Moodiesburn#Auchengeich mining disaster
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Moodiesburn
| country = Scotland
| os_grid_reference = NS6960871434
| coordinates = {{coord|55.918333|-4.08666|display=inline,title}}
| static_image = Welcometomoodiesburn.jpg
| static_image_caption = Entrance to Moodiesburn via the A80
| population = {{Scottish locality population|name|POP=Moodiesburn}}
| population_ref = ({{Scottish settlement population citation|year}}){{Scottish settlement population citation}}
| unitary_scotland = North Lanarkshire
| lieutenancy_scotland = Lanarkshire
| post_town = GLASGOW
| postcode_area = G
| postcode_district = G69 0
| dial_code = 01236
| constituency_westminster = Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch
| constituency_scottish_parliament = Coatbridge and Chryston
}}
Moodiesburn is a village in Scotland, located {{convert|8|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} northeast of Glasgow, in the North Lanarkshire council area. It is situated on the north side of the A80 road and between the M73 and M80 motorways which converge nearby. Moodiesburn does not directly adjoin any other settlements, though the contiguous villages of Chryston and Muirhead are located a short distance to the west (the boundary being the Strathkelvin railway path) with Stepps just beyond, while outer parts of Cumbernauld lie to the east; however, its centre is about {{convert|5|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} from Moodiesburn.{{cite web|title=OS 25 inch 1892-1949|url=http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=55.9111&lon=-4.0810&layers=168&b=3|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Ordnance Survey|access-date=26 October 2017}}
The village's economic standing greatly declined in the latter half of the 20th century, following the Auchengeich mining disaster and the disintegration of local employment. In the early 21st century the economic demographic of the population has improved; good transport links enable a significant proportion of the population travel to Glasgow or nearby large towns for employment in the professional and commercial sphere.
The village is also located near several historical and cultural landmarks, including the Antonine Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was built by the Romans in the 2nd century AD. The area is popular with hikers and outdoor enthusiasts due to its scenery and proximity to the Scottish countryside.{{fact|date=October 2023}}
History
The etymology of the name is probably from the common Scottish surname Moody.{{cite book|last1=Drummond|first1=Peter, John|title=An analysis of toponyms and toponymic patterns in eight parishes of the upper Kelvin basin|date=2014|publisher=Glasgow University|location=Glasgow|page=172|url=http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5270/1/2014DrummondPhD.pdf#page=173|access-date=3 July 2017}} Several old documents show Moodiesburn with various spellings including maps by Richardson, Forrest,{{cite web|title=Old County Maps|url=http://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/#zoom=15&lat=55.9131&lon=-4.0909&layers=20&b=5&point=55.9116,-4.1469|website=NLS|access-date=27 January 2018}} and William Roy.{{cite web|title=Roy's map of the Lowlands|url=http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=55.9124&lon=-4.0843&layers=4&b=3|website=NLS|access-date=27 January 2018}} Moodiesburn (or Mudiesburn) was formerly part of the parish of Cadder.{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=John Marius|title=The gazetteer of Scotland|date=1882|publisher=W. & A.K. Johnston|location=Edinburgh|page=65|url=https://archive.org/stream/gazetteerofscotl00wilsuoft#page/64/mode/2up/search/moodiesburn|access-date=27 February 2018}} The New Statistical Accounts recorded 30 families and 143 people in 1836.{{cite book|last1=Society for the Benefit of the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy|title=The new statistical account of Scotland|date=1845|publisher=W. Blackwood and Sons|location=Edinburgh and London|page=408|url=https://archive.org/stream/newstatisticalac06edinuoft#page/408/mode/2up/search/mudiesburn|access-date=31 December 2017}} In 1846 there were reported to be 35 houses with 220 people living in them.{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Samuel|title=A topographical dictionary of Scotland ...|date=1846|publisher=S. Lewis and Co.|location=London|page=277|url=https://archive.org/stream/topographicaldv200lewi#page/276/mode/2up|access-date=28 February 2018}} Towards the end of the 19th century the population fell to as low as 150.{{cite web|title=Moodiesburn and Bridgend|url=http://www.monklands.co.uk/moodiesburn/index.htm|website=Monklands Memories|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822225905/http://www.monklands.co.uk/moodiesburn/index.htm|access-date=24 February 2018|archive-date=22 August 2007}} The village was developed in the 20th century with employment in coal mining and around psychiatric institution Stoneyetts Hospital.{{cite web|title=Moodiesburn|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst1462.html|website=Gazetteer of Scotland|access-date=24 February 2018}} In the 1930s,{{cite web|last1=Kidd|first1=Neil|title=Moodiesburn|url=http://www.chryston.org.uk/story/p10.htm|website=The Story of Chryston|access-date=24 February 2018}} wooden houses were constructed on the estate of Gartferry House.{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=45219 |num2=NS67SE 29 |desc=Gartferry House|access-date=23 June 2025}}
=Auchengeich mining disaster=
In September 1959, 47 men lost their lives in a coal mine near the village of Moodiesburn when a faulty fan purifying the air in the colliery went on fire due to an electrical fault.{{cite web|title=Auchengeich Mining Disaster|url=http://www.monklands.co.uk/auchengeich/|website=Monklands Memories|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327135001/http://www.monklands.co.uk/auchengeich/|access-date=24 February 2018|archive-date=27 March 2010}} The men were in bogies travelling to the coal face to start work, and due to the intense smoke they were abandoned just a few hundred metres from safety. The mine was eventually flooded to put out the fire; there was only one survivor from the crews. The mining accident was one of the worst within the UK in the 20th century, widowing 41 women and leaving 76 children without fathers.{{cite web|url=http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/community_pays_tribute_to_auchengeich_mining_disaster_victims_1_358717 |title=Community pays tribute to Auchengeich mining disaster victims - Local Headlines |publisher=Kirkintilloch Herald |date=2007-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222182209/http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/community_pays_tribute_to_auchengeich_mining_disaster_victims_1_358717 |access-date=2012-01-22|archive-date=22 February 2012 }}
The First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond unveiled a memorial on 18 September 2009 at Moodiesburn.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/250.html|title=Auchengeich 1959 - Scottish Mining Website|author=Scottish Mining Website|work=scottishmining.co.uk}} Its centrepiece, a bronze statue of a miner, was stolen within weeks but replaced the following year after a fundraising drive.{{cite web|title=Welcome home - iconic miner returned to rightful place at Auchengeich|url=http://www.monklands.co.uk/auchengeich/statuereturn.htm|publisher=Kirkintilloch Herald |date=9 June 2010|via=Monklands Memories|access-date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225210019/http://www.monklands.co.uk/auchengeich/statuereturn.htm|archive-date=25 February 2018|url-status=dead}} Norman Buchan wrote a song, "Auchengeich", about the disaster, recorded by Dick Gaughan and The Easy Club.
