Coatbridge
(Cotts Brig)

At the turn of the last century Coatbridge was the eight largest town in Scotland. It was formed by the amalgamation of a number of local villages: Old Monkland and Kirkshaws,  Coatbridge, Coatdyke, Dundyvan, Gartsherrie, Langloan and Whifflet.

The area around Coatbridge was described in the 1799 Statistical Account as an "immense garden" and it was not until the 1830s that the character of the district began to change from a rural landscape of small hamlets and farmhouses to a crowded industrial town.

The industry which transformed Coatbridge was the iron industry and the town became known as the Iron Burgh. In 1811 Old Monkland parish, which included Coatbridge, was recorded as having less than 6000 inhabitants. By the mid 1800's the Iron industry was predominant in the town and when it achieved Burgh status in 1885 it was known as "the Iron Burgh" and its population had increased to around 25,000.  As it grew, its landscape changed from a country area to a crowded industrial town. Today, the population is now estimated at over 48,000.  The present-day street layout of the town centre was largely influenced by the planning of the Baird family, owners of one of the town's largest ironworks. Coatbridge was the eighth largest town in Scotland in 1911.   .   

The following was said about Coatbridge in the latter part of the 19th
century: 
"There is no worse place out of hell than that neighbourhood.  At night the groups of blast furnaces on all sides might be imagined to be blazing volcanoes at most of which smelting is continued on Sundays and weekdays, day and night - without intermission"

Today the older, heavy industries have almost disappeared and newer light industries are taking their place. Coatbridge has a number of attractions, including Summerlee Heritage Park - "Scotland's noisiest museum" and the Time Capsule leisure complex. It has a public baths, five railway stations - Coatdyke, Sunnyside, Blairhill, Central, & Whifflet.  It has many public parks including the very popular Drumpellier Country Park with it's Peace Garden, two golf courses, one cricket club, an indoor and outdoor sports centre, an indoor bowling centre, a ten pin bowling club, six industrial estates and a modern shopping centre. 

To quote the latest North Lanarkshire Official Guide: "This vibrant town now boasts unrivalled leisure and entertainment facilities as well as ample shopping opportunities in the town centre precinct and retail parks".

This view is taken from the bottom of the hill at Kirkstyle cottages.  The cottages are no longer there and the right side of the picture is now occupied by Forsyths Fruit & Veg Merchants. -The Old Monkland Cemetery is on the left.- note the old greenhouse.

This photo show a traffic jam in Baird Street as it was in the early 1900's
- the carts are loading (or unloading?) water and the kids seem to be enjoying it!
The church at the top of the hill is Garsherrie Church - now known as St. Andrews

The Coatbridge Fountain - as it was in early 1900s - 
The fountain has moved a few times since then - it is now located near to the left of the picture - apparently it may move again in 2001?
note the Baxters bus just coming into view.

This is a view of Coatbridge looking towards the Whifflet - The Front Row of the infamous Rosehall Rows is on the left.  

Coatbridge was famed as the "iron Burgh". The nineteenth century boom in iron was made possible by David Mushet’s (1801) discovery of blackband ironstone in the bed of North Calder Water and James Beaumont Neilson’s invention of the hot Blast furnace in 1828. These breakthroughs, together with the ample supply of coal and the benefit of the Monkland Canal for transport led to a rapid industrialisation of the area from 1830 onwards.

By the 1860’s there were 8 ironworks producing pig iron from banks of large blast furnaces and 12 malleable iron works producing iron rails and plate for engineering firms in Airdrie and Glasgow.

This rapid industrialisation was mirrored by a dramatic increase in population. In the 20 years from 1831 to 1951 the population nearly tripled from 10,000 to just fewer than 30,000. The pressure on housing and living conditions became particularly acute during these years.

Over time local supplies of coal ironstone ran out and new technology made steel cheaper to produce. By the 1920’s most of the ironworks had either closed down or switched to rolling steel or tube making. Today only one rolling mill and one tube works remain.

Northburn Steelworks and Waverley Ironworks -  closed in 1967

Drumpellier Country Park

The Park was gifted to the town by DWR Carrick Buchanan in 1919.  The Drumpellier estate can be traced back to 1161 and was the site of the original Grange built by the monks of Newbattle Abbey.   The farming Grange, which stood on the ridge near the site of Drumpellier House, was probably built from wood with a thatched roof.

The monks cleared part of the extensive forest which covered the area at the time they cultivated the land extensively and by the 16th  century had leased most of the lands to farmers. After the reformation the monks land was sold to the Hamilton family. 

In 1739 Andrew Buchanan purchased the Drumpellier Estate from the Colquhoun family of Langloan.  In 1741 he built Drumpellier House, a Georgian mansion on the estate.  The mansion was demolished in the late 1960's.  
The park soon became popular with the townspeople of Coatbridge.    During the 1920's and 30's large groups of people from Glasgow arrived by tram and spent their weekends camping by the lochs.  
In 1984 Drumpellier was officially designated as a Country Park and a visitor centre was opened by the then Provost Cairns of Monklands District Council The park is popular for a number of recreational activities including: an adventure playground, guided walks, Jogging, dog walking, picnic areas, water - based activities such as boating, and angling. 
Nowadays the park is popular with passers-by and day trippers from all over,  who arrive by car to take part in the most popular activity by far, feeding the multitude of swans, geese and other birds - or just sitting and watching them.