Eastfield, South Lanarkshire

Eastfield
Aerial photograph of the area from the South-west (2017)
Eastfield Show map of South Lanarkshire Eastfield Location within Scotland Show map of Glasgow council area Eastfield Eastfield (Scotland) Show map of Scotland
OS grid reference	NS630308
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLASGOW
Postcode district	G72 7 / G73 3
Dialling code	0141
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Scottish Parliament	Rutherglen
List of places UK Scotland 55°49′16″N4°11′10″W / 55.821°N 4.186°W / 55.821; -4.186 Coordinates: 55°49′16″N4°11′10″W / 55.821°N 4.186°W / 55.821; -4.186

Eastfield is a mainly residential district in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located between the industrial towns of Rutherglen and Cambuslang in the south-east of the Greater Glasgow urban area. It is situated south of the River Clyde, adjoining the Stonelaw and Burnside neighbourhoods of Rutherglen, and Silverbank ^[1] in Cambuslang.

History

In the late 19th and early 20th century Eastfield was a country estate with a burn running through it; ^{[2] [3]} a brewery (Wellshot), ^[4] a brickworks and a small mining community was also present in the area, ^[4] with cottages along Cambuslang Road (nowadays part of the A724) complemented by Eastfield Public School, constructed in 1898. ^[5]

Houses on Whinfield Avenue

The Eastfield estate was developed with housing between the 1930s and 1960s, with mix of council-rented and private homes.

Throughout the 20th century, a prominent feature in the district was Richmond Park Laundry, at one time one of the largest such operations in the country. ^{[6] [4]} The facility opened around 1907, closed in 2004, and the premises were demolished in 2007 and replaced by a supermarket.

modern flats on Dukes Road

Parcels of land in Eastfield were found to have been contaminated by chromium waste from the Whites Chemical Works, ^[7] the most conspicuous of which was a large play area made from a filled-in quarry ^[4] at the end of Dukes Road; this site stood empty and fenced-off for a number of years before the waste was eradicated, and now modern apartments and a new landscaped park (Quarryfield) occupies the site. ^{[8] [9]}

In the 21st century the area derives economic benefit from the extension of the nearby M74 motorway which brings nationwide businesses to Eastfield's doorstep. Nearby to the north is one of Scotland's last steelworks at Clydebridge, previously a major employer in the area but operating in a greatly reduced capacity than in its heyday. ^{[4] [10]}

Amenities

Langfield Inn (public house, demolished 2006)

The imposing sandstone building of the public school was converted for as a local adult education centre and infant playgroup ^{[11] [12]} but was demolished in the early 21st century and replaced by modern apartments. The same fate befell the local public house across the road, The Langfield Inn, a few years later. ^{[13] [14]} Two pubs survive in the district, both off Dukes Road: the Old Oak Inn ^[15] and the County Inn, ^[16] a 1960s replacement for the County Bar in nearby Silverbank, Cambuslang, demolished in a redevelopment of that area which replaced outdated tenements with maisonettes. ^[17]

Transport

Bogleshole Road, with railway bridge carrying the West Coast Main Line

The Richmond Park name was familiar to some bus users as the terminus for the First Glasgow No 12 service (there is another Richmond Park, an urban park at Oatlands, Glasgow a few miles to the west, ^[18] which some buses bound for Eastfield such as the frequent 267 also pass). ^[19]

The West Coast Main Line railway tracks run to the north of the district, with the nearest stations being at Cambuslang about 0.6 miles (0.97 km) to the east of the junction of Bogleshole Road, and Rutherglen around twice that distance to the west. Burnside railway station, on a different line serving the south side of Glasgow, is 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from the Richmond Park roundabout but only 0.4 miles (0.64 km) from the Dukes Road shops at southern end of Eastfield.

