Moodiesburn

Moodiesburn

The perilous[1] Silver Larch public house.
Moodiesburn
 Moodiesburn shown within North Lanarkshire
Population 6,614 [2] (2001 census)
OS grid referenceNS6960871434
Council areaNorth Lanarkshire
Lieutenancy areaLanarkshire
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town GLASGOW
Postcode district G69
Dialling code 01236
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentCoatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
Scottish ParliamentCoatbridge and Chryston
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 55°55′06″N 4°05′12″W / 55.918333°N 4.08666°W

Moodiesburn is a residential suburb located 8 miles north-east of Glasgow city centre, in the North Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It is situated on the A80 road, between Stepps and Cumbernauld.

Landmarks

Moodiesburn's original early 1950s council home builds comprise an area known as "Old Moodiesburn" (though a substantial number of those homes are now privately owned). The opposite end, by Devro headquarters, is composed mostly of private homes built by Christian Salvesen (1970), Tay/Wimpey (1992), Bellway (1995) and Persimmon (2006), which are largely inhabited by working- and middle class families. Beginning in the mid 1970s, Moodiesburn's underclass would refer to the then-new Salvesen estate as "Spam Valley", implying that mortgages for the newer properties forced the new owners to survive eating only spam. Usage of the term began to drop off in the early-to-mid 1990s as new private estates were erected. A small estate of new council builds was constructed in the midst of the Salvesen area in 2013.

The suburb includes a community centre and library, a miners' welfare club (the Auchengeich Miners Welfare), a multi-denominational school (Glenmanor Primary), a denominational school (St. Michael's Primary), a Church of Scotland parish church, a Roman Catholic church, and an independent evangelical church called New Beginnings. There is also a public house (the Silver Larch, which the Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser said "could very well be the roughest pub in North Lanarkshire"[1]), a Knights of Saint Columba social club and a coffee shop called The Coffee House.

Moodiesburn House Hotel - previously the site of the Bedlay Dowager House - was closed in early 2008 and its entire contents put up for auction. In March 2008 the function hall of the hotel was vandalised and set on fire.[3]

Bedlay Cemetery is the local cemetery for Moodiesburn. The nearby Bedlay Castle has stood since the late 16th century.[4][5]

Moodiesburn is also home to the headquarters of Devro, as well as a number of youth football teams, including Moodiesburn Red Star and Bridgend Boys club.

Stoneyetts Hospital

Stoneyetts Hospital (formerly Stoneyetts Certified Institution for Mental Defectives[6]), was a certified psychiatric institution, originally for mentally deficient people under the Mental Deficiency and Lunacy (Scotland) Act of 1913, which opened in 1913.[7] In early 1991, NHS Greater Glasgow announced their plans to close the institution, with a view to transfer its patients and staff to other hospitals.[8] Hospital staff claimed that Stoneyetts was being deliberately run down to justify its closure;[9] the Confederation of Health Service Employees had produced a catalogue of complaints against the hospital in 1986, claiming cockroach and mould infestation, dilapidated surroundings, and staff shortages.[10] Despite opposition from union chiefs,[8] protests from staff,[11][12] and public outcry,[13] operations at the hospital officially ceased on February 19, 1992.[14] Stoneyetts had become home to many former Woodilee Hospital patients following the discovery of severe structural defects in the fabric of that hospital's buildings on 13 March, 1987, which became known as "Black Friday" among NHS Greater Glasgow staff.[15] Following the closure of Stoneyetts in 1992, many of its patients were transferred to Woodilee, which itself ceased operations eight years later.

In late 2001, the Stoneyetts area again became the cause of public unrest when locals discovered that the Scottish Prison Service had made plans to purchase the site and build a prison there.[16] This never materialised.

NHS Greater Glasgow granted ownership of the hospital's bowling club to local players, who have maintained and funded the venue since all other buildings were demolished.[17] Although early evening games are played at the club on a weekly basis, the largely wooded area is essentially desolate and has become a location for vandalism,[18] fly-tipping,[18] suicides[19] and a child's death[20] since the hospital's closure. Stoneyetts Cottages, initially constructed for hospital workers shortly after it opened, are now secluded from the central Stoneyetts area, accessible through Moodiesburn, by the intersecting 2011 M80 motorway extension. A set of similar homes, Moorpark Cottages, were demolished along with the hospital.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "What's it called? Carbuncle-nauld". Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser (Scottish and Universal Newspapers). 21 November 2001. Moodiesburn, home to a not-so-cheerful little venue called the 'Silver Larch'...The 'nauld has its share of dive joints, but none quite scale the murky depths of the 'Larch', a perilous youth drinking den which could very well be the roughest pub in North Lanarkshire.
  2. ↑ "scrol.gov.uk". Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  3. ↑ "Fire ravages derelict A80 hotel". BBC News. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  4. ↑ Mason, Gordon The Castles of Glasgow and the Clyde, Goblinshead, 2000 (p.51)
  5. ↑ Coventry, Martin The Castles of Scotland (3rd Edition), Goblinshead, 2001 (p.83)
  6. ↑ Stoneyetts Hospital, Glasgow. The National Archives. Retrieved 23 June, 2011.
  7. ↑ Tough, Alistair. Records of Stoneyetts Hospital, Chryston (and others). NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Archives. 23 July, 1998. Retrieved 23 June, 2011.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Gough, Jim. "Hospital unions to fight move from closure". Evening Times. 9 May, 1991.
  9. ↑ Montgomery, Fiona. Evening Times. "Nurses hit out at staff levels". 25 September, 1991.
  10. ↑ Smith, Ken. "A creepy-crawlie hospital attack". Evening Times. 2 September, 1986.
  11. ↑ Symon, Ken. "Same old medicine: Labour claim plan is no cure". Evening Times. 24 September, 1991.
  12. ↑ Rogers, Roy. "NHS faces test on pay". Glasgow Herald. 25 September, 1991.
  13. ↑ "Sack the board call by an MP". Evening Times. 1 July, 1991.
  14. ↑ Health Care (Strathclyde). Hansard. 7 February, 1995. Retrieved 5 January, 2012.
  15. ↑ Stoneyetts and Woodilee Hospitals. Hansard. 29 January, 1988. Retrieved 25 March, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Anger over land for jail". Daily Record. October 18, 2001.
  17. ↑ Stoneyetts Bowling Club. Official Site. Retreieved 23 June, 2011.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Bowlers in safety plea". Kirkintilloch Herald. 6 July, 2004. Retrieved 13 June, 2011.
  19. ↑ Halliday, Ron. Glasgow's Ghosts (partially re-distributed 2000: Haunted Glasgow) Fort, 1996 (p.77)
  20. ↑ Lowry, Kevin. "Tree-climbing dare leaves 11-year-old Stephen dead". The Mirror. Archived at TheFreeLibrary. 27 September, 1999. Retrieved 16 August, 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moodiesburn.