Barrhead

infobox UK place
country = Scotland
official_name= Barrhead
gaelic_name=Ceann a' Bhàirr
scots_name=
population= 19,813 (2001 Census)
os_grid_reference= NS505585
map_type=Scotland
latitude=55.796595
longitude=-4.386311
unitary_scotland= East Renfrewshire
lieutenancy_scotland= Renfrewshire
constituency_westminster= Eastwood
constituency_scottish_parliament= Eastwood
post_town= GLASGOW
postcode_district = G78
postcode_area= G
dial_code= 0141
edinburgh_distance=
london_distance=
static_

static_image_caption=Barrhead from the Fereneze Hills

Barrhead (Scottish Gaelic: "Ceann a' Bhàirr") is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. 8 miles southwest of Glasgow on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. As of the 2001 census its population was 19,813.

Historically, most of what is now Barrhead lay within the parish of Neilston, in the county of Renfrew. The name Barrhead derives from the agricultural term "Barr" meaning long ploughed furrows for cultivation of crops. The original homestead or hamlet was literally situated at the head of barrs and became known as Barrhead.

In 2007, Readers Digest magazine voted East Renfrewshire the second best place in the United Kingdom to raise a family. The magazine visited and cited Barrhead in their decision. [ [http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/best-places-to-raise-a-family-i-228.html Best Places to raise a family| Magazines, Books, DVDs and CDs | Reader's Digest UK ] ]

History

Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-producing villages (Barrhead, Arthurlie, Grahamston and Gateside) gradually grew into one another to form one contiguous town. According to local historian James McWhirter, the name "Barrhead" first appeared in 1750. ["Mine Ain Grey Toon", by James McWhirter, available at Barrhead library.]

In 1851 an explosion at the Victoria Pit colliery in nearby Nitshill occurred, killing 63 men and boys who worked in the mine, many of whom lived in Barrhead. The victims were buried in a mass grave in the yard at St John's Church on Darnley Road, and although they were later exhumed to other cemeteries, some may still reside at St John's in an unmarked grave. [http://www.pollok-kist.co.uk/victoriapit.htm]

During the 19th and early 20th century, the town was a major centre for manufacturing, with industries including an iron foundry, tannery, and the Armitage Shanks porcelainware works, as well as Gaskell's carpet factory, employing generations of the town's residents. In the latter 20th century, the decline and closure of nearly all of these industries caused a fall in local population and employment. In recent years, Barrhead has found new life as a popular residential commuter town for nearby Paisley and Glasgow.

During World War II, a handful of bombs fell on Barrhead from German planes headed towards Clydebank and Yoker. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/56/a8685156.shtml]

Governance

In 1894 Barrhead became a Burgh, meaning that it had its own town Council. This status was withdrawn in 1975 at the time of the institution of Strathclyde Regional Council and Renfrew District Council. Subsequent reorganisation to a single tier local authority placed Barrhead under the auspices of East Renfrewshire Council. Barrhead is a single council ward, electing 4 members to serve as part of East Renfrewshire Council.

Geography

Barrhead forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation.

Economy

Major businesses within the town include Barrhead Travel, Kelburn Brewing Company, and JM Murdoch & Son, among others. The town's largest employer remains East Renfrewshire Council and the public sector. In 2002, part of the administration of East Renfrewshire Council relocated from Eastwood Park to Barrhead Main Street.

There is a very limited range of retail goods available within Barrhead, and residents must rely on nearby Paisley and Glasgow for the bulk of their purchases. The town's main supermarket, Tesco, is located outside the town centre and draws people away from, rather than into, the town.

There is also a lack of dedicated business space for service businesses. To address this, East Renfrewshire Council has committed nearly £100 million to a masterplan which will redevelop and modernise Barrhead's economy between 2007 and 2017. The Glasgow Road corridor is being redeveloped into a dedicated business district which includes Crossmill Business Park, Blackbyres Court, and the former Bowerwalls housing area.

There are four industrial estates: Robertson Street Industrial Estate, Levern Industrial Estate at Cogan Street, Muriel Street, and the Barrhead Cargo Centre and Shanks Industrial Park, located on the former site of the Armitage Shanks factory.

In 2005 local businesses created the Barrhead Business Forum, which liaises with East Renfrewshire Council, Barrhead Community Council, and East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce.

The administration and collection of business rates for Barrhead is undertaken by Renfrewshire Council. The national rate for business rates set by the Scottish Executive for 2007-2008 is 44.1p per pound.

East Renfrewshire Credit Union is based in Barrhead.

The town is part of the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board. The nearest A&E unit is located at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.

Transport

Barrhead is accessible via Junction 2 (Pollok) or Junction 3 (Darnley) of the M77 motorway.

Local bus services, including Arriva and LBS, travel from Barrhead to Glasgow, Paisley, Neilston, and Newton Mearns.

Barrhead railway station, which serves the town, is on the Glasgow South Western Line. Trains from Barrhead run northeast to Glasgow Central and south to Kilmarnock, Stranraer, and Carlisle.

