Uddingston
| Uddingston Gaelic: Baile Udain Scots: Uddinstoun | |
| Lanarkshire | |
|---|---|
 Tunnock's Bakery | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NS696603 |
| Location: | 55°49’6"N, 4°4’58"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 5,000 |
| Post town: | Glasgow |
| Postcode: | G71 |
| Dialling code: | 01698 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Lanarkshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Lanark and Hamilton East |
Uddingston is a small town in Lanarkshire, on the north side of the River Clyde, about seven miles south-east of Glasgow city centre. Uddingston acts as a dormitory suburb for the city.
Geography and boundaries
It is bounded to the south-west by the River Clyde as it flows north-west through Glasgow and separates Uddingston, along with some woodland, from Blantyre and Cambuslang. As such, the Clyde Walkway and National Cycle Route 75 both traverse the town. The nearest settlement to Uddingston is the village of Bothwell, two miles to the south-east.
The village of Uddingston houses around 5,000 residents. However, the nearby villages of Tannochside, Calderbraes, Viewpark, Birkenshaw and Spindlehowe form a continuous conurbation with Uddingston and are considered districts of Uddingston. As a result, the population of this larger manifestation of Uddingston is approximately 25,000 residents. "Greater Uddingston" shares a boundary with the nearby town of Bellshill (the town centres are a mere three miles apart), is four miles south of Coatbridge and via Bothwell four and a half miles north-west of Hamilton.
Facilities
Uddingston is home to Tunnock's factory, famed for its caramel wafers and tea cakes. The factory contributes much to the village's economy, as does the industrial estate located on the Bellshill Road. In earlier times, mining was a major industry, with the village of Flemington an example of a settlement that failed to survive following the closure of its pit in the 1930s.
Uddingston has a police station, three supermarkets, traditional main street shops, restaurants, pubs and a railway station. It also has several sports clubs including two municipal gyms, a hockey Club,[1] cricket club (which has hosted List A cricket),[2] Rugby Club, a bowling and tennis club, Calderbraes Golf Club and a junior football club, Thorniewood United.
Uddingston railway station runs two regular hourly services on the Argyle Line and a third hourly service on the Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Line. On the Train running north to Dalmuir or Milngavie via Glasgow, the next stop is Cambuslang. Glasgow Central is six stops and approximately 16 minutes' journey time from Uddingston on the Argyle line, and one or two stops (dependent on the train) from Glasgow Central on the Edinburgh train, a journey time of roughly twelve minutes.
Uddingston was also home to Glasgow Zoo from when it opened in 1947 until it closed in 2003. It was once a major attraction before its closure due to lack of finances. The site now contains several private housing developments, effectively creating a new suburb known as Broomhouse.
Notable residents
Uddingston has been home to several successful footballers: Jimmy Johnstone and George McCluskey both of Celtic; Tommy McQueen who played for Aberdeen, West Ham, Clyde and Falkirk; Iain Munro, a football player, coach and manager; Lindsay Hamilton, who was goalkeeper with Stenhousemuir, Rangers, St Johnstone and Dunfermline, and John Robertson who most notably played at Nottingham Forest.
David Kettle, who won numerous Scottish age group swimming titles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, also came from Uddingston.
Barry Burns, the pianist/guitarist of the Scottish instrumental group Mogwai comes from Uddingston.
Chic McSherry, the entrepreneur, musician and author comes from Viewpark, Uddingston.
Uddingston was the birthplace of James W. Black, (14 June 1924 – 22 March 2010) the Scottish doctor and pharmacologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for work leading to the discovery of Propranolol and Cimetidine.[3]
Also hailing from Uddingston is the footballer Gary MacKenzie, who attended Uddingston Grammar from 1996 to 2001.
References
- ↑ "Uddingston Hockey Club". http://www.uddingstonhockeyclub.co.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
- ↑ "Ground profile: Bothwell Castle, Uddingston". CricketArchive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/24/1684.html. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ↑ Black, Sir James W. "Autobiography". The Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1988/black-autobio.html. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
