Visit Coatbridge Places

Welcome to Visit Coatbridge Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Coatbridge

  

Coatbridge Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Coatbridge

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Coatbridge history

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Coatbridge owes its name to a bridge that carried the old Edinburgh-Glasgow road over the Gartsherrie Burn. This first appears on Roy’s survey of 1755 as Cottbrig, one of a number of places on the wider Coats estate.

Early history: from Bronze Age to Middle Ages

Settlement of the Coatbridge area dates back 3000 years to the Mesolithic Age. A circle of Bronze Age stone coffins was found on the Drumpellier estate in 1852. A number of other Bronze Age urns and relics have been found in Coatbridge.

Middle Ages to late 18th century

The Monklands area inherited its name after the area was granted to the Cistercian monks of Newbattle Abbey by King Malcolm IV in 1162. The Monks mined coal and farmed the land until the time of the reformation when the land was taken from them and given to private landowners.

19th century

The Monkland Canal was constructed at the end of the 18th century to transport coal to Glasgow from the rich local deposits. The invention of the hot blast furnace process in 1828 meant that Coatbridge’s ironstone deposits could be exploited to the maximum by the canal link and hot blast process. By the mid 19th century there were numerous hot blast furnaces in operation in Coatbridge. Over the course of the following forty years the population of Coatbridge grew by 600%.

20th/21st centuries

Coatbridge was the most overcrowded place in Scotland in the 1930s and 1930s. As late as 1936 the town had the worst slum housing in Scotland. Massive state-sponsored programmes saw thousands of new homes built in Coatbridge. The town’s population has continued to fall and has been dubbed the ‘most dismal in Scotland’

Coatbridge culture & places

Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life is one of Scotland’s most visited museums. It contains an insight into the lives of working people in the West of Scotland. The museum is situated on the remains of one of Coatbridge’s historic blast furnaces, now a Scheduled Monument.

Literature, theatre and film

Present-day writers Anne Donovan, Brian Conaghan and Des Dillon are all from Coatbridge. Coatbridge is also home to the annual Deep Fried Film Festival.

Music

Thomas McAleese ( alias Dean Ford) was the lead singer of The Marmalade who had a UK number one single in 1969 with a cover of The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-la-Da” and co-wrote “Reflections of My Life” Coatbridge sisters Fran and Anna were a famous duo on the Scottish traditional music scene.

Coatbridge and Ireland

Coatbridge is especially noted for its historical links with Ireland. This is largely due to large scale immigration into the town from Ulster (especially from County Donegal) in the 19th century. The festival is sponsored by the Irish Government and Guinness.

Coatbridge accent

Coatbridge accent has been categorised as making less use of the Scots tongue and exhibiting a tendency to stress the “a” vowel differently from general Scots usage. This different enunciation has been attributed to the impact of successive influxes of Ulster Catholic immigrants into Coatbridge. However, the distinctiveness of the accent and pronunciation has diminished as the surrounding populations (especially Glasgow) have mingled with that of Coatbridge.

Coatbridge landmarks

Coatbridge was awarded Prospect architecture magazine’s carbuncle award for being the ‘most dismal town in Scotland’ The town was also described by Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle as ‘like Bladerunner… without the special effects’

Coatbridge geography / climate

Coatbridge is 9 miles (14.5 km) east of Glasgow, 6 miles (10 km) south of Cumbernauld and 2 miles (3 km) west of Airdrie. The North Calder Water runs east-west to the south and the now defunct Monkland Canal used to run straight through the centre of the town toward Glasgow.

Topography

Coatbridge rests 60 metres below the “Slamannan plateau” and neighbouring Airdrie sits on its edge. Low-lying flat ground was a vital factor in the siting of the town’s blast furnaces and the Monkland Canal route.

Geology

Dunbeth Hill where the present local authority municipal buildings stand is a wedge of rock which was probably squeezed upwards by the force of two (now-extinct) fault lines. Kirkwood, Kirkshaws and Shawhead sit on a sandstone capped ridge looking south over the Clyde Valley.

Climate

Coatbridge experiences a temperate maritime climate with relatively cool summers and mild winters. The prevailing wind is from the west. Regular but generally light precipitation occurs throughout the year.

You can visit Coatbridge places with Walkfo Coatbridge to hear history at Coatbridge’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Coatbridge has 26 places to visit in our interactive Coatbridge map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Coatbridge, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Coatbridge places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Coatbridge & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 26 audio facts unique to Coatbridge places in an interactive Coatbridge map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Coatbridge Places Map
26 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Coatbridge historic spots	Coatbridge tourist destinations	Coatbridge plaques	Coatbridge geographic features
Walkfo Coatbridge tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Coatbridge

  

Best Coatbridge places to visit

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Coatbridge has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Coatbridge’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Coatbridge’s information audio spots:

Coathill Hospital Coathill Hospital is a health facility in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lanarkshire.

Coatdyke railway station Coatdyke railway station is situated on Quarry Street/Riddell Street in the Cliftonville area of Coatbridge. It is the closest railway station to Coatbridge College and Monklands Hospital.

Airdrie Public Observatory Airdrie Public Observatory (55° 51’ 56” N, 3° 58’ 58” W) is a fully operational, historic, historic astronomical observatory. There are only four public observatories operating in the United Kingdom, all of which are in Scotland.

Bellshill Maternity Hospital Bellshill Maternity Hospital was a health facility in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The hospital was a maternity hospital in the 1960s.

Gartcairn F. A. Juniors Gartcairn Football Academy Juniors are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire. They play in the West of Scotland League Conference Conference B.

Coatbridge Library Coatbridge Library is a public library in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The library is located in the area of Coatbridge.

Summerlee Iron Works Summerlee Iron Works (1836–1930) was an iron works established in Coatbridge, Scotland. The site has been incorporated into the Summerlee, Museum of Scottish Industrial Life.

Glenboig Glenboig (Scottish Gaelic: An Gleann Bhog) is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland lying north of Coatbridge and to the south east of Kirkintilloch. The etymology of the name is uncertain but may mean “boggy or soft glen”

Glenmavis Glenmavis is situated about 2 miles north-west of Airdrie on the B802 road. A mid-2012 estimate recorded a population of about 2290.

Drumpellier Country Park Drumpellier Country Park is a country park situated to the west of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The park covers an area of 500 acres (2.0 km) and comprises two natural lochs (one of which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest), lowland heath, mixed woodlands and open grassland. The loch and canal attract many water birds, both resident (swans and mallard ducks) and over-wintering migrants.

Visit Coatbridge plaques