Wishaw
For the village in England, see Wishaw, WarwickshireWishaw is a large town and former
burgh in
North Lanarkshire,
Scotland. It is located in the
Clyde Valley, 15 miles south-east of
Glasgow.
The main areas of Wishaw are:
Cambusnethan,
Coltness (East & West),
Craigneuk,
Gowkthrapple,
Greenhead,
Netherton,
Pather and
Waterloo. There are two adjoining villages: 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 current
First Minister of Scotland Jack McConnell.
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]
The origin of the name is uncertain. One theory is that it derives from the
Latin 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. Some locals call it
Wishy.
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 4th September
1855, the town was incorporated with the villages of
Coltness and
Stewarton to form the
Burgh of Wishaw, with a population of around 5,000.
Among Wishaw's contributors to
Scottish culture (popular or otherwise) are former world snooker champion
John Higgins, underground film-maker
Enrico Cocozza, popular recording combo
The Jolt (September 1976 – June 1979), musical directors/big-band leaders
Freddy and
Harry Bence, and internationally renowned Scottish musicians and entertainers
The Alexander Brothers.
Wishaw is also the childhood home of the footballer famously dubbed "England's Scottish footballer"
Joe Baker who, although born in
Liverpool, was brought up here for almost his entire childhood.
Wishaw is served by the bus companies First, Hutchisons, McKindless, Irvines, Stuart and Coakley. Wishaw also has a
railway station on the
Lanark to
Glasgow line (
Argyle Line), with a half hourly service to places such as
Motherwell,
Carluke,
Hamilton,
Cambuslang,
Bellshill and
Dalmuir. It also has a twice daily service to
Edinburgh Waverley. The
West Coast Main Line passes through town at 115mph, but no trains stop there, in fact the main Wishaw South station on the line having been closed for almost 40 years.
The Main Street is the predominant shopping street in Wishaw. It is mainly made up of small retailers; however there are major stores such as WH Smith, Woolworths, Tesco, Peacocks, Select, Poundland and Cash Generators. Recently, a new Subway restaurant has been opened on the Main Street. Supermarkets: Spar, Iceland and Tesco can be found in Main Street, Morrisons in Kirk Road, and Farmfoods in Russell Street. A
Lidl can also be found in a street next to Main Street. A new
Asda has been planned for the eastern suburb of
Newmains, the land for this areas is now being cleared for construction. Somerfield closed on the 20th of April 2006.
The original Safeway on Kirk Road is now a small mall and hosts various small stalls and a cafe.
The Caledonian Centre is an out-of-town shopping complex in Glasgow Road made up of Argos, JJB Sports, Matalan, Brantano Footwear, General George, Instore and Homebase.
Nightlife/Going Out
The modern cinema has closed, and has been awaiting a buyer for over five years. There is a large imposing
bingo hall in Kirk Road, which regularly attracts large crowds from all over west central Scotland.
The local nightclub is called Baker Street. The commercial hotel has also recently opened an over 30s nightclub, which is very popular.
Pubs include Wishaw Malt, Harvies, Girdwoods, Sherlocks, Cross Keys, The West End and The Yard.
Sportsfields
Wishaw has a
King George's Field in memorial to
King George V. Wishaw also has a 1500m running track at the Wishaw Sports Centre. The sports centre also includes two swimming pools, badminton and martial arts facilities, and gymnastic equipment. There are also 5-aside astrograss 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. The local council has made no announcement on whether these facilities will be replaced.
*
Census 2001 statistics for Wishaw
