Bothwellhaugh

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Bothwellhaugh, formerly a village near Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, was built in the 19th Century to house the miners of the nearby Hamilton Palace coal mine. Because of the close association with the mine the village was known locally as the “Pallis” The housing was the property of the coal mine owners until the coal industry was nationalised in 1947 when they became the property of the National Coal Board. At its peak the village had a population of some 3,000 people and enjoyed a strong community life. It included two churches, two schools, a Miner's Welfare Association, co-operative store, 450 dwellings and allotment gardens, all in the shadow of a large bing, but not a solitary public house as the policy of the Duke of Hamilton and the mining company prohibited the sale of alcohol in the village. However Hamilton Palace Colliery finally shut it doors in 1959 and the decline of Bothwellhaugh as a community began. By the early 1960’s the population had dispersed from the village, and the deserted village was demolished in 1966. The site of the village lay derelict until the early 1970’s when construction began on Strathclyde Park. Much of the village was flooded under the man made Strathclyde Loch within the Park. The only traces of the village today are a memorial cairn, and memorabilia and displays in the Countryside Ranger Service Visitor Centre in the Country Park