Bothwell
Bothwell is a conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, 9 miles (14 km) east-south-east of Glasgow city centre.
Bothwell is an affluent commuter town that has attracted a number of local celebrities including a number of Celtic and Rangers footballers. Thanks to a steady rise in property prices, Bothwell has earned its reputation as one of Glasgow's most prosperous satellites. A recent survey published in The Scotsman revealed that Bothwell's Imperial Way, site of the former home of ex-Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, is the fifth most expensive street in Scotland, closely followed by neighbouring streets Silverwells Crescent and Fife Crescent.
Bothwell has a sense of community and a reputation of prosperity. The main Street of Bothwell is well known for its high quality, privately owned boutiques and fine dining and the houses surrounding the main Street are of older sandstone Victorian style whereas the newer part of the Bothwell consist of new estates built in close proximately to Bothwell Castle and are intertwined with Bothwell Castle Golf club. The new houses built have significantly increased the population. The Population of Bothwell is estimated, as of 2008, at 3,000. The majority of Bothwells' residents own their own property, and annual incomes are well above average. The average house costs £556,250.
Bothwell is well known for its many walkways, nature trails, woodlands and greenery. Bothwell has many popular restaurants including rosso, riva, dalucianos, the grapevine and The cricklewood.
The parish church (which was restored at the end of the 19th century) contains the choir of the old Gothic church of 1398. A memorial honours the poet Joanna Baillie (1762–1851) who was born in the manse.
Bothwell Castle
The picturesque ruin of Bothwell Castle occupies a position on a bluff above a bend in the River Clyde on the edge of Bothwell, which here takes the bold sweep famed in Scottish song as the Bothwell bank. This fortress belonged to Sir Andrew de Moray, who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. It passed by marriage to the House of Douglas. The lordship was bestowed in 1487 on Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Lord Hailes, 1st Earl of Bothwell. When he resigned in 1491 the title passed to "Bell-the-Cat", Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus. The title ultimately passed to the Earls of Home.
The castle is a fine example of Gothic architecture. It consists of a great quadrangle with circular towers on the south. At the east end stand the remains of the chapel. An unpretentious mansion was built nearby by Archibald Douglas, 1st Earl of Forfar (1653–1712), and was known as New Bothwell Castle, but suffered mining subsidence and was demolished in 1926. The castle can be accessed through scenic Clyde walkways.
Facilities
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Bothwell has two primary schools, the newly rebuilt Bothwell Primary School and St Bride's Roman Catholic Primary School, Bothwell Castle Golf Club golf and Bothwell bowling clubs. There are several small shops and businesses in the town's Main Street, along with a handful of pubs and restaurants that boost a great fine dining experience.
Sports
Speedway racing was staged in the Bothwell Castle estate area in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The track was constructed on old railway land by club members who used it as a training track. Occasional team matches saw the Bothwell Bulls take on other training venues such as Newtongrange and High Beech.
Tommy Miller, who had a meteoric rise to fame with Glasgow Tigers in 1950, and Ken McKinlay, arguably the best ever Scottish speedway rider, both started out at Bothwell. The venture, safety fence and all, moved to Chapelhall.
Golf Club
Bothwell Castle Golf Club was officially opened on the 16th of June 1923 by the Earl of Home (father of Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas Home). The course covered a 110-acre site situated between the 13th century castle and the then small village of Bothwell.
In 1960 the club were unable to accept an offer to buy the course, which was purchased by a developer. By 1962, building proposals were in place resulting in the club losing 7 holes for housing, and having to develop new ground to replace these holes. This new section of the course opened in 1973.[2]
The club finally purchased the course in 1976 for £70,000, thereby securing its long-term future.
In 2002, disaster struck when a fire resulted in the complete destruction of the clubhouse. The club decided to build the replacement clubhouse in a new location closer to the centre of the course. Officially opened in October 2004 by Richard Cole-Hamilton CBE, the Captain of the R&A Golf Club of St Andrews.