Education and recreation

The wider area is home to two large modern secondary schools: Stonelaw High, built 1998, and Trinity High, built 1970, rebuilt 2009 - for which the northern approach path off Cambuslang Road was the old driveway to the Eastfield mansion. Trinity High's associated sports facilities, including a grid of 5-a-side astroturf football fields (converted to two for the more popular 7-a-side variety in 2021) ^[20] and a modern swimming pool / leisure centre open to the public as South Lanarkshire Lifestyle Eastfield are located next to the school itself. ^[21] Adjacent to Stonelaw High is Calderwood Primary School which many local children attend, although geographically that is outwith the territory of Eastfield.

Pearse Park

Pearse Park, GAA field, in 2009

The ground lying neglected in 2013

Pearse Park was the playing field that was the adopted home of Gaelic games in Scotland, situated on Cambuslang Road in Eastfield. It was purchased by Scotland GAA in 1953 and is named after the Irish revolutionary Patrick Pearse. It was also home to Tír Conaill Harps. ^[22] Closed in 2005, the park lay unused and overgrown for several years and developed a Japanese knotweed infestation problem; however by 2021 plans for its redevelopment were advancing. ^{[23] [24] [25]}

Administration

Part of the territory which is generally considered to be part of Eastfield (east of Dukes Road, including the community centre) is within the civil parish of Cambuslang ^[26] and its G72 postcode zone, while the remainder is within Rutherglen's G73 parish and postzone. The entire district is currently administered as part of the Cambuslang West ward of the South Lanarkshire Council area, which is also the extent of the local community policing zone; however this definition also encompasses several other streets which have always been considered to be in Rutherglen, such as Ettrick Crescent. ^{[27] [28]}

References

1. Silverbank, Gazetteer for Scotland
2. "Eastfield House". The Glasgow Story.
3. Eastfield House, Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry (1878)
4. Cambuslang Industrial History, 2013, via DocPlayer
5. Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Rutherglen, Vision Of Britain (F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)
6. "Richmond Park Laundry". Canmore .
7. Whites Chemical Company, Rutherglen Heritage Society
8. "Workers attempt drilling work in chromium hot-spot". Daily Record. 18 December 2014.
9. "King's Gait, Dukes Road". CRGP Architects. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
10. "Inside Cambuslang's Clydebridge steelworks". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
11. Folks who live on The Hill, The Herald, 4 May 1994
12. Celebrating a decade at Cambuslang club, Daily Record, 7 July 2010
13. The Langfield, Old Glasgow Pubs
14. Workman dies after being trapped by falling bricks, The Scotsman, 28 October 2006
15. Proposed changes to popular Rutherglen pub will "rip the heart out of the community", Daily Record, 12 September 2018
16. The County Inn, Old Glasgow Pubs
17. Cambuslang Redevelopment, late 1950s, Views of Old Cambuslang
18. "Richmond Park". Clyde Waterfront. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
19. 267 | Hamilton – Glasgow, First Glasgow, 20 August 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2021
20. Two all-weather pitches created to meet demand, South Lanarkshire Council, 30 November 2021
21. "SLC – Eastfield Lifestyle". South Lanarkshire Leisure & Culture. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
22. Pearse Park in the 21st Century, The G.A.A. In Scotland
23. The second coming of Pearse Park, Damian Dolan, The Irish World, 22 April 2021
24. Pearse Park plans are picking up pace, Gerard Gough, The Irish Voice, 25 May 2021
25. Pearse Park is a brand new facility for Gaelic Games, Shinty and AFL in Scotland, Pearse Park Centre for Sport & Culture
26. Map of the Parish of Cambuslang in the Historical County of Lanark, Gazetteer for Scotland
27. "Ward map 13 - Cambuslang West" (PDF). South Lanarkshire Council. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
28. "Cambuslang West". Police Service of Scotland. Retrieved 7 February 2018.

External links

Media related to Eastfield, South Lanarkshire at Wikimedia Commons

• Eastfield at Gazetteer for Scotland