At the beginning of the 20th century, several railway lines ran through Barrhead to accommodate the town's manufacturing industries: the Glasgow Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway and the Glasgow and Kilmarnock Joint Railway, which merged to become the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway; the Glasgow and South Western Railway, which built Barrhead Central railway station as the terminus of its short-lived Barrhead branch; and the Caledonian Railway. Evidence of these lines can still be seen within the town, including two standalone sections of railway viaduct, one near the Tesco store and the other now carrying a footpath between Springhill Road and the Woodside Park in Upper Auchenback (known locally as the Jerries).

Education

Barrhead has six primary schools: Auchenback Primary School, Carlibar Primary School, Cross Arthurlie Primary School, Springhill Primary School, St. John's Roman Catholic Primary School and St. Mark's Roman Catholic Primary School. In 2007, St. Mark's received an outstanding report from HM Inspectorate of Education with 11 'excellents' - the most ever recorded by HMIE - making St. Mark's officially the best school in Scotland.

The new Carlibar Primary School, opened in the autumn of 2006 to replace an outdated building, hosts a family centre, a pre-school assessment unit, community and adult learning services, and a state-of-the-art language and communication unit which serves nearly 50 children with autism from across East Renfrewshire.

The town has two secondary schools: St. Luke's High School and Barrhead High. Barrhead High was named a School of Ambition by the Scottish Executive.

A new further education unit, East Renfrewshire College, is planned for the town centre. [http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/betterbarrhead.htm]

Culture

The Royal Shakespeare Company has staged full performances in Barrhead five times, most recently "The Canterbury Tales" in 2006, using a mobile performance venue set up in Barrhead Sports Centre.

There are several public houses in Barrhead. These include Cross Stobs, The Kelburn, The Arthurlie Inns, The Fereneze Inn, and The Brig Inn. The Cross Stobs dates back to at least 1695.

ports

An active Scottish Junior football team called Arthurlie FC thrives in Barrhead, with a previous club of the same name having played as a senior league side until 1929. The earlier team was renowned for its 4-2 defeat of Celtic F.C. in the 1897 Scottish Cup. Arthurlie's finest player, Johnny Kelly, went on to play for Celtic and Barnsley and won several caps for Scotland. The team won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1998.

Barrhead is also home to the following Bowling Clubs: Barrhead, Arthurlie, Shanks, and St John's; and also the Fereneze Golf Club and the Arthurlie Tennis Club. Barrhead Boxing Club has produced several contenders at Scottish Amateur level.

Notable people

Notable natives of Barrhead include:

*Christopher Brookmyre, author
*Douglas Henshall, actor
*Alex McLeish, former football player and former Scotland manager
*Paul Lambert, former Celtic F.C. captain and European Cup winner
*Andy Roxburgh, former Scotland football manager and current Technical Director of UEFA and previously Headmaster of Carlibar Primary to 1975
*Dougie Pincock, folk star of The Battlefield Band, who is now Director of the Scottish National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music
*Christine McGourty, BBC Science correspondent (Henshall and McGourty were exact contemporaries at Barrhead High School)
*Rosie, the guitarist of punk band The Hedrons [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/newspapers/sunday_times/scotland/article693935.ece]
*Gordon McCorkell, actor
*Jamie Harvey, professional darts player
*Paul Hanvidge, professional darts player
*Gregor Fisher, better known as Scottish comedy star "Rab C. Nesbitt", was a former pupil of Barrhead High School.
*An adoptive resident is dancer Darrien Wright (born Darlington) winner of the 2006 BBC Strictly Dance Fever competition (with Hollie Robertson). The family of pop singer Paolo Nutini had a newsagents shop in Barrhead for many years on the corner of Victoria Road and Paisley Road.
*Going back a little further, Barrhead also produced Gordon Murray, Scottish Amateur Golf Champion in the 1970s and member of the British Walker Cup team; Gilbert Nichol, a 1950s Olympic speedskater; Rangers' 9 times league winning striker Bob McPhail; and celebrated 19th century footballer Robert Stevenson.
*Kate Cranston, the Glasgow Tearoom entrepreneur known for her working partnership with the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, lived on Carlibar Road with her husband, John Cochrane, the third Provost of Barrhead.
*John Davidson, a poet and playwright best known for his ballads, was born on Lowndes Street.
*James Maxton, the Scottish socialist politician and leader of the Independent Labour Party, lived in Barrhead from the age of 5, where his father was headmaster of Grahamston School. Their family home was ‘Beechwood’ situated in Gateside Road. Maxton attended school in Barrhead until he was twelve years old. In the 1960s, Maxton's second wife Madeline gifted a plot of land to the people of Barrhead on which the local council built a memorial garden as a tribute to Maxton, [http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/barrheadheritagetrail/the_trail/maxton_gardens.htm] although this plot has now fallen into disrepair.

Churches

Major churches in Barrhead include St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Scotland parish churches at Bourock, Arthurlie and South & Levern.

There is also a Methodist Church and several small evangelical churches.

References

External links

* [http://www.barrheadnews.com Barrhead News]
* [http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/barrheadheritagetrail.htm Barrhead Heritage Trail]
* [http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/maxton/index.html James Maxton Papers]
* [http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/betterbarrhead.htm Better Barrhead (Redevelopment Masterplan)]
* [http://www.barrheadbusinessforum.co.uk Barrhead Business Forum]
* [http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/index.htm East Renfrewshire Council]