Search

Motherwell

Motherwell is one of the largest towns in Lanarkshire, situated on the east side of the Clyde Valley. Strathclyde Country Park is centred around Strathclyde Loch.

For an excellent exploration of Motherwell's rich history, the North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre offers an interesting, educational, and fun day out. Climb the tower and get spectacular views of the surrounding countryside, and a bird's eye view of Lanarkshire and beyond.

There were settlers in the area from a very early date and Motherwell's name comes from an ancient religious well, the Mother's Well, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Today its site is marked by a plaque on Ladywell Road.

By the early half of the 19th century, the area comprised small farming communities and the Jerviston House estate as well as a small hamlet called Motherwell.

When the railway arrived a wide range of heavy engineering companies were established, specialising in the production of munitions, bridge components and trams.

In 1959 work began on a vast new steelwork which was to become Ravenscraig, occupying much of the land to the northeast of Motherwell. By the sixties, the iron industry in Motherwell was blooming and by the seventies, the various plants on the east side of Motherwell reached 13,000 people.

Today only the Dalzell Plate Mill remains of Motherwell's once thriving iron and steel industry, employing several hundred people rolling steel brought by train from Middlesborough into plate steel of various shapes and sizes.

The huge area once occupied by the Ravenscraig Steelworks has undergone massive regeneration and is now the location of new residential communities and the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility.

Images from Motherwell