Earnock Estate

Earnock Estate is a private, residential area in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which is located just east of High Earnock and south of Hillhouse. The area was developed in the 1960s and is home to some of the oldest buildings in the area.

Map of Earnock Estate. Streets (and parts of streets) that are highlighted in red are part of the Earnock Estate area.

Amenities

Almost all amenities with Earnock Estate are located on Wellhall Road – the main road running through the estate that links all parts of the neighbourhood.

Shops

There are three shops within the Earnock area: Fillipetti's, an Aldi supermarket and an Esso petrol station.

Fillipetti's is a small convenience shop situated at 115 Wellhall Road and offers a large, compared to other convenience shops, selection of goods; confectionery, newspapers, and other such standard items are on offer. As well as these the shop also has a large behind-counter alcohol section, and a small homewares and gifts section that stocks items such as vases, cards and seasonal gifts. The shop is well known to have an issue with underage drinkers attempting to gain alcohol from the store.

The Aldi store, also on Wellhall Road, opened in Winter 2006 and was built on the site of a former Safeway store. The Safeway store was closed and relocated to the centre of Hamilton when the Safeway chain was bought over by Morrisons. Aldi stocks the normal produce associated with a supermarket as well as offering a number of non-food items each week. These are described as "specials" and are changed twice a week – items can range from such things as tool kits to walking boots to consumer electronics.

An Esso petrol station is located on Wellhall Road. There is a small convenience store and cash machine – a fee of £1.75 is made for every withdrawal from this ATM.

Public houses

Earnock's only public house, The Avon, was located on Wellhall Road. It was demolished in 2016 to make way for a new residential development.

Community centres

The Hillhouse & Earnock Community Centre is situated on Hillhouse Road and is used by residents of both Hillhouse and Earnock. It was reopened in 2003 having undergone refurbishment after an arson attack in 2001. Facilities within the centre include a main hall which can be divided into two smaller halls (Jubilee Hall and the Hillhouse Room); a youth area, a crèche, a large library and an 'Active IT' area which provides computers, printing facilities and internet access for free; a café is also operated in the centre by local volunteers. The main hall is 240msq and has a stage and demountable folding seats; it can accommodate up to 210 people seated in 'concert style' and 170 at a catered function. The youth area is available for hire and can accommodate 50 people in 'concert style' seating and up to 30 seated with tables. The Routes to Work project is based in the Earnock Room and the Wellhall and Udston rooms are used for a range of activities organised by the Up4It project. The centre is ideal for hire for large-scale events as it has a modern kitchen, toilets and bar facilities. A large car park is also located to the front of the building.

Parks and walking paths

Situated at the centre of the estate, off Iona Ridge, there is Iona Ridge Park. At the moment this is just a large grassy park, however it previously had swings, a roundabout and climbing frames. The park has ample room for games of football or golf practice and access can be gained to the local "nature trail" or, as it is known to local children, "The Natchy" (nate-chay). The nature trail is a disused railway now transformed into a path. The path runs to Strathaven Road and many residents can also gain access to it through their back gates. The trail is popular with cyclists, recreational walkers and dog-walkers.

Churches

There are currently no churches in Earnock, however, in neighbouring Hillhouse there are two. These are the Church of Scotland Hillhouse Parish Church and the Catholic St Ninian's Church. David Burt, minister of the Parish Church, serves as school chaplain to local, non-denominational, schools.

GP surgeries

Earnock is home to one GP's surgery, the Wellhall Medical Centre. The surgery opened in the mid 1990s and is located at 4 Hillhouse Road. It can be contacted, by phone, on 01698 285 818.

Pharmacies

A Boots Chemist - formerly part of the Moss chain, and before that known as The Wellhall Pharmacy - is located on the corner of Hillhouse Road and Wellhall Road. The pharmacy provides medicine to many residents of Earnock and surrounding communities and stocks a number of other health related products and confectionery.

Education

Primary school education

The primary aged children of Earnock Estate, High Earnock and Hillhouse are served by the non-denominational Townhill Primary School, situated on Melfort Road. The school was opened in 1965 although the original building has been replaced by the new school which opened on 17 February 2010.[1] The school has pupil roll of approximately 350. St Ninian's Primary School is also available to Catholic school children within the area.

Secondary school education

High School provision for children in Earnock Estate is met by the non-denominational Calderside Academy, Blantyre.

Calderside Academy opened on Monday 13 August 2007. It brought together the old Earnock and Blantyre High Schools and was until Monday 7 January 2007 split over two campuses – one on the former Blantyre site and one on the former Earnock site. During this time children of first to third year attended the Blantyre campus and fourth to sixth year the Earnock Campus. On Monday 7 January 2008 a new building, bringing both campuses together, was opened on the site of the former Blantyre High, thus, completing the merger. This new building has been criticised by locals for being "overcrowded" and a "rip-off". Children who live in the Earnock area are currently bussed to Calderside Academy, free of charge; these transport arrangements have also been criticised as "unsafe" and "laughable".

Catholic secondary school-aged children in the area often attend John Ogilvie or Holy Cross High Schools, both in Hamilton.

Transport

Public transport from Earnock Estate is accessed from Wellhall Road; there are currently three bus routes that serve the Earnock Estate:

  • First Glasgow 226: Hillhouse - Hamilton Town Centre - Fairhill via Hillhouse, Burnbank, Peacock Cross (Hamilton West railway station), Hamilton Town Centre (Hamilton bus station and Hamilton Central railway station), Hamilton Palace Grounds, Low Waters Road, Fairhill and Little Earnock (limited service). (Monday - Sunday)[2]
  • First Glasgow X1/X1A: Hillhouse, Farm Road - Glasgow City Centre via Fairhill, Woodhead, Low Waters Road, Hamilton Town Centre and the M74/M73/M8 motorways direct to Glasgow City Centre. (Monday - Saturday)[3]
  • JJ Travel 228: High Earnock - Laighstonehall - Hamilton Town Centre via Earnock, Fairhill, Laighstonehall to Hamilton bus station (Sunday only).[4]

Services that stop near Hamilton West & Hamilton Central stations allow bus for passengers to change onto one of the four trains per hour to Glasgow or four trains per hour alternating in destination between Larkhall and Motherwell (with one of the Motherwell services continuing to Cumbernauld).[5]

Street names

Many of the street names originate from the rulers of the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde in the 6th century, e.g. Rederech Crescent (King Rederech), Langoreth Avenue (Queen Langoreth) and Royellen Avenue (Princess Royellen). It is said that the family's summer hunting lodge was in the Earnock area.

Many of the streets are also named after famous geographical features of Scotland: Lomond View is named after Ben Lomond, Fruin Rise after Glen Fruin near Loch Lomond and Iona Ridge after the island of Iona in Western Scotland.

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See also

References
  1. Townhill Primary School - School Handbook Session 2015-2016 (PDF). Townhill Primary School. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. "First Greater Glasgow Timetable - 226", First Bus - Greater Glasgow. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  3. "First Greater Glasgow Timetable - X1/X1A", First Bus - Greater Glasgow. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  4. "Bus Timetable 227/228", Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, 11 January 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  5. "TRAIN TIMES 11 December 2016 to 20 May 2017 - Lanarkshire", Abellio ScotRail Ltd, 11 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

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