Viewpark
Viewpark
Viewpark is a settlement in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Situated north-east of Uddingston, Viewpark is adjacent to Tannochside, is 2 kilometres west of Bellshill, it has an estimated population of 13,916. Viewpark was built to house miners and was erected quickly. Construction work on "The Scheme" starting late 1950s and with houses down to Laburnum Road being occupied around the beginning of the 1960s; these supplement housing built adjacent and parallel to the "Top Road" - the Old Edinburgh Road where could be found the Police Station alongside the local football ground and opposite The Royal Oak Bar. Dominic's Shop alongside "The Lane" allowing quick access to the adjoining community and the local swing park on Douglas Street - named for the association with the Douglas estate the houses were built upon.. The older houses were called "The Raws". Viewpark grew at this time to support housing demand in an area, thriving at the time with industries such as Mining and Ranco and the Caterpillar Tractor Co which opened its doors in 1959 thus creating a boom in the population of the area, known today as Viewpark.
1956 and the main thoroughfare in Viewpark, Laburnum Road referred to as "The Burma Road", in reference to its length, was well underway in its construction. That same year, the local council set up what has now become Burnhead Bowling Club, along with an adjacent tennis court. A new church was built, Burnhead Parish Church, on Laburnum Road, opposite its junction with Burnhead Street. Located near the older housing within Viewpark is the Glen known locally as the "Viewpark Glen" which expands across Uddingston, Hamilton and Motherwell. Within the Glen lies famous Roman ruins such as a Roman bridge as well as tombs dating back centuries further; the demolition of the miners homes, referred to as The Miners Rows, in Tannochside, which released land for the erection of the Caterpillar Tractor Co. led to an influx of displaced families into the Viewpark area. A similar fate befell the Miners Rows at Cockhill, located due east of Laburnum Road; that land has now been utilised as a football field, with a shopping area on the north side of Old Edinburgh Road.
Kerrs Farm at Cockhill disappeared, that land, which extended between Laburnum Road and the new bypass road, the A725, was used to create Righead Industrial Estate. A shopping complex was added in the centre of the new housing complex, aptly located in Market Place, just off Burnhead Street, opposite the old rose gardens - now replaced by the Community Centre, a Sports Complex, a Medical Centre; this being opposite the Gala Day Park where the local Miners Welfare would organise their annual MayDay celebration where each child was presented with a Tunnock's Box of cakes and fancies after competing in games and races. That park is still there. Viewpark is one of the few villages in North Lanarkshire still to hold a Galaday each summer. St Columba's Primary School was on Old Edinburgh Road; the original wooden structure was demolished after fire damage in the early 1960s. The replacement school building has since been replaced by private housing. St Catherine's Junior Secondary was built at the corner of New Edinburgh Road.
It opened in the late 1960s after campaigning by local activists whose children had had to travel to Uddingston or Motherwell for secondary education. St John Paul II Primary school, which sits on the corner of Laburnum Road and Old Edinburgh Road, was created as a result of the amalgamation of St Columba's and St Gabriel's primary schools in May 2006. Tannochside Primary School and Nursery Class was opened on the 23rd August 2006 and was the amalgamation of the old Tannochside Primary and Burnhead Primary and it is situated on Douglas Street, at the end of Burnhead Street.
Thorniewood United, a Scottish Junior Football Association club playing in the West Region, is based in the area as well as Viewpark United, an amateur football league team playing in the Airdrie & Coatbridge Sunday AFL Premier Division.
Margaret, Duchess of Douglas, was daughter of James Douglas of Mains and obtained her title by marriage to Archibald Douglas, 1st Duke of Douglas. Margaret and Archibald married late in life, did not have children, the title of Duke of Douglas became extinct on Archibald's death.
The estates of Douglas became the subject of a legal battle between Archibald Steuart and the Duke of Hamilton, who inherited the remaining titles of Douglas. Margaret supported Archibald, granted the estates after appeal to the House of Lords. In her will, she left money to purchase lands to be called Douglas-Support. Sir James Hamilton, 2nd Baronet purchased Douglas Support in 1691 from Sir Archibald Hamilton, 1st Baronet and had plans drawn up for Rosehall Estate in the grounds of the area now known as Douglas Support, where he would live with his wife, Frances, he died childless on 15 March 1750 and the estate and baronetcy passed to his brother Hugh, who died unmarried in 1755. The title became extinct and Rosehall passed first to Hamilton’s half-sister and thereafter to her eldest son, Archibald Hamilton of Dalzell. In 1851, General Sir Thomas Monteath Douglas In 1851, succeeded to the estate of Douglas Support under the entail of the Duchess of Douglas, took the name Douglas in addition to his own.
Above - the bronze statue in the memorial garden, Old Edinburgh Road, Viewpark of James Connelly Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006), nicknamed "Jinky", was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Johnstone was best known for his time with Celtic, and was voted their best ever player by the club's fans in 2002. He scored 129 goals for Celtic in 515 appearances. Johnstone was the youngest of five children born to Matthew and Sarah Johnstone. He grew up in the family home on Old Edinburgh Road in Viewpark, and he was educated at St Columba's primary school in Viewpark and then at St John's secondary school in Uddingston.
