Plains, North Lanarkshire

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Aerial photograph of Plains (2003)

Plains (pronounced /ˈpleɪnz/) is a village (pop. 2291) ^[1] situated 2 miles east of the town of Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, between Scotland's two largest cities: Glasgow and Edinburgh, being approximately one third of the distance from Glasgow (14 miles) to Edinburgh (30 miles) along the A89 road. Plains and Airdrie form part of the eastern periphery of the Greater Glasgow metropolitan area.

1 Etymology
2 Geography
3 History
4 Plains Today
5 References and Further reading

[edit] Etymology

The origin of the name "Plains" is unknown. One suggestion is that the name derives (via the plural of Plain) from the view afforded to the Cistercian Monks of Newbattle Abbey as they travelled to what is now the site of the village. These monks farmed the wider area for grain in what became known as Monklands. But the geography of the area runs contrary to this idea. Alternatively, the name may be a contraction of "The Plains of Waterloo" - a name given by a returning soldier from the Napoleonic wars.^[2] Eitherway, it is not uncommon for locals to refer to the village as "The Plains".

There is no known association to any other place called Plains. But in 1976, newly elected US President Jimmy Carter (of Plains, Georgia) received a congratulatory telegram from Plains newsagent - also Jimmy Carter. Thus the family "the Carters of Plains" were featured in the Scottish national tabloid, The Daily Record.

[edit] Geography

Plains is situated on the gentle south facing slope of the valley of the North Calder Water, a tributary of the River Clyde.

The Main Street (the A89) runs in a straight line for about 1 mile east to west. Almost all of the residential housing of the village lies on the northern side of Main St., forming a roughly square shape (1 mile each side). To the south of Main St., the valley drops more steeply down to the North Calder then steeply up the other side which is home to the parkland Easter Moffat golf course.

Plains lies at around 500 ft above sea level. From nearby Airdriehill, there is a wide vista to the west across the urbanised lower Clyde valley. Beyond, on a clear day, it is possible to see Ben Lomond and the Isle of Arran.

To the south east of Plains, the land rises to almost 1000 feet - the highest land in the narrow isthmus across central Scotland - Scotland's "Continental Divide". Consequently, the area was chosen as the location for Scotland's first television transmitting stations. The Black Hill Transmitter, at 1000 ft tall, is a very prominent local landmark. It began broadcasting independent Scottish Television services in August, 1957. Nearby, but not so tall or prominent, is Kirk o'Shotts transmitter mast which broadcast Scotland's first BBC television signals in March, 1952.

[edit] History

The village was founded in the mid 19th century along what is now the A89 Airdrie to Bathgate road. The population of the village in 1860 is recorded at just over 200. Much of the original growth of the village was in keeping with the expansion of the coal mining industry in North Lanarkshire, most notably the Ardenrigg Coal Co Ltd. This coal mining activity dwindled in the second half of the 20th century. However, Scotland's largest open cast coal mine is currently in operation at Drumshangie Moss, a few miles north-west of Plains. There has recently been controversy ^[3] regarding the impact of this mine on the site of the Stanrigg Mining Disaster where, in July 1918, a collapse led to the deaths of 19 local mine workers. ^[4]

Late 20th century expansion of the village has been to the north of the A89 road in separate developments of local government or Council houses, consisting of blocks of terraced houses. Originally planned as affordable, rented accommodations for the predominantly working class population, a large percentage have become owner occupied in recent years. At the beginning of the 21st century, a new development of relatively large, detached houses was established in the north-east corner of the village.

There is no significant single employer within the village. During the last decades of the 20th Century the main employers were the Geest Company and Beechams.

Geest occupied a site in the middle of the village, South towards the railway, and was involved in the receipt and packaging of fruit for distribution throughout the country. This led to the local description of the facility as the "Banana Factory". Children of employees and outsiders, when enquiring as to what went on within the unit, were told that "they bent bananas!" The site is now a timber yard managed by a company called Rowan Timber.

The Beecham site was a warehouse and distribution facility employing a number of local drivers and located adjacent to Geest Bananas. Such were the distinctive markings and colourings (red and yellow) of the trucks they used, it was a common site to see "Looki Vans" parked outside the drivers' homes. "Looki" being of course a reference to one of the main products distributed from and marketed on the vans - Lucozade. The warehouse was recently demolished and the site is to be developed for additional housing.

[edit] Plains Today

Today, Plains is a largely working class settlement with local people commuting for employment throughout urban central Scotland.There has been recent housing developments that have expanded the village.These tend to be more up market dwellings with many of the houses being bought by outsiders.

[edit] Sectarianism

In contrast to most other towns and villages in North Lanarkshire, Plains is predominantly Catholic with many people being the descendants of immigrant Irish workers from the 19th century. As elsewhere in the West of Scotland, a sectarian tension persists between (descendants of Irish) Catholic and (descendants of Scottish) Protestants. In Plains, this is manifest in graffiti bearing the slogans of Irish Republicanism. However, the seriousness of the slogan writers is questionable: in the 1990's, a prominent slogan which had read "Remember the Easter Rising" was soon edited to read "Remember the Easter Bunny" and remained on display in this form for years thereafter. On a point of interest, no parades by the Orange Order are allowed to pass through the village. However, this may change in the future with the steady influx of outsiders who are non Catholic and the dwindling numbers of practicing Catholics attending Mass.

