has changed dramatically and the New Town has won a number of very unflattering awards including Urban Realm's "Plook on a Plinth" in both 2001 and 2005.[8] In December 2005 the entire Town Centre won a public nomination for demolition in the Channel 4 series Demolition, where it was voted "the worst building in Britain".[9] As a result of this, it was featured on the BBC Radio 2 comedy program It's Been a Bad Week, where it won the show's fictional "Worst Week of the Week Award, Awarded Weekly, on a Week-By-Week Basis." In 2003.

The intended core of Cumbernauld remains the Town Centre buildings, all of which is essentially contained within one structure, segmented into "phases", the first of which was completed in 1967, the latest of which began construction in May 2003 for completion around September 2004.[citation needed] Initially the basic groundwork for the new shops began in 1997 and were finally completed in summer 2007. Designed to be a commerce centre, an entertainment and business venue and a luxury accommodation site, it was widely accepted as the UK's first shopping mall and was the world's first multi-level covered town centre.[6] However, the town never developed to its planned size, and the town centre has never had the life envisaged by town planners. Wealthy occupiers for the centre's penthouses never materialised and some now lie empty and derelict. Further expansion has been primarily to provide further space for shops. A substantial portion of the original Shopping Centre was demolished due to structural damage and has been redeveloped as a new shopping and leisure complex.[10]

As well as the unfulfilled ambitions for the town, the passage of time has exposed serious defects in post-war concepts of centrally-planned retail and civic centres developed in the absence of proper community consultation or sensitivity to local environmental and economic conditions. This has been reflected in a country-wide backlash against modernist architecture in general.[citation needed] Cumbernauld's Town Centre is widely regarded as one of the ugliest and least-loved examples of post-war design in Scotland.[citation needed] The confusing layout is an abiding source of frustration for both visitors and residents, many of whom are the descendants of skilled workers who aspired to escape the frequently appalling social and housing conditions of the Glasgow conurbation in the 1960s and 70s.

West Elevation, Cumbernauld Shopping Centre 2005

Despite its bad press, from a purely aesthetic standpoint Cumbernauld is regarded as representing a significant moment in town design, and in 1993 it was listed as one of the sixty key monuments of post-war architecture by the international conservation organisation DoCoMoMo.

Cumbernauld was the location for the 1981 film Gregory's Girl and its sequel, Gregory's Two Girls. In the film Orphans some of the scenes were shot in Carbrain.

The residential structure of Cumbernauld is noteworthy in that there were no pedestrian crossings, i.e. zebra or pelican crossings, or traffic lights —pedestrians traverse roads by bridge or underpass. This has led to the perception that the town is car-centric, and difficult to navigate by foot. In 2004, a set of traffic lights were erected in the Condorrat Village neighbourhood Main Street, soon followed by traffic / pelican lights which were erected beside the new Tesco Extra.[citation needed]

Cumbernauld in the last few years has seen a surge of business activity with the expansion of Isola-Werke in the Wardpark area, the New OKI UK headquarters in Wardpark and Yaskawa Electronics, A.G. Barr World Headquarters.

Housing

The town has below-average house prices for the region despite above-average income and below-average unemployment and child poverty rates. The town's housing is well planned and generally of high quality, making it a source of local civic pride in stark contrast to the town centre megastructure.[citation needed] House price imbalances across central Scotland mean that large family homes of four bedrooms and above are available for occupancy in Cumbernauld at prices and rents often half that of equivalent or less salubrious dwellings in the nearby centres of Glasgow and Stirling.[citation needed] Unfortunately the ideals of the 1960s were never realised and half of the New Town was never built.

Sport

Cumbernauld hosts many sporting clubs including Clyde F.C, who currently play in the Scottish Third Division and reside at Broadwood Stadium. It is home to Junior football side Cumbernauld United who play at Guy's Meadow. The town has a Rugby Team, Cumbernauld RFC. There has been a gymnastics team, Cumbernauld Gymnastics Club, in the town for many years, and in the early 1990s it moved into its present base at Broadwood Gymnastics Academy, a purpose built building at the same site as Broadwood Stadium. There is also the Cumbernauld Handball Team, Tryst 77 which in 2007 came second in the British Handball Championships. The Tryst homes the Cumbernauld swimming team with many age groups competing in galas around the country.

Transport

Nearby motorway links include the M8, M73, M74, M80, M876 and M9. A local campaign was recently initiated to protest at the proposed extension of the M80 within the town limits. The A80 was recently upgraded to the M80.

In terms of public transport, Cumbernauld has bus links to Glasgow, Stirling, Falkirk, Dunfermline and St Andrews, which are operated by First Group and Stagecoach.The town has rail links to Glasgow, Falkirk, Motherwell and Edinburgh via Cumbernauld railway station and Croy railway station to the north of the town. Various parts of the town are linked by local bus services, operated by smaller companies such as Canavan Travel and Dunn's Coaches. Rail services to and from the town are provided by First ScotRail.

Cumbernauld Airport (EGPG) is primarily used for the training of fixed wing and rotary wing pilots, it also has an aircraft maintenance facility. The airport has a CAA Ordinary Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee, Cormack Aircraft Services Limited. The airport was opened by the Cumbernauld Development Corpororation in the late 1980s. Before the airport was constructed there was a grass strip in use on the same site.

Education

The Town has many primary and secondary schools to cater for the needs of the town and others surrounding it. The Cumbernauld College provides further education in the town.