In 1997, Lady Member Sheila Beckett produced a book on the history of the Club to commemorate its 75th anniversary. [3]
A flat, 18-hole parkland course with a long-standing reputation for excellent greens. Bothwell is a popular course with many members and visitors alike, and is challenging for players at all levels. The building of the new clubhouse has allowed the club to revise the course layout, with several new tee positions and some new greens, making it one of the premier golf facilities in central Scotland.[4]
Brighter Bothwell
Brighter Bothwell is a local environmental group, formed in 2000 for the benefit of the whole community of Bothwell. Their objective is to enhance the environment directly through the endeavours of volunteers. Their approach to cleaning is "If we see things which need done to improve the appearance of our village – litter picking, dog fouling problems, graffiti removal, sustainable planting, floral displays - we organise work parties and tackle them. Our motto is ‘Let's just do it!’."
Since the formation of the group, the town is cleaner, brighter and ‘greener’. Many public areas have been improved and some major projects have been undertaken including the Nature Trail, The Jubilee Garden and The Marion Gilchrist Garden. In the Beautiful Scotland campaign, the group has raised the village to Silver Gilt award standard and, in 2012, Bothwell won the prize as winner of the Small Town category.
Brighter Bothwell has also encouraged the formation of two additional community groups, The Organic Growers of Bothwell and The Bothwell Scarecrow Festival. Working along with Brighter Bothwell, these groups are having a positive impact on the community.[5]
Scarecrow Festival
In the autumn of 2010 Brighter Bothwell took the initiative to support a new idea designed to extend and develop the feeling of community in Bothwell.
The new initiative was to organise a scarecrow festival, inspired by a number of wonderful festivals already held in villages across the UK.
A new group was formed to set up a Community Scarecrow Festival with an agreed purpose: to promote community spirit among residents, community groups and businesses; to improve well being; and to support the local economy.
This organisation has developed into The Bothwell Community Scarecrow Festival. The first festival took place in September 2011, and subsequently every year after.
During the 2013 festival, a new event was held called 'The Scarecrow Festival of Transport' and was held at Bothwell Primary School. It was intended to be a celebration of transport throughout the ages and covered vehicles from old to new, big to small and humble to outrageous. Various people from the village donated their automobiles for the event, such as Boyd Tunnock of the local company Tunnock's and Bentley Glasgow (pictured).
The festival has become very popular and the main street is filled with imaginative scarecrows from August onward. Many local businesses make their own scarecrows as do the local children who's gardens are also filed with scarecrows at the time of year. Yorkhill Children's foundation is the beneficiary of the event.[6]
Notable residents
This list includes notable persons who were born or have lived in Bothwell.
- Marion Gilchrist (The first female graduate of the University of Glasgow and the first woman to qualify in medicine from a Scottish university)
- Christopher Brookmyre (Scottish crime novelist)
- Joseph James Coleman chemist, inventor of the Bell-Coleman effect in freezing and air-conditioning
- Henrik Larsson (footballer)
- Gordon Strachan (Scotland football manager)
- Archie MacPherson (Legend of football broadcasting & journalism)
- Theresa Breslin (Scottish novelist)
- The Rt Rev John Chalmers (Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 2014-15, born in Bothwell)
- David Greer Born in Baillie Drive, Bothwell, David played the lead in the West End production of Aspects of Love (Andrew Lloyd-Webber) in 1989, and several other lead parts in London theatre including Enjolras in Les Misérables. David currently runs Stageworx in Stirling, one of the most successful stage schools in Scotland.
See also
References
- ^ The Online Scots Dictionary
- ^ Scottish Golf Courses - Bothwell Castle http://www.scottishgolfcourses.com/central/bothwellcastle.html
- ^ Bothwell Castle Golf Club History http://www.bcgolf.co.uk/about_our_club/history/
- ^ Scotlands Golf Courses - Bothwell Castle Golf Club Info "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2013-11-06.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Brighter Bothwell - About http://www.brighterbothwell.com/about.html
- ^ Hamilton Advertiser - Article on Bothwell Scarecrow Festival http://www.hamiltonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-news/hamilton-news/2011/03/17/scarecrows-walk-in-bothwell-51525-28348991/
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bothwell". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links
Bothwell Village Website
Bothwell Scarecrow festival
Bothwell Parish Church
Bothwell Golf Club
Brighter Bothwell
