Dalziel Park is an area located between the villages of
Carfin,
Cleland and
Newarthill
Newarthill is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, situated roughly three miles north-east of the town of Motherwell. It has a population of around 6,200. Most local amenities are shared with the adjacent villages of Carfin, Holytown and Ne ...
in
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...
, Scotland. Other nearby settlements include the large
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
and the new town of
Ravenscraig
Ravenscraig is a village and new town, located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, around 1½ miles east of Motherwell. Ravenscraig was formerly the site of Ravenscraig steelworks; once the largest hot strip steel mill in western Europe, the st ...
. The area consists of a residential estate, a sports facility (regarded as one of the best in Scotland), a golf course and a clubhouse. It is also used as the home venue for the local rugby team
Dalziel
Dalziel, Dalzell or Dalyell ( ) is a Scottish surname.
Pronunciation
The unintuitive spelling of the name is due to it being an anglicisation of Scottish Gaelic ''Dail-gheal'', meaning bright dale. The sound now spelled with a or is historica ...
, as well as the training ground for the local professional football team
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
.
History
The park was established by the Dalziel War Memorial Trust, an organisation formed to offer a living memorial to the pupils and staff of the Motherwell-based
Dalziel High School
Dalziel High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The head teacher is Jaclyn Martin.
Overview
Dalziel High School was founded in 1898. James K. Scobbie, Rector from 1957 until 1974, greatly ...
who lost their lives during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
On 27 June 1947, the former pupils committee of Dalziel decided that the school's memorial of the pupils who died during both wars should take the form of playing fields. The former Cleland Estate was put up for sale by the Right Honourable
Sir John Colville, P.C., G.C.I.E, for only six thousand pounds. For the purchase to be possible, there was much fundraising along with a grant provided by the
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...
Education Committee. After the purchase, playing fields for
hockey,
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
, and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
were laid, and later an
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
track would also be included. In 1990, the War Memorial Trust took up the challenge of maintaining the facility, converting the former Cleland Estate into Dalziel Park.
On 2 October 2004 the Clubhouse was opened, officially ending a long and determined journey that the War Memorial Trust embarked upon to sell a portion of land for housing and also build a top-quality sports facility, overcoming the main problems including high costs for maintenance. Initially only a handful of playing fields were formed, but that number slowly increased and the reputation of the sports facility started to grow. On 5 April 2001,
The Princess Royal
Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been sev ...
formally opened the playing fields and as soon as the clubhouse was built, the vision became a reality. The War Memorial Trust, in existence for more than half-a-century, remain committed to keeping the facility as maintained and successful as possible.
Layout
![Dalziel Park Hotel and Clubhouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Dalziel_Park_Hotel_and_Clubhouse.jpg)
The area also contains a development of high-quality housing (approximately 230 residences, coming under the ''
Murdostoun
Murdostoun is an estate in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, which includes a castle (Ordnance Survey Grid ReferencNS8257, which lies on the South Calder Water near the village of Bonkle in the parish of Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The name ...
'' council ward) accessed from Chapelknowe Road, which is right next to a large golf course. As well as this, Dalziel Park contains a Hotel and Conference Centre, built on the site of the demolished Cleland House mansion which has a restaurant and overnight accommodation; the property was purchased by the leisure company operated by former footballer
Harry Hood in 2011.
The sports facility caters for many sports, such as hockey, football, athletics, rugby and tennis, and has pitches, tracks and courts for each of these sports. There is a main rugby playing field located next to the hockey pitches and changing areas, and this is where the rugby team
Dalziel RFC play all of their home games. The pitch also contains a grandstand with a seating capacity of 384 spectators.
The local
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
side
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have lifte ...
use the football pitches of the facility for training. The
club's reserve team often play friendly matches against other reserve sides at the facility. Since 2017, local amateur side
Colville Park A.F.C.
Colville Park E Amateur Football Club is a Scottish amateur football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. In 2016 they competed in the Scottish Cup for the first time after winning the previous season's Scottish Amateur Cup, and repeated ...
also play their home matches at Dalziel Park, as do Dalziel HSFP AFC, which like the rugby team has a connection with the school.
Dalziel HSFP
Caledonian Amateur Football League
The Caledonian Amateur Football League is a football (soccer) league competition for amateur clubs in Scotland. It was formed in 1983 by inviting what were deemed to be top amateur clubs from across central Scotland with good facilities with hig ...
References
External links
*
Dalziel High School War Memorial Trust Website park section
{{Rugby union in North Lanarkshire
Motherwell
Motherwell F.C.
Rugby union stadiums in Scotland
Dalziel
Dalziel, Dalzell or Dalyell ( ) is a Scottish surname.
Pronunciation
The unintuitive spelling of the name is due to it being an anglicisation of Scottish Gaelic ''Dail-gheal'', meaning bright dale. The sound now spelled with a or is historica ...
Football venues in Scotland
Sports venues in North Lanarkshire
Neighbourhoods in North Lanarkshire
Golf clubs and courses in North Lanarkshire
Parks in North Lanarkshire
Sports venues completed in 2001
Rugby union in North Lanarkshire