Primary schools

  • Abronhill Primary
  • Baird Memorial Primary
  • Carbrain Primary
  • Condorrat Primary
  • Cumbernauld Primary
  • Eastfield Primary
  • Kildrum Primary
  • Ravenswood Primary
  • St Andrew's Primary
  • St. Francis of Assisi Primary
  • St. Helen's Primary
  • St. Lucy's Primary
  • St. Margaret of Scotland Primary
  • St. Mary's Primary
  • Westfield Primary
  • Whitelees Primary
  • Woodlands Primary

Secondary schools

Special-needs schools

  • Glencryan School
  • Redburn School

Further education

Religion

The Cumbernauld area reflects the religions and beliefs of Scotland with Christianity predominant.[citation needed] There are currently about 17 churches in the town.

Famous residents

Areas of the town

Abronhill; Balloch; Blackwood; Carbrain; Carrickstone; Condorrat; Craigmarloch; Cumbernauld Village; Dalshannon; Eastfield; Greenfaulds; Kildrum; Lenziemill; Luggiebank; Ravenswood; Seafar; Smithstone; Wardpark; Westerwood; Westfield.

Nearby towns and villages

Banknock; Banton; Castlecary; Croy; Dullatur; Kelvinhead; Kilsyth.

Twin towns

Notable buildings

Sacred Heart Church in Kildrum, Cumbernauld.

Cumbernauld has many works by well known architects. Gillespie, Kidd & Coia designed a number of buildings in the New Town, including:

Geoffrey Copcutt designed Cumbernauld Town Centre (Phase 1).

See also

References

Specific references:

  1. ^ "Comparative Population Profile: Cumbernauld Locality". Scotland's Census Results Online. 2001-04-29. http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/browser/profile.jsp?profile=Population&mainArea=cumbernauld&mainLevel=Locality. Retrieved 2008-09-01. 
  2. ^ "Scots Culture - Names in Scots - Places in Scotland - Scots Language Centre". Scotslanguage.com. http://www.scotslanguage.com/books/view/1/823/Names%20in%20Scots%20-%20Places%20in%20Scotland. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
  3. ^ "Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba - Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland - Database". Gaelicplacenames.org. http://www.gaelicplacenames.org/databasedetails.php?id=509. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
  4. ^ "Vision of Britain through time". http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/gaztext_page.jsp?u_id=10146409&u_name=Cumbernauld. 
  5. ^ Fraser, W Hamish. "Modern Times: 1950s to The Present Day - Neighbourhoods -New Towns". TheGlasgowStory. http://www.theglasgowstory.com/story.php?id=TGSFG10. Retrieved 2010-05-08. 
  6. ^ a b "From Here To Modernity Buildings - Cumbernauld Town Centre". Open2.net. 1955-12-09. http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_10.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
  7. ^ "Site Record for Cumbernauld, Cumbernauld Town Centre, General Town Centre Details". Canmore.rcahms.gov.uk. http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/70557/details/cumbernauld+cumbernauld+town+centre+general/. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
  8. ^ "UK | Scotland | Officials condemn 'Carbuncle' tag". BBC News. 2005-10-21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4362410.stm. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
  9. ^ "Demolition". Channel 4. http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/D/demolition/worst2.html. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
  10. ^ "Antonine Centre website". http://www.antoninecumbernauld.co.uk/. 

General references:

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cumbernauld — Koordinaten 55° 57′ N, 3° 59′ W …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Cumbernauld —    CUMBERNAULD, a parish, in the county of Dumbarton; including the village of Condorat, and containing 3501 inhabitants, of whom many reside in the village of Cumbernauld, 10 miles (W. S. W.) from Falkirk. This place derives its name from a… …   A Topographical dictionary of Scotland

  • Cumbernauld —   [ kʌmbənɔːld], Stadt in der Strathclyde Region, Schottland, nordöstlich von Glasgow, 48 800 Einwohner; regionales Einkaufszentrum, Industrieparks mit vielseitiger Industrie.   Stadtbild:   Cumbernauld Civic Center (1965, von L. H. Wilson, D. R …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Cumbernauld — 55° 56′ N 3° 59′ W / 55.94, 3.98 Cumbernauld est une ville nouvelle en Écosse …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Cumbernauld — ▪ Scotland, United Kingdom       “new town,” North Lanarkshire council area, historic county of Dunbartonshire, central Scotland. Cumbernauld was designated a new town in 1956 to accommodate overspill population from Glasgow. The town is 14 miles …   Universalium

  • Cumbernauld — Original name in latin Cumbernauld Name in other language Comar nan Allt, Cummernaud, Kambernold, Kambernoldas, Kumburnold, kambrnwld, kanbanorudo, Камбернолд, Къмбърнолд State code GB Continent/City Europe/London longitude 55.94685 latitude… …   Cities with a population over 1000 database

  • Cumbernauld House — Cumbernauld House, entrance front Cumbernauld House is an 18th century country house located in Cumbernauld, Scotland. It is located near in the Cumbernauld Glen, close to Cumbernauld Village, at grid reference …   Wikipedia

  • Cumbernauld Village — (often referred to locally as just the Village) is an area of the new town of Cumbernauld. Whilst Cumbernauld is a new town, having been first planned in 1956, the Village itself has a pre mediaeval history, with a Roman settlement being built in …   Wikipedia

  • Cumbernauld railway station — Cumbernauld Cumbernauld railway station (northbound platform) …   Wikipedia

  • Cumbernauld High School — Motto Virtute Ac Labore (Latin: Virtue through Hard Work ) Established 1964 Type Secondary School (UK) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”