Thornliebank

Thornliebank is a small suburb in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, convert|6|mi|km|0|lk=on south of Glasgow. It is served by Thornliebank railway station and lies to the east of the M77 motorway.

History

It is not known when Thornliebank was first settled although it has been ascertained that it did not exist prior to the 18th century. The village first makes its appearance on Thomas Richardson's map of 1795 and was, at the time, referred to as 'Thorny Bank', a title believed to have been inspired by the substantial number of thorn trees that were prevalent in the area.

Robert Osburn

Industrial developments began in Thornliebank when a linen printer by the name of Robert Osburn leased a portion of land from Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton in 1778. He was attracted to the area because of the pure water supply from the Auldhouse Burn. The land was leased from the Barony of Eastwood. Osburn employed fifty people in his newly founded printfield. Thornliebank grew as an industrial village and Osburn bought more land from Sir John Maxwell, of Pollok, in order to expand his business operations. The linen industry, however, turned sour for Osburn as he found himself in financial difficulties by 1788. David Dale, of New Lanark fame, who represented the Bank of Scotland granted him a loan but, in 1789, the industrialist was bankrupt.

Transport

Getting to and from Thornliebank has never been easier, thanks to the new Silverburn Centre. Thornliebank Station is the main transport hub, trains run from here to East Kilbride or Glasgow Central.

Trains are to Glasgow Central are typically at 20 past and 10 to the hour, whilst East Kilbride trains tend to be just after the hour and half hour.

First Bus 29 runs to the station car park, whilst First Buses 45, 47, 56/57 from Glasgow City split their separate ways and head South here:

45 running to Regents Park, Kennishead Flats, Silverburn and Pollok.

47 running along Thornliebank Main Street to Rouken Glen, Deaconsbank, Southpark Village, Silverburn and Braehead.

56/57 (57 CLOCKWISE, 56 ANTICLOCKWISE Thornliebank Circle) runs to the Arden and Darnley Housing Schemes, then onto Silverburn, Ibrox, Glasgow City Centre.

Other buses to Thornliebank:

The Colchri 374 links Silverburn, to Thornliebank and Shawlands in much the same way.

First 38, 38A, 38B & 38C all purely serve the Woodfarm area.

chools

Woodfarm High School is a secondary school situated in Thornliebank and has around 800 students. Many East Renfrewshire schools are popular, some parents believeing they are among the top performing schools in Scotland, however recent inspection reports of Glasgow schools such as St Andrew's Carntyne, Castlemilk High and St Timothy's now suggest that this is no longer the case. Also, Thornliebank primary, Robslee primary and Our Lady of the Missions are primary schools that are all also top performing. Our Lady of the Missions Primary was given the title of the "Best School in Scotland" after it became the first school in Scotland to receive 9 excellent ratings by Her Majesty's School Inspectors. The local Catholic schools are St. Ninians High School and Our Lady of the Missions.

hopping

Main Street:
Farmfoods, Imrie, Rowallan Bar, Cafe India, William Hill Bookmakers, G101 Off Sales, Greggs, SPAR, Captain Nemo's (closed down now for sale), McDonald's, Peking House, Arden Bar, Masala Cottage, Subway, Boots Pharmacy, Lloydstsb.

Spiersbridge Road:
Shell Petrol, McConechy's Tyres and Soccer Kids Party Centre.

Industrial Estates

Thornliebank has two major industrial estates. The major employers are Rawlpug Artex, Converteam (peviously GEC Alstom), Devar Floooring, Star Refigertaion, Kelvin Steels and Salon Services. The estates also include the East Renfrewshire housing office, ARW Transformers and a MOT Centre.

It is also home to the HR Bradfords bakery, who supply confectionery to Miss Cranston's Tea Rooms in Glasgow city centre.

Nearby New Housing Developments

Parklands Meadow, Mearns Grove, Regents Park.

Present Day

Newbuilt homes at Thistlebank and Parklands Meadow bring many newcomers to the village. The M77 Motorway (junction 3) at Thornliebank Industrial Estate offers a superb link to Glasgow and Edinburgh to the North, and Kilmarnock, Ayr and Stranraer to the South.

Facilities

Main Street: Church of Scotland, Saint Vincent de paul Catholic church, Library, Thorntree Hall and Thornliebank Health Centre.