[edit] Organised Religion

The village church, St. David's, was established in 1897 and rebuilt in 1994. It serves a congregation of approximately 1800. St. David's is part of the Diocese of Motherwell. Other Christian worship takes place at the Elim Gospel Hall, in Clarkson Parish Church, one kilometre west of the village and at Plains Evangelical Church. What is now Plains Evangelical Church, a thriving non-denominational independent church was begun by Mr Robert McCracken in 1900. At this time Plains was a fairly small mining community. For 20 years he held a Sabbath School, Bible Class and Gospel Meetings in the small Co-operative hall. However, by 1920, this facility was no longer available to him.

Robert McCracken began to pray that God would provide premises in order that the work in Plains could continue. Many advised Bob that the building of a hall in Plains was "out of the question". Bob, however, trusted implicitly in a mighty God who is the God of the impossible.

He gained permission to demolish two disused brick chimneys at local collieries to provide bricks for the proposed Mission hall. Over 14000 bricks were transported to the site of the new building in October 1920, with a further 14,000 being delivered shortly after. After months of hard work and many unforeseen difficulties, the building was completed and opened on 26th March 1921.

The God of the impossible has maintained this witness in the village of Plains from that day until this. Christ's ongoing work however, depends on active steps of faith and so on 5th November 1995; Plains Mission Hall became, a full-time independent church serving Christ in the village of Plains. Shortly after this the name was changed to Plains Evangelical Church, to reflect this step of faith.

The church has continued to see God really bless by extending his work in more ways than one. Many have been saved and have come to Jesus personally and the church has also completed a major renovation and extension of the building in October 1998. The Lord has continued to bless and to encourage his people to move on in faith believing that he has a mighty work to do in the village of Plains. To that end the Church believed that the Lord had prompted them to call their first full-time minister. On the 24th March 2001, almost 80 years to the very day that the building was established, the church Inducted, Alan McKnight, one of the serving Elders, as the churches first full-time minister. In November 2007 Jonathon Gemmell joined the church as Assistant Minister. The church is very active in the community running Dads and Lads and Ladies and Lassies events, running a Baby and Toddler group, a Silverliners group for older people and a 'Stauros' ministry to help people struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol, all to the glory of God.

The churches leadership team consists of Alan McKnight (minister) Jon Gemmell (Assistant Minister) Bill McCracken (Elder) and Jim Coyle (Elder).

[edit] Education

There are two state schools: St David's Primary (Catholic) and Plains Primary (Non-denominational). St David's had a school roll of 155 (2006-2007. In the same year Plains Primary looked after 71 pupils. In 2006,work began on a new building to be constructed in the centre of the village to house both schools. However, as of July 2007 it is still not complete

[edit] Points of Interest

Running parallel and around 100 metres south of Main Street is National Cycle Route 75, a Sustrans long distance cycle path. This was constructed along the bed of a former industrial railway line which ultimately linked Glasgow and Edinburgh. As of 2005, there is a proposal to re-establish a commuter railway along this line. ^[5] On May 10th 2007, the bill to allow this was passed by the Scottish Parliament. There will however be no stop at Plains meaning that the benefit to the local community will be minimal.

The Sustrans path passes near to Plains Countryside Park - a local picnic area overlooking the North Calder stream. In the mid to late 20th century, this was the site of the annual Plains summer gala (Gala Day) - a day of parades, children's sports events and entertainment - a tradition typical of villages in the area. In Plains the custom is now defunct although it continues in many neighbouring communities to the east such as Harthill, Whitburn and Armadale.

The village was briefly the host to one of the stranger 'celebrity' hangouts in the UK. Following a request by River Phoenix, then promoting one of his last movies, to visit somewhere 'authentic' the Plains based limo driver to him to Jack's Bar in the town, where he stood his round. Subsequently several Hollywood stars (often promoting films ostensibly about Scottish subjects, but filmed elsewhere) dropped by, as the pub was only slightly off the route between Glasgow Airport, then host to Scotland's only transatlantic connection, and Edinburgh. The practice stopped after a few years when Edinburgh got its own New York flight and the pub itself closed in 1999. Other celebrities believed to have visited the village include David Soul (joined on at least one occasion by Antonio Fargas), John Hurt and Emilio Estevez. Whilst all of this is considered in some circles as speculation, David Soul was known to have a set make-up artist or hairdresser who had, at the time of Starsky and Hutch, relatives who lived in the village.

There is a local saying in The Plains that it attracts mad men and mad dogs. In the 1970's it featured in a national magazine as having the highest crime rate per head of the population in Britain.^{[citation needed]}