Motherwell
|
Brandon Parade, the main shopping street in Motherwell, on a typical Saturday |
Motherwell (
Tobar na Màthar in
Gaelic) 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 steel plant 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 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.
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 183 square miles of North Lanarkshire.
The biggest Fun Park in Scotland is based within
Strathclyde Park, which features many sports facilities, as well as having woodland and grass areas ideal for visitors including
bird-watchers,
anglers, or people out for a quiet, leisurely time, and also features an excavated site of a Roman
mosaic, although this has been covered to protect it. The park itself has also gained a reputation as a meeting place for
gay encounters and also
boy racers however local police patrols try to dissuade this element from the park.
Other attractions and sites within Motherwell District are Carfin Pilgrimage Centre and
Carfin Grotto. The Grotto was built in nearby
Carfin, in the
1920s, mainly by local residents and miners and was originally for the benefit of the
Catholic Community, holding Processions and Pilgrimages most Sundays throughout the year and, in its heyday, saw many thousands attend open-air masses. Others who regularly use the Grotto are from the large
Lithuanian and
Polish communities who had settled in the area, although many travelled from around Britain to attend. The one disappointment for the local Catholic community was when
Pope John Paul II visited Scotland in the 1980's and had hoped that he would visit the only Catholic Shrine in the country but were rewarded only with a "
flypast" by his helicopter.
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. They are managed by
Maurice Malpas, who took over from
Terry Butcher at the end of the 2005/06 season.
One of the town's most well-known "sons" is
James Keir Hardie (
1856 -
1915) who was born a few miles outside of Motherwell, and is one of the founders of the modern
Labour Party.
The Right Honourable Dr.
John Reid was formerly the Member of Parliament for
Motherwell North (now renamed
Hamilton North and Bellshill). Reid is from the nearby town of
Bellshill.
The
Motherwell and Wishaw constituency is represented in Parliament by
Frank Roy MP, who was revealed to have been a member of the
Ancient Order of Hibernians. The order is perceived as a
sectarian organisation, and Roy has declared that he no longer associates with such organisations.
| Motherwell District 1975-96 |
 | Scot1975Motherwell.png |
|
From 1975 Motherwell lent its name to a
local government district in the
Strathclyde region of
Scotland. In 1996 administrative functions were taken over by the
North Lanarkshire unitary council. (See:
Subdivisions of Scotland)
*
North Lanarkshire Council
