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Coordinates: 55°46′26″N 3°55′08″W / 55.773992, -3.918915

Wishaw
Wishaw (Scotland)
Wishaw

Wishaw shown within Scotland
Population 28,565 (2001 census)
OS grid reference NS795555
Council area North Lanarkshire
Lieutenancy area Lanarkshire
Constituent country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WISHAW
Postcode district ML2
Dialling code 01698 30
01698 35
01698 38
Police Strathclyde
Fire Strathclyde
Ambulance Scottish
European Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament Motherwell and Wishaw
Scottish Parliament Motherwell and Wishaw
Central Scotland
List of places: UK • Scotland
For the village in England, see Wishaw, Warwickshire

Wishaw (Scots Wishae) is a large town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the edge of the Clyde Valley, 15 miles south-east of Glasgow.

The main areas of Wishaw are: Cambusnethan, Coltness, Craigneuk, Gowkthrapple, Greenhead, Wishawhill, Netherton, Pather and Waterloo. There are two adjoining villages, often included as part of the town for administrative purposes: Overtown and Newmains.

Wishaw has long lived in the shadow of its bigger and better known neighbour, Motherwell, with which it formed the joint large burgh in 1920, the Burgh of Motherwell and Wishaw, until its dissolution when Scottish local authorities were restructured in 1975. The Motherwell and Wishaw constituency is represented in the UK Parliament by Frank Roy MP. In the Scottish Parliament the constituency is represented by Ex-First Minister of Scotland Jack McConnell.

The town is bounded to the north by Motherwell, to the south by Carluke, to the east by Shotts and to the west by Larkhall.

Contents

History

The origin of the name is uncertain. One theory is that it derives from the Scots for "Wicket gate in the wood", and that it used to be called Wygateshaw. An alternative theory is that it was originally Viashaw, meaning way or road through the wood. Yet another theory is that the name derives from "Wee Shaw", meaning small wood.

The town of Wishaw itself is not very old, but settlement in the area dates back to the 12th century with the establishment of a kirk dedicated to St. Nethan by a bend (Gaelic camus) in the Clyde. This became known as Cambusnethan, and was in use as a church until the Reformation. The site remains as a ruined burial ground, including an impressive mausoleum to Lord Belhaven, although the church is long gone.

The village itself was laid out in 1794, named Cambusnethan, and later renamed Wishawtown. On September 4, 1855, the town was incorporated with the villages of Coltness and Stewarton to form the Burgh of Wishaw, with a population of approximately 5,000.

In November 1996, the world's worst recorded outbreak of E.coli 0157 occurred in the town, in which 20 people died and around 200 were infected.[1]

People

Main Street, Wishaw

Wishaw's contributors to Scottish culture (popular or otherwise) include:

Transport

Bus

Wishaw is comprehensively served by the bus companies First and McKindless, other providers include: Irvines, Stuarts, Coakley and Whitelaws. Main destinations that can be reached by bus from the town are:

Historically, bus services in the Wishaw area were operated by a local company, Hutchisons. Their distinctive blue and yellow buses finally gave way in 2007 to a friendly takeover by one time rival First.

Despite initially closing the Hutchison depot in Overtown upon the takeover, and relocating all staff and vehicles to Blantyre, First have since launched new services in the Wishaw area, that has required the re-opening of the depot and indeed a major recruitment campaign.

Railway

The town also has two railway stations: Wishaw (historically Wishaw Central) railway station and Shieldmuir to the west of the town on the Lanark to Dalmuir line (Argyle Line). A half hourly service provided by First ScotRail connects Wishaw to places such as:

There is also has a twice daily service to Edinburgh Waverley.

The West Coast Main Line passes through the town at 115mph, but no passenger service trains stop there, as the main Wishaw South station on the line closed over 40 years ago.

Roads

Wishaw is also on the A71, Edinburgh, Livingston and Kilmarnock road as well as the A73 which links the town with the Borders regions. Also following a campaign by local politicians, the area is now well signposted from the nearby M8 and M74 motorways, a move which was considered necessary as although the town is not considered a principal destination from either of these roads and therefore not included as standard on the signage, it is now the home to the main Hospital for an area stretching right down the M74 corridor almost to the English border 75 miles away.

Industry

The (now defunct) local firm of R Y Pickering & Co Ltd (later Norbrit-Pickering) built railway rolling stock (especially wagons) and many tramcars for tram systems throughout the UK. One of its last tramcar orders was for 10 double-decker trams for Aberdeen Corporation Tramways in 1949.

Education

Wishaw, at present, has three high schools in the area: Clyde Valley High in Overtown, Coltness High and St.Aidans High. Historically, Wishaw had four high schools, with Wishaw High being the fourth, but this was closed and demolished to make way for new houses.

