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.

Take-aways

Within Earnock the only take-away is the Golden Fry Chip Shop; it is located in the same block as the Fillipetti's store. It is a very clean and modern chip shop, even offering Internet and Mobile ordering.

Public houses

Earnock's only public house — The Avon Pub was located on Wellhall Road. It was demolished in 2016.

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 and currently has a pupil roll of approximately 450. A new school building is currently being built on the site of Townhill. 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 is a bus service every 15 minutes that goes directly to Hamilton bus station, in the town centre. There are currently three bus routes to Hamilton Bus Station from Earnock Estate:

• The First Glasgow 226 which serves 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 and Fairhill or Little Earnock. (Monday - Sunday)
• The First Glasgow X1 "Lanarkshire Express" to Glasgow City Centre via Fairhill, Woodhead, Low Waters Road, Hamilton Town Centre (Hamilton Bus Station and Hamilton Central railway station), and the M74/M73/M8 motorways direct to the City Centre. (Monday - Saturday)
• The 228 service which serves Hamilton Town Centre (Hamilton Bus Station and Hamilton Central railway station), Bent Road, Laighstonehall Road, Woodfoot Road, Wellhall Road and the High Earnock Loop. (Sunday only)

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 two trains per hour alternating in destination between Larkhall and Motherwell (with one of the Motherwell services continuing to Cumbernauld).

Politics

Councillors

Councillors are elected using the Single Transferable Vote System.

Earnock sits within the council seat of Hamilton West and Earnock and has four councillors. All four councillors sit on South Lanarkshire Council.

Members of the Scottish Parliament

Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are elected using the Additional Member System. There are currently 129 MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.

Earnock lies in the Hamilton South constituency of the Scottish Parliament and is represented by Christina McKelvie of the Scottish National party. Earnock is also represented by an additional seven regional MSPs who are elected to the Central Scotland region.

Since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 Earnock, at a constituency level, was represented by Labour, however in May 2011 Christina McKelvie of the SNP created a storm with a stunning victory.

Members of the United Kingdom Parliament

Members of the United Kingdom Parliament (MPs) are elected using the First Past the Post system.

In the UK Parliament, Earnock is represented by Thomas McAvoy, who is the MP for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.

Hamilton, including Earnock, has been represented by Labour in the UK Parliament since 1918. The one exception to this is Winnie Ewing's famous victory in 1967, when she took the seat for the SNP in a by-election, however, she failed to retain the seat for her party in the 1970 elections.

Members of the European Parliament

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected using the Party List System.

In the EU Earnock is, along with the rest of Scotland, part of the Scotland constituency. Seven MEPs represent Scotland.

Pressure groups

The only pressure group that currently represents issue at a local level is the Earnock Residents' Association. The group meet regularly in Hillhouse Parish Church to discuss matters of importance to Earnock and to decide what action should be taken to help benefit the estate.

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.

See also

• Earnock High School
• Townhill Primary School

Coordinates: 55°46′4″N 4°4′40″W / 55.76778°N 4.07778°W / 55.76778; -4.07778