=Aftermath and economic decline=
Local mining declined in the years following the disaster. Stoneyetts ceased operation in 1992, followed by Scottish Power and Reekie Plant Hire sites closing in the latter half of the decade. A 1999 article in The Observer lamented Moodiesburn's lack of local employment, as well as the increasing disaffection of its younger residents:
{{quote|"A good number of young families are blatantly poorer than our grandparents. They have less purchasing power because they live on benefit [...] Moodiesburn is a quiet island whose ageing inhabitants pass the time by looking after one another, visiting, retelling the past. The current that made people get up in the morning has been switched off. The young are null. They use drugs, spray graffiti. But they are quiet islanders, too, living invisibly at home with their disks and keyboards."{{cite journal|last=Ascherson|first=Neal|author-link=Neal Ascherson|date=10 October 1999|title=Take a look. Take a long look|journal=The Observer|publisher=Guardian Media Group}}|Neal Ascherson|10 October 1999}}
Auchengeich sewage works and the Moodiesburn House Hotel – previously the Bedlay Dowager House – were closed in 2003 and 2008, respectively.{{cite web|url=https://www.endsreport.com/article/1575173|title=Scottish Water fined again|date=30 September 2003|website=The ENDS Report|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006082740/https://www.endsreport.com/article/1575173|access-date=6 October 2019|archive-date=6 October 2019|quote=Auchengeich sewage treatment works... closed in March.}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cumbernauld-news.co.uk/news/crews-in-9-hour-hotel-fire-battle-1-353081|title=Crews in 9-hour hotel fire battle|date=19 March 2008|website=Cumbernauld News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006082738/https://www.cumbernauld-news.co.uk/news/crews-in-9-hour-hotel-fire-battle-1-353081|access-date=6 October 2019|archive-date=6 October 2019}} Two career options remain in the area: landscaping product supplier Charcon Scotland (part of Aggregate Industries), and food processing company Devro.{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/taking-a-look-back-at-moodiesburn-1-357469|title=Taking a look back at Moodiesburn|date=28 March 2006|website=Kirkintilloch Herald|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006082735/https://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/taking-a-look-back-at-moodiesburn-1-357469|access-date=6 October 2019|archive-date=6 October 2019}}
Landmarks
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2021}}
File:The Auchengeich Mining Disaster Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 1514078.jpg
File:Auchengeich Miners Welfare Social Club (geograph 3800744).jpg
File:Auchengeich Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 1514115.jpg
Bedlay Cemetery is Moodiesburn's local cemetery. The nearby Bedlay Castle has stood since the late 16th century.Mason, Gordon The Castles of Glasgow and the Clyde, Goblinshead, 2000 (p.51)Coventry, Martin The Castles of Scotland (3rd Edition), Goblinshead, 2001 (p.83)
The village includes a community centre and library, a miners' welfare club (the Auchengeich Miners Welfare), a multi-denominational school (Glenmanor Primary, affiliated to Chryston High School),[https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/glenmanornews/our-community/ Our Community], Glenmanor Blog a Roman Catholic denominational school (St Michael's Primary, affiliated to St. Maurice's High School in Cumbernauld),[https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/stmichaelsweb/school-information/ School Information], St Michael's Primary School a Church of Scotland parish church, a Roman Catholic church, and an independent evangelical church called New Beginnings. There is also the Silver Larch public house, a Knights of Saint Columba social club and a coffee shop called The Coffee House.
Although the oldest buildings and the original hamlet stood at the junction of Cumbernauld Road (A80) and Stoneyetts Road, its centre moved about {{convert|300|yards}} north during the mid-20th century with the construction of a small development of timber-panelled homes and then expanded from there across the subsequent decades. The community's 1950s council housing is known as "Old Moodiesburn", though a substantial number of those homes are now privately owned.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} A batch of houses with updated facilities were constructed in the 1960s, and dubbed the "electric scheme" by locals. Modern homes have since been developed in this part of Moodiesburn, including by Taylor Woodrow, Persimmon, and Lovell. The opposite, north-eastern end, which happens to be near Devro headquarters, is composed mostly of private residences by Christian Salvesen, Tay/Wimpey, Bellway and Persimmon. Miller Homes were set to build on the former Stoneyetts Hospital site as of 2019.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}{{update-inline|date=October 2023}}
A small estate of new council builds was erected in the midst of the Salvesen area in 2013.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{North Lanarkshire Settlements}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Villages in North Lanarkshire