Primary Schools in Wishaw include St.Ignatius and Wishaw Academy.

The town does not have a University or College at present, with the nearest college being Motherwell College (though in 2009 they will be relocating to Ravenscraig) and the University of the West of Scotland in Hamilton being the nearest university.

Hospital

Main article: Wishaw General Hospital

Wishaw also has a general hospital in the Craigneuk area. It serves nearby settlements such as Motherwell and Newmains. It is one of three acute hospitals in Lanarkshire, the others being Monklands Hospital in Airdrie and Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride.

Shopping

Wishaw Countryside

The "Main Street" is the predominant shopping area in Wishaw. It is mainly made up of small independent retailers, although there are some major national stores such as WHSmith, Peacocks, Woolworths, Poundland, Iceland and Superdrug.

There are also many supermarkets in the area, with a new small format ASDA in the eastern suburb of Newmains that opened on September 2007. A new Tesco Extra has also been opened adjacent to the railway station during November 2007. A 1991 built Morrisons (originally Safeway) exists on the eastern edge of the town centre and the original Safeway on Kirk Road, about 500 m from the new store, is now a small market style mall and hosts various stalls and a café. There has also been a new Aldi superstore opened in Glasgow Road on September 2008 on the site of the old modern cinema, with the old store being converted into Sports Direct.

Wishaw also has the "Caledonian Centre", an out-of-town shopping complex in the northern suburb of Craigneuk consisting of other national store chains, such as Argos, Matalan, JJB Sports and Homebase.

There is also a number of retail blocks vacant in Glasgow Road, with Halfords rumoured to have purchased one.

Churches

Wishaw has many Churches in it of various kinds and denominations. There are several Church of Scotland congregations, including South Wishaw, Wishaw Old, Cambusnethan North, Cambusnethan Old and Morningside, Craigneuk and Belhaven, Coltness Memorial and St. Mark's. The town also has a Baptist Church, a Gospel Hall (Ebenezer Gospel Hall), a Christian Outreach Centre and 3 Roman Catholic Churches (St. Ignatius, St.Aidans and St Thomas).

Sports, Restaurants and Recreation

Leisure and Entertainments

Wishaw has a very large Mecca bingo hall in Kirk Road.

There is also a local nightclub known as Baker Street now known as Maddie's Corner. Although, the Commercial Hotel has also recently opened an over 30s nightclub. Pubs include Wishaw Malt (Wetherspoons), Caledonian Bar, Girdwoods, Sherlocks, Cross Keys, The Waverley, The West End, The Corner, The Imperial Bar and The Yard.

Eating Establishments

The old cinema in Kirk Road has been converted into an Italian Bar/Restaurant, known as Bar Zico. Wishaw is also host to a modern Scottish restaurant called Artisan, plus there are a number of independant chipshops, chinese, indian and curry takeaway places. Wishaw also has a McDonalds restaurant.

Sports Facilities

Wishaw doesn't have a professional football team in the town, as many of the towns residents are followers of Rangers,Celtic and near-neighbours Motherwell. It does have a junior football team, Wishaw that play their games at Wishaw Sports Centre.

Wishaw has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V, next to the town's General Hospital.

To the north-west of the town, there is a large golf course.

The towns municipal sports centre also includes two small swimming pools, badminton and martial arts facilities, and gymnastic equipment. A full length running track is also on site along with a full sized football pitch. There are also 5-aside astroturf pitches for football, and construction of a skatepark is planned.

Elsewhere, all-weather pitches and a children's play area behind Morrisons have been closed for a new shared campus primary school by St.Ignatius Primary and Wishaw Academy Primary. The local council has made no announcement on whether these facilities will be replaced.

The town previously had a full size swimming pool complete with a large spectator grandstand and full height diving facilities. This was closed during the late 90's to make way for a much smaller facility on the site of the towns Sports Centre. The reason given for this decision was the cost of maintaining such a facility for a town as small as Wishaw. Over the years it had played host to many regional swimming events and also benefited from being within walking distance of the two main secondary schools in the area as well as a host of primary schools.

Wishaw General Hospital also has a specialist heat pool for specialist physio treatment.

Town Park

Wishaw also has a town park named after Lord Belhaven, Belhaven Park. It has a swingpark, a paddling pool and plenty of benches. There is also plenty of open space and plenty of pathways.

The first major town festival Wishaw has had was held there on August 2nd 2008, it was known as Be in Belhaven. Several bands performed on that day, making it an enjoyable occasion. Other than that the park itself is known to be a quiet place.

External links

See also
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