Coatbridge is a town forged in fire and iron, a town that grew under the sunshine of Glasgow’s booming ship-building industry. It is a town that has grown from Stone Age beginnings to a modern suburb that’s coped with the changing face of the Scottish economy. Nine miles from Glasgow, Coatbridge’s fortunes have been inextricably linked with Glasgow’s. But this is a relatively new phenomenon. Its stone age and iron age history was quite different; North Lanarkshire in those periods was one large, bucolic sprawl. A crannog recovered from the iron age suggests a community who were under threat from wolves and neighbouring tribes: Coatbridge’s recent travails as the country’s manufacturing and primary industries have all but perished, supplanted by the growth of the service sector, are a familiar tale. The first wave of modernisation came in the 1830s, when the Industrial Revolution made the town swell, the hard calloused toil of industry transforming a country hamlet into a town charred by the blast furnaces – likened in folklore to be some sort of Dante-esque vision of Hell. Its nickname of Iron Burgh was hard-earned. Iron and steel buttressed the local economy. Glasgow’s ailing shipbuilding industry devastated it in the sec-ond half of the 20th Century. Coatbridge has recovered as well as any Glasgow town – it’s a town with a lot going on, and is well served by the M8 and M74 motorways. The Time Capsule is a prehistoric themed water park, complete with ice skating; and the Showcase Leisure park draws visitors from all over Glasgow to its cinemas, ten-pin bowling and restaurants. These have played a huge part in rejuvenating the area. Not everything is resurgent in Coatbridge, local football team Albion Rovers have failed to make an impres-sion in the Champions League, and instead attract the mad and the devoted to their Cliftonville Stadium to shout their team on to underachievement in Scotland’s Third Division. Still, their perseverance is admirable. Coatbridge also hosts the Deep Fried Film Festival.
Attraction
Summerlee Industrial Museum
Time Capsule
Dentist
Church Street Dental Practice
H & P O’Donnell
Doctor
Church Street Practice
Curle Regan & Chalmers
Estate Agent
McGoogan Property Lawyers
RE/MAX Central
Farmers Market
Golf Club
Pub and Bar
Big Tree Bar
Black Bear Bar
Clock Bar
Forge Inn
New Dragon
Saloon Bar
Shunters Bar
Wishing Well
Sports Clubs
Albion Rovers Football Club (Football)
Shops
Places to Stay near Coatbridge
Centre Lodge Hotel (0.09 miles)
Grange Hotel (1.25 miles)
A small, friendly hotel centrally located 20mins from Glasgow and 40mins from Edinburgh.
... MoreDakota Eurocentral (2.48 miles)
Premier Inn Glasgow Bellshill (2.95 miles)
Shawlee Cottage (3.28 miles)
Premier Inn Glasgow East (3.67 miles)
Premier Inn Glasgow Motherwell (4.15 miles)
Innkeepers Lodge (4.26 miles)
Innkeeper's Lodge Glasgow strathclyde is located 300 yards away from strathclyde country park and approximately 20 minutes from glasgow city centre. scotlands biggest theme park m&d's is only 1 mile ... More
Halo Crowwood Hotel (4.26 miles)
The Halo Crowwood Hotel is a modern city hotel, situated on the outskirts of Glasgow offering a relaxed out of town atmosphere whilst being only 10 miles from Glasgow city ... More
Alona Hotel (4.27 miles)
Set within the grounds of the idyllic Strathclyde Country Park and on the banks of the loch, the Alona Hotel has a laid-back atmosphere. The Glasshouse Restaurant, with its bright, ... More
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