Uddingston

Geography and boundaries

Uddingston is a suburb of Glasgow, 7 miles (11 km) to the south-east of the city centre and approximately 2 miles (3 km) east of the Glasgow City Council boundary (ending at the former Glasgow Zoo). It is bounded to the south-west by the River Clyde as it flows north-west through Glasgow and separates Uddingston, along with some woodland, from Blantyre and Cambuslang. As such, the Clyde Walkway and National Cycle Route 75 both traverse the town. The nearest settlement to Uddingston is the village of Bothwell, 2 miles (3 km) to the south-east.

The village of Uddingston, which is contained exclusively within the boundaries of South Lanarkshire Council, houses around 5,000 residents. However, the nearby North Lanarkshire Council villages of Tannochside, Calderbraes, Viewpark, Birkenshaw and Spindlehowe form a continuous conurbation with Uddingston and are considered districts of Uddingston. As a result, the population of this larger manifestation of Uddingston is approximately 25,000 residents. "Greater Uddingston" shares a boundary with the nearby town of Bellshill (the town centres are 3 miles [5 km] apart), is 4 miles (6 km) south of Coatbridge and via Bothwell 4 ¹⁄₂ miles (7 km) north-west of Hamilton.

Facilities

Uddingston is home to Tunnock's factory, famed for its caramel wafers and tea cakes. The factory contributes much to the village's economy, as does the industrial estate located on the Bellshill Road. In earlier times, mining was a major industry, with the village of Flemington an example of a settlement that failed to survive following the closure of its pit in the 1930s.

Uddingston has a police station, three supermarkets, traditional main street shops, restaurants, pubs and a rail station. It also has several sports clubs including two municipal gyms, a hockey Club, cricket club (which has hosted List A cricket), Rugby Club, a bowling and tennis club, Calderbraes Golf Club and a junior football club, Thorniewood United.

Uddingston railway station runs two regular hourly services on the Argyle Line and a third hourly service on the Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Line. On the Train running north to Dalmuir or Milngavie via Glasgow, the next stop is Cambuslang. Glasgow Central is six stops and approximately 16 minutes' journey time from Uddingston on the Argyle line, and one or two stops (dependent on the train) from Glasgow Central on the Edinburgh Train, a journey time of roughly twelve minutes.

Uddingston is served by three buses, two operated by First and one by Coakley. The First 255 and 240 buses run from Motherwell to Buchanan Street Bus Station in Glasgow. The 255 runs through Hamilton and Bothwell then through the east end of Glasgow via Parkhead to the city centre. The 240 runs via Bellshill and adjoins with the 255's route after Uddingston. The Coakley 107 service runs circularly through Uddingston, Hamilton, Wishaw, Motherwell and Bellshill.

Uddingston was also home to Glasgow Zoo from when it opened in 1947 till it closed in 2003. It was once a major attraction before its closure due to lack of finances. The site now contains several private housing developments, effectively creating a new suburb known as Broomhouse. Despite sharing Uddingston's G71 postcode, Broomhouse lies within the boundaries of neighbouring Glasgow City Council, and is geographically closer to the east end suburb of Baillieston than Uddingston.

Education

There are two local primary schools, the Roman Catholic St John the Baptist Primary School on North British Road and the non-denominational Muiredge Primary School on Watson Street. Uddingston Grammar School, the non-denominational secondary school, is located on the Meadowbank Floodplain off Old Glasgow Road. The closest Roman Catholic secondary schools are Holy Cross High School in Hamilton and Cardinal Newman High School in Bellshill.

Notable residents

Uddingston has been home to several successful footballers: Jimmy Johnstone and George McCluskey both of Celtic; Tommy McQueen who played for Aberdeen, West Ham, Clyde and Falkirk; Iain Munro, a football player, coach and manager; Lindsay Hamilton, who was goalkeeper with Stenhousemuir, Rangers, St Johnstone and Dunfermline, and John Robertson who most notably played at Nottingham Forest.

David Kettle, who won numerous Scottish age group swimming titles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, also came from Uddingston.

Barry Burns, the pianist/guitarist of the Scottish instrumental group Mogwai comes from Uddingston.

Chic McSherry, the entrepreneur, musician and author comes from Viewpark, Uddingston.

Uddingston was the birthplace of James W. Black, (14 June 1924 – 22 March 2010) the Scottish doctor and pharmacologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for work leading to the discovery of Propranolol and Cimetidine.

Also hailing from Uddingston is the footballer Gary MacKenzie, who attended Uddingston Grammar from 1996 to 2001.

Nearby villages

Nearby towns and cities