![Plains North Lanarkshire](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Plains_North_Lanarkshire.jpg)
Plains is a village outside the town of
Airdrie, 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, about east of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
city centre and west of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. The nearest major towns are Airdrie () and
Coatbridge
Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...
(). The village is west of
Caldercruix
Caldercruix is a semi-rural village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The nearest major town is Airdrie, to the west. It has a population of about 2,440. The village is about east of Glasgow and west of Edinburgh.
The local Church of Scotl ...
and the
North Calder Water
The North Calder Water is a river in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It flows for from the Black Loch (in the Falkirk council area) via the Hillend Reservoir, Caldercruix, Plains, Airdrie, Calderbank, Carnbroe and Viewpark to the River Clyde at Dal ...
. The population is about 2,740.
Etymology
The origin of the name "Plaza
" is unknown. One suggestion is that the name derives (via the plural of
Plain
In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...
) from the view afforded to the
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
Monks of
Newbattle Abbey
Newbattle Abbey ( gd, Abaid a' Bhatail Nuaidh) was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution.
Monastery
It was founded in 1140 by mo ...
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
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. Either way, it is not uncommon for locals to refer to the village as "The Plains".
Geography
Plains is situated on the gentle south-facing slope of the valley of the North Calder Water, which is a tributary of the
River Clyde
The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...
. To the north of the settlement runs a series of unclassified roads known to older residents as ''The Backies.'' Opencast mining in the 1970s and 1980s took away much of the natural beauty within this network of roads which since has further been eroded with the advent of a landfill site.
The Main Street (the
A89) runs in a straight line for about 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 lie at around above sea level. From the nearby Airdriehill Farm, 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
Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...
and the
Isle of Arran
The Isle of Arran (; sco, Isle o Arran; gd, Eilean Arainn) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Historically part of Butesh ...
.
To the southeast of Plains, the land rises to almost – the highest land in the narrow isthmus across central Scotland spanning the
Scottish watershed
The Scottish watershed is the drainage divide in Scotland that separates river systems that flow to the east into the North Sea from those that flow to the west and north into the Atlantic Ocean. At a point on the summit of Ben Lomond for example ...
. Consequently, the area was chosen as the location for Scotland's first television transmitting stations. The
Black Hill Transmitter
The Black Hill transmitting station is a facility for FM and TV broadcasting at Black Hill (), on Duntilland Road, Salsburgh, North Lanarkshire, Scotland which is near the town of Airdrie. It has a guyed mast tall, bringing the antennas to a he ...
, at tall, is a very prominent local landmark. It began broadcasting independent
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
services in August 1957. Nearby, but not so tall or prominent, is
Kirk o'Shotts transmitter mast, which broadcast Scotland's first
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
television signals in March 1952. There is now a second transmitter (completed 2009) which will replace the older one, which itself will be relocated within the Scottish transmitting network.
History
The village was founded in the mid-19th century along what is now the A89 Airdrie to
Bathgate
Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, Blackburn, Linlithgow, Livingston, West Calder and Whitburn. Situated sout ...
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
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
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 opencast coal mine is currently in operation at Drumshangie Moss, a few miles northwest of Plains. There has been controversy 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.
![Timber supplier's yard - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Timber_supplier%27s_yard_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1260204.jpg)
Late 20th century expansion of the village has been to the north of the A89 road in separate developments of local government or
Council house
A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...
s, consisting of blocks of
terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...
s. Originally planned as affordable, rented accommodations for the predominantly
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
population, a large percentage have become
owner occupied
Owner-occupancy or home-ownership is a form of housing tenure in which a person, called the owner-occupier, owner-occupant, or home owner, owns the home in which they live. The home can be a house, such as a single-family house, an apartment, con ...
in recent years. At the beginning of the 21st century, a new development of relatively large, detached houses were established in the northeast 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
Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash plai ...
Company and
Beechams
The Beecham Group plc was a British pharmaceutical company. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Beecham, after having merged with American pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beckman to become SmithKline Beecham, merged with Glaxo W ...
.
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. The site is now a timber yard managed by a company called Rowan Timber.
The
Beecham Beecham is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Audrey Beecham (1915–1989), poet and niece of the conductor
* Betty Humby Beecham (1908–1958), British pianist and wife of the conductor
* Earl Beecham (born 1965), American foo ...
site was a warehouse and distribution facility employing a number of local drivers and located adjacent to Geest Bananas. The warehouse was recently demolished and the site is to be developed for additional housing.
Plains today
Today, Plains is a largely working class settlement with local people commuting for employment throughout urban central Scotland. There have been recent housing developments that have expanded the village. These tend to be more up-market dwellings, and are more modern than the council houses which predominate in the village. There has been a new swing park added to Plains and a post office was opened in 2016. A campaign to bring a railway station has not yet been successful. Plains has an active Community Council.
Organised religion
Christian worship takes place at the Elim Gospel Hall 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.
St David's Catholic church remains open for worship.
Education
There are two state schools: St David's Primary and Plains Primary.
Both schools are accommodated in a shared campus built on the former football pitches on the west side of Bruce Street. These football pitches were the former site of
pit bings which were only removed as the result of community pressure in the 1960s.
Points of interest
National Cycle Route 75, a
Sustrans
Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network.
Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United Kin ...
long-distance cycle path, ran parallel and around south of Main Street. This was constructed along the bed of a former
North British Railway
The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...
line that previously had linked Glasgow and Edinburgh. On 10 May 2007, the bill allowing this line to be re-established as a commuter railway was passed by the Scottish Parliament. The
line
Line most often refers to:
* Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity
* Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system
Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to:
Arts ...
opened in December 2010. In addition to the re-opening of this 'missing link' between Glasgow and Edinburgh, the existing line between Bathgate and Edinburgh was electrified.
As a result of the re-establishment of the railway line, the Sustrans cycle path now stops before reaching Plains on the west side and restarts at the east end of Plains Main Street.
In the mid to late 20th century, Plains Countryside Park was the site of the annual Plains Summer Gala - a day of parades, children's sports events and entertainment - a tradition typical of villages in the area including
Harthill,
Whitburn and
Armadale. Although around nineteen years since the Plains Summer Gala was last held, a new committee formed and resurrected this tradition in 2012. The Gala included a lively procession around the village and games and stalls on the play parks in the middle of the village.
Further reading
# ''Wilson, Rhona: "Old Airdrie Villages" ''
References
External links
Airdrie Museum
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Villages in North Lanarkshire
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire