Coalburn, South Lanarkshire

Coalburn is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK.

History

Coalburn is a small isolated village that lies on the Coal Burn, a tributary of the Douglas Water, 3 miles (5 km) south of Lesmahagow. Coalburn developed from the 1850s as a railway settlement associated with local coal mines. With the closure of the railway to passengers in 1965 and the last colliery and mineral traffic on the railway in 1968, the village population declined from a peak of nearly 2,300 to 1,267.^[1]

One Stop Shop

The people of Coalburn have funded and renovated The Coalburn Miners Welfare by developing a Shop. The Coalburn One Stop Shop was opened just before Christmas 2003 with the help of funding from Rural Challenge, Leader.

Local pool

Coalburn Leisure Complex is a multi-purpose wet and dry sports and leisure centre, with health and fitness facilities which was opened in 1997, by a gladiator 'Siren'. Facilities available include:

• 20 metre swimming pool
• Fitness classes, body attack, body blast, aquafit.
• The Club gym
• Community hall
• The Barry Strang Memorial Creche
• Health suite

Fame

In 1990 Coalburn was used as a location in the film The Big Man starring Liam Neeson, Joanne Whalley and Billy Connolly. Coalburn featured in Taggart on the 15th of December 2008 in the episode called Crossing the Line.

Former Scottish football international Archibald Glen was born in the village.

The opencast mine that opened in the village in the late 1980s became the biggest mine in Europe by the early 1990s.^[2]

Coalburn's Miners Welfare was featured in BBC3 show "The World's Toughest Driving Tests" whilst the stars of the shows were at a nearby Opencast driving some heavy machinery.

References

1. Current Population (2010)
2. The Jim Hamilton Heritage Society of Coalburn coalburnheritage.org.uk

External links

• The Jim Hamilton Heritage Society of Coalburn

Coordinates: 55°35′N 3°54′W / 55.583°N 3.900°W