Halfway is a largely suburban area in the town of
Cambuslang
Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...
, Scotland, located within the local authority area of
South Lanarkshire
gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas
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. It borders the smaller areas of Lightburn, Cairns, Flemington,
Drumsagard and Hallside.
Halfway is the largest component of the
Cambuslang East ward of South Lanarkshire Council which has an overall population of around 16,000.
History and amenities
The district was named in the days of the Glasgow to Hamilton stagecoach when passengers would stop halfway between the destinations to change the horses, have a rest etc. There is a long history of coal mining in the area (especially around Flemington), but no colliery is still in operation. It also has the older name of ''Gilbertfield'', referring to the nearby
ruined 'castle' of that name (as it is known locally - it is, in fact, a stately home) which still stands to the south. It was owned by
Hamilton of Gilbertfield. He was a friend of
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who ha ...
and wrote a poem about
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at ...
called ''
Blind Harry
Blind Harry ( 1440 – 1492), also known as Harry, Hary or Henry the Minstrel, is renowned as the author of ''The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace'', more commonly known as '' The Wallace''. This wa ...
's
Wallace'', a rendering into contemporary English of a medieval
Scots
Scots usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
* Scots language, a language of the West Germanic language family native to Scotland
* Scots people, a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland
* Scoti, a Latin na ...
poem, which was eventually used as the basis for the screenplay that became the
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocal ...
blockbuster ''
Braveheart''.
The area sits to the south of ''Dechmont Hill'', an extinct volcanic rock above sea level. There is evidence, written by the Welsh chroniclers, that
King Arthur's 12th battle, the battle of ''Calaan'', took place there against the two sons of his rival ''Caw'', (or ''Cawn''), king of Strathclyde.

Halfway is home to two places of worship, Flemington-Hallside Parish Church (adjacent to the area's single residential
tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...
, ''Logan Tower'') and St. Cadoc's Roman Catholic Chapel south-west of the main road in the Cairns post-World War II housing estate, named after the now-demolished mansion 'The Cairns'. There is also a lawn bowling club, a fuel filling station, a local park with play area, a public library, a small medical centre and a typical selection of local shops, takeaways and public houses. All these amenities are located either on the main thoroughfare, Hamilton Road (
A724), or just off it.
There is no train station in the immediate area, although northern parts of Halfway are within walking distance of
Newton railway station. The main road is on a bus route between Glasgow and Lanarkshire (the same route taken by the historic stagecoaches mentioned above).
Education
Primary schools in the area include St. Cadoc's RC, Cairns (immediately next to St Cadoc's), Hallside and Park View. All were rebuilt in the 2010s, except Park View which only opened in 2014 to alleviate overcrowding at nearby Hallside. After Cairns Primary was re-located on the site of the old mansion a few hundred yards to the west of its original 1950s site, the old buildings were used as a decant facility by other schools in the district while theirs were rebuilt meaning for several years there were three schools on a single suburban street, one with pupils who did not live nearby – it was hoped that the traffic congestion problems frequently experienced by locals would be alleviated once this modernisation process was completed across the region in early 2020, but later that year it was noted that this was still a concern for many parents.
Older children normally go on to
Trinity High School,
Cathkin High School or
Stonelaw High School, depending on which primary school they attended.
A standalone pre-school facility, Lightburn ELC, was built on the site of the miners' welfare club on Mill Road, opening in 2021 (not to be confused with Millburn ELC, its sister facility located in
Newton).
Gilbertfield
In March 2017, an application by
Persimmon Homes
Persimmon plc is a British housebuilding company, headquartered in York, England. The company is named after a horse which won the 1896 Derby and St. Leger for the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII). It is listed on the London Stock Exc ...
to build almost 400 houses in land immediately to the north of Gilbertfield Castle was approved by
South Lanarkshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council ( gd, Comhairle Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is the unitary authority serving the South Lanarkshire council area in Scotland. The council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1 ...
's planning committee; this was somewhat controversial as the land had previously been designated
Green belt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenway (lan ...
. Various concerns were raised by local residents, community councillors (representing Halfway/''Cambuslang East'' ward), the Lowland
Reserve Forces and Cadets Association who have a rifle range adjacent to the site, and
Clare Haughey
Clare Joan Haughey (née Donnelly, born April 1967) is a Scottish politician serving as Minister for Children and Young People since 2021, having previously served as Minister for Mental Health from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Scottish Nation ...
and
James Kelly,
MSPs for the area, which were presented to the committee along with a 1300-signature petition opposing the development, without success. Revisions had already been made to the plans after the
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency objected to the builder's initial submission in 2016.
A proposal for a further development directly incorporating the castle was publicised in May 2020.
A ruined castle with a bloody history could be at the centre of a housing development
The Scotsman, 18 May 2020
Notable residents
* Charlie Hill
Charles Allan Hill (July 6, 1951 – December 30, 2013) was one of the first Native American stand-up comedians, to appear on major television shows such as the Richard Pryor Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Show with David Letter ...
, boxer
* Scott Harrison, boxer
* Bernard Ponsonby
Bernard Ponsonby is a Scottish broadcast journalist for regional news and current affairs programming for STV. He joined the station in 1990 and was appointed political editor in 2000, following the retirement of longstanding political editor Fi ...
, TV political news reporter
* Kyle Hutton
Kyle Hutton (born 5 February 1991) is a professional Scottish association footballer who plays as a midfielder for Pollok. As of November 2023, Hutton is on loan at Darvel F.C. for the reminder of the 2023/24 season.https://www.pollokfc.com/202 ...
, footballer
* Mick McGahey, miners' union leader
References
External links
*
Halfway Community Council
{{Areas of Rutherglen and Cambuslang
Cambuslang
Neighbourhoods in South Lanarkshire
Mining communities in Scotland