Gartcosh
Encyclopedia
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The village lies a few miles east of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, and about a mile northwest of the town of Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
.
The name Gartcosh is derived from the Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
'Gart' meaning 'field' and 'Cos' meaning 'hollow'.
According to 2001 census, there were 410 households with a population of 952. . Recent expansion of the village including 300 homes in the Heathfield Park estate built by Redrow Homes has increased the population, which is now estimated at around 3000.
History
In the early 19th century there were a number of mines in the local area, and the first railway to service Gartcosh was used to transport coal to Glasgow. By 1837 there was a railway station, or to be more accurate a stopping place as there were no platforms or waiting rooms.
From the mid-19th century onwards, Gartcosh became prominent in industry with the opening of iron works and fireclay works.
Gartcosh Fireclay Works was established by James Binnie in 1863. Although mostly concerned with firebrick manufacture, during the early years its output was much more varied, extending to garden vases and pedestals, garden edges, fountains, chimney cans, roof tiles, cattle troughs, sewage pipes and other products. It was one of a group of such businesses in the area, with others at Cardowan, Garnkirk, Heathfield and Glenboig. Gartcosh Fireclay Works eventually closed down in the 1950s, when local supplies of fireclay were exhausted.
In 1865 Gartcosh became the home of Woodneuk Iron Works owned by William Gray & Co. It was bought by Smith & McLeans in 1872 and subsequently Colville's
David Colville & Sons
David Colville & Sons was a Scottish iron and steel company. It was founded in 1871, and in 1967 it was nationalised as part of British Steel. The company's first plant was the Dalzell Steel and Iron Works in Motherwell, which was opened in 1872, and by World War I this plant was the largest...
steel mills. British Steel
British Steel
British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
took ownership of the Colville's steel mill in Gartcosh in 1962 and operated until its closure in February 1986. The main steel mill building was demolished around 1994-95. The galvanising plant - latterly a storage shed for oversized products produced in the mill building - was used by a paper recycling
Paper recycling
Paper recycling is the process of recovering waste paper and remaking it into new paper products. There are three categories of paper that can be used as feedstocks for making recycled paper: mill broke, pre-consumer waste, and post-consumer waste. Mill broke is paper trimmings and other paper...
company, Stirling Fibre, between October 1990 and October 2001. After this company relocated, the building was demolished in 2002.
Smith & McLeans had considerable trouble purchasing the land for the extension of the steelworks from the original land owners. Most of Gartcosh at the time was owned by two strict presbyterian spinster sisters who were unswayed by the considerable financial offerings of the company. They eventually relented, on the condition that no public house, bookmakers nor Catholic church would ever be housed within the Gartcosh boundaries. This agreement still holds to this day.
For this reason, Chapman's public house is built immediately outside of the natural boundary of Gartcosh (a small burn running to Glenboig). In the 1960s, there was a successful application for licensed premises, under the label of Gartcosh Works Social Club. There has never been a licensed bookmakers in Gartcosh. The resident Roman Catholic population travel to the neighbouring towns of Muirhead
Muirhead
Muirhead is a small suburb about 7 miles North-East of Glasgow city centre. Nearby villages and towns include Chryston, Stepps, Lenzie, Garnkirk and Gartcosh....
, Glenboig
Glenboig
Glenboig is a village in the North Lanarkshire area of Scotland lying north of Coatbridge.Glenboig's railway station closed in 1960 and the local coal mining and brick-making industries ceased by the 1980s.The village's first school was built in 1875-6....
or Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
to practice their faith.
The Co-operative store was established in the late 19th century, situated at the junction between Old Gartloch Road and Lochend Road. The store closed down, date unknown, and has had a variety of uses since then. The building, known locally as the old Co-op Building, has 3 flats above the shop which are now privately owned and occupied.
Present day
Gartcosh Business Interchange is currently being developed on the site of the old strip mill and steel works. To date over £20 million has been invested in the site in terms of land reclamation, transport links and other development. This project will provide over 170,000 square metres of business space serviced by the excellent transport links detailed below.
The new Scottish Police Services Authority
Scottish Police Services Authority
The Scottish Police Services Authority is a Scottish public body of the Scottish Government responsible for certain central services for police forces in Scotland. It was established on the 1 April 2007, following the passing of the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice Act 2006...
(SPSA) campus is currently being developed within Gartcosh Business Interchange. This campus, scheduled for completion in late 2011, will house new headquarters for the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), Scottish Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SSOCA), Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes and the payment of some forms of state support....
(HMRC) and the Glasgow SPSA forensic science laboratory. The cost of the development is approximately £65 million.
There is a well attended Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
parish in Gartcosh which has Bible Study, Sunday services and a thriving Sunday Club for youngsters. The church hall is utilised for various community projects including 1st Gartcosh Boys Brigade and both slimming and exercise groups.
The defunct Anglican church at the top of the hill on Lochend Road was demolished in 1997 for property development.
The original Gartcosh Police Station closed in the 1990s however most of Gartcosh continues to be served by Cumbernauld Sub Division of Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police is the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West...
. Gartcosh Railway Station and it's access roads, Chapman's Public House and a small number of houses in the village to the south of the railway line are served by Monklands Sub Division, operating from Coatbridge Police Office. Gartcosh has some of the lowest crime rates in the North Lanarkshire Division.
Gartcosh is home to the Caledonian Amateur Football league team Gartcosh United. Founded in 1962 by George Dingwall, the team has developed many professional players over the decades including Pat Nevin, Dave McPherson, Derek Ferguson and more. The club’s current Board include Chairman, David Quate, Ex-professional footballer Brian Smith and Scottish businessman Gavin Muir.
In 2008, the old Co-Op building on Old Gartloch Road were acquired from the previous owner by Harlequin Leisure Group and work commenced on fitting these premises into a number of separate units. These premises are now home to the Apple Pharmacy, Hair Salon, Asia Fast Food Takeaway, and a grocer's shop.
Current local services in Gartcosh include:
- Licensed Village Shop (known locally as Senga's)
- Apple Pharmacy
- Hair Salon
- Grocers Shop (known locally as Mohammed's)
- "Asia" Chinese/Asian Fast Food Takeaway
- Chapman's (Public House)
- Gartcosh Works Social Club
- Gartcosh Primary School
- Lochview Children's Nursery
- Mount Ellen Golf Club
- Plant Nursery/Tea Room
Future Development
North Lanarkshire Council have identified open space areas around Gartcosh and Glenboig as potential sites for a "Community Growth Area". This, in effect, means there is potential for up to 3000 homes in total to be built in Gartcosh and Glenboig, of which approximately 1800 are to be built in the Gartcosh area alone. At least 25% of this must be "affordable housing". Provisions will be made for infrastructure and amenities to support such a large development. Such a development will have significant impact on the local landscape with much of the green belt and farmland being developed into housing and retail areas.Anecdotal evidence from the local community would suggest that current residents of the village of Gartcosh, while happy for progress in terms of shops and new housing, are generally strongly opposed to expansion of the village on this scale. Leaflets making residents aware of the proposed expansion were distributed to homes in Gartcosh in 2009. These were headed "MuirEllGartBoig", a reference to the effective merging of Muirhead, Mount Ellen, Gartcosh and Glenboig.
General Transport Information
The M73 motorway is the main transport link, with Junction 2A providing road access to the village. Gartcosh also benefits from the new £3.5 million railway stationGartcosh railway station
Gartcosh railway station is a railway station serving the village of Gartcosh, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is located on the Cumbernauld Line, 12 km north east of Glasgow Queen Street station.The station was opened on 9 May 2005 by The Princess...
which was officially opened in March 2005 by HRH Princess Anne
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
.
Road and Rail Links
- M73 - north to A80(M) providing motorway access to North Glasgow, Cumbernauld, Falkirk, Stirling and The North
- M73 - south to M74 providing motorway access to South Glasgow, Hamilton, Motherwell, Carlisle and The South
- A752 - north to Muirhead
- A752 - south to A89 providing access to Coatbridge and Baillieston and continuing south to Uddingston and Bothwell
- A752 - south to A8(M) providing motorway access to Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Central BeltCentral BeltThe Central Belt of Scotland is a common term used to describe the area of highest population density within Scotland. Despite the name, it is not geographically central but is nevertheless situated at the 'waist' of Scotland on a conventional map and the term 'central' is used in many local...
. - B806 - West to Glasgow Fort Shopping CentreGlasgow FortGlasgow Fort is a large 'out of town' shopping and leisure park located in Auchinlea Park, Provanhall and adjacent to Easterhouse, Glasgow just off Junction 10 of the M8 motorway....
- Gartcosh railway stationGartcosh railway stationGartcosh railway station is a railway station serving the village of Gartcosh, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is located on the Cumbernauld Line, 12 km north east of Glasgow Queen Street station.The station was opened on 9 May 2005 by The Princess...
providing direct rail service to Glasgow Queen StreetGlasgow Queen Street railway stationGlasgow Queen Street is a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland, the smaller of the city's two main line railway termini and the third-busiest station in Scotland. It is between George Street to the south and Cathedral Street Bridge to the north, at the northern end of Queen Street adjacent to...
, CumbernauldCumbernauld railway stationCumbernauld railway station is a railway station serving the town of Cumbernauld, Scotland. The station is managed by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and is located on the Cumbernauld Lines north east of Glasgow Queen Street station and the Motherwell to Cumbernauld 19 km north of...
and Falkirk GrahamstonFalkirk Grahamston railway stationFalkirk Grahamston railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town of Falkirk in Scotland. It is located on the Edinburgh to Dunblane Line. Cumbernauld Line trains also terminate here. Train services are provided by First ScotRail...
, and to EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
via either Glasgow or Falkirk stations.