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Population 22,089. Figures
taken from 2001 Census.
Cambuslang sits on a long bend on the south
bank of the River Clyde, a few miles south east of the city of Glasgow.
One of the highlights in the town every June is its Summerfest,
providing a range of street entertainment, an arts programme, children's
theatre and much more.
The town has undergone a major redevelopment
boost and has regained some of its confidence as a business centre,
since the demise of the steel and heavy engineering industry during the
last half of the 20th century. The shopping precinct on the north side
of the Main Street has been remodelled while the south side of the Main
Street was realigned to make it more user-friendly for drivers, parking
and shopping, with the addition of more shops. The first phase of this
work included 42,000 square feet of public sector offices, a range of
retail units, flats and car parking spaces while the second phase saw a
residential development with flats and car parking spaces. Both were
completed in 2006.
In 2008 work started on a new £2.1 million neighbourhood centre to serve
as the focal point for community regeneration in the Circuit area of
Cambuslang. The project was led by the Aspire Community Development
Company in partnership with the Council, Changing Places Rutherglen and
Cambuslang, Communities Scotland, Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire and
local community groups.
Work-wise, Cambuslang is undergoing a major
boost with new industries setting down roots in many of the business
parks surrounding the town, especially the large Cambuslang Investment
Park occupying the former Clydesmill Power Station site. Major players
in the area are South Lanarkshire College and Thistle Healthcare.
Housing in Cambuslang has something for all
tastes and wallets, ranging from multi-storey flats and small bungalows
to old sandstone detached homes and a large selection of new-build
developments on the periphery.
Cambuslang has a selection of primary
schools and Cathkin High School was rebuilt and opened its doors in 2009
as part of the multi-million pound schools modernisation programme.
The local newspaper is the Rutherglen
Reformer.
Shopping
Shopping in Cambuslang has taken on a
completely new meaning since the recent revamp of the Main Street. The
redevelopment has modernised Cambuslang Precinct which was originally
built in the 1960s. It is now a lively centre with a food store, an
employment centre, restaurant, public library, registrar's office and
doctors' and dentists' surgeries.
Cambuslang also has a mix of traditional
high street shopping on the southside of the main street, as well as
cosy coffee shops and local pubs to stop for refreshments during a
shopping trip.
How to
get there
Cambuslang is easily accessible from the
M74. From Glasgow and Hamilton take the A724. From East Kilbride take
the A725, A749 then the B759. Cambuslang has regular trains to Glasgow,
Hamilton and Motherwell and good bus services to surrounding towns and
Glasgow.
History
Cambuslang's name may derive from its
location on the banks of a large bend on the River Clyde. Cambus
literally means bend of the water in Scots and lang means long. It may
also mean long bay - the bend in the Clyde was once the highest tidal
bay on the river before a weir was built at Glasgow more than 100 years
ago.
The Latin derivation of lang suggests a
curved bank of a fast moving stream and the Old Parish Church was built
on such a bank of the Kirk Burn that flows into the Clyde a mile or so
down river. The rectangular parish church, with its square central
tower, also stands on a hill - the Anglo-Saxon Camb means a crest or
ridge. Designed by Edinburgh architect David Cousin, the 'B' listed
building, which has an impressive vaulted interior and curved gallery
supported on cast-iron columns, was built in the Kirkhill area between
1839 and 1841 on the site of previous churches dating back as far as the
1680s. Construction of the chancel was started in 1919 to a design by
Peter MacGregor Chalmers and was completed in 1922.
Going back further in time, it has been
suggested that Cambuslang is near where King Arthur won the the sixth of
his 12 famous battles around 508AD, as described in the ninth century
Historia Brittonum, written by Welsh scholar Nennius. Cambuslang is also
supposedly where King Arthur killed the outlawed sons of Caw, a local
enemy of Arthur who was buried in the area.
Of the few historical sites in the area, the
most notable is probably Gilbertfield Castle, which was built by the
Hamilton family in the early 17th century near Dechmont hill to the
south of Cambuslang in the ancient barony of Drumsagard. By the 18th
century it was owned by the retired soldier William Hamilton of
Gilbertfield who translated the famous poem Sir William Wallace by Blind
Harry from old Scots into English. The Braveheart movie starring Mel
Gibson was based on the epic poem which was written in 1477, 172 years
after Wallace was executed at Smithfield, London.
Another historic but less well known event
was the evangelical phenomenon, the Cambuslang Wark in 1742. This was a
massive religious event started by the local parish minister, Mr
McCulloch, whose parishioners believed that a special outpouring of the
Divine Spirit had taken place. Over a six month period, more than 30,000
people, many of them not even religious, flocked to the area to hear
several thousand speakers.
Around this time the population was
primarily weavers, colliers, masons and agricultural labourers but with
the coming of the industrial revolution it became a major centre of
heavy industry with coal mining, textiles and iron manufacturing. Along
with most of the rest of the country, heavy industry died off in the
second half of the 20th century but in the 1980s the town saw the start
of a redevelopment of its derelict industrial areas, with the
establishment of an Investment Park, South Lanarkshire College and
Scotland's first indoor kart-racing track.
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