Coatbridge

Coatbridge is the main town of Monklands, a district on Clydeside in the Central Belt of Scotland, and historically part of Lanarkshire. Other towns here, which have merged, include Airdrie and Whifflet. The area is commuterland for Glasgow; The main reason to visit is the Summerlee Museum depicting its industrial era.

Understand

The Monklands were farmed by Cistercian monks from Newbattle Abbey near Edinburgh; the monks also mined coal. The 1799 Statistical Account described the area in lyrical terms: an immense garden with extensive orchards, luxurious crops, and where rivers abounded with salmon. Then the Industrial Revolution arrived. Airdrie became a weaving and textile town, while Coatbridge grew on pig iron from locally mined ironstone. The population burgeoned as a workforce was drawn in, principally from Donegal, but living conditions were squalid and Coatbridge was a hell-hole of blast furnaces. The iron industry withered in the 20th century (relocating to Corby) as local ores were exhausted and Clydeside shipbuilding declined. In 2022 the population was 42,300.

Get in

Coatbridge is 9 miles east of Glasgow and two miles north of M8, exit at Eurocentral interchange.

By train

Trains run every 10-15 min from Glasgow Queen Street to 1 Coatbridge Sunnyside, taking 20 min. These trains start from Balloch, Helensburgh or Milngavie, and most of them continue east through 2 Airdrie, Bathgate and Livingston north to Edinburgh.

An hourly train from Glasgow Central loops south through the burbs and commuter towns of Rutherglen, Cambuslang, Blantyre, Hamilton, Motherwell and Whifflet to 3 Coatbridge Central, taking 50 min, and continuing to Cumbernauld. Motherwell has fast trains from London Euston, the Midlands and North West England, including the overnight Caledonian Sleeper.

By bus

Citylink Bus 902 runs hourly from Glasgow Buchanan Station, taking 30 min to Coatbridge and Airdrie, and continuing to Livingston, Broxburn, Edinburgh Airport and city centre.

First Glasgow Bus 201 runs every 10 min from Hairmyres Hospital via East Kilbride, Burnbank, Hamilton, Bellshill and Whifflet to Coatbridge, Airdrie and Petersburn.

Buses stop on South Circular Road by the shopping centre, there's isn't a station.

Get around

Bus 201 as above is the main link between Coatbridge and Airdrie.

The main taxi firm is Swift Cars (+44 1236 435533).

See

Jubilee Fountain in Summerlee Heritage Park

• St Augustine's is the RC church, a stocky redbrick structure of 1873 on Dundyvan Rd half a mile west of Central Station.
• 1 Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, Heritage Way, Coatbridge ML5 1QD (half mile north of Central railway station), ☏ +44 1236 638460. Daily 10AM-4PM. On the site of a former ironworks and crane factory, this depicts Lanarkshire's industrial heyday in the 18th-20th centuries. It covers the mines, furnaces, shipping and other trade. A tram (for a small fare) takes you to one of the old mines and the "Miner's Row" where the workforce lived. There is also a traditional sweet shop, a kids play park, a gift shop and cafe. No dogs except assistance dogs. Free. (updated Nov 2024)
• 2 Drumpellier Country Park, Townhead Rd ML5 2HD, ☏ +44 1236 422257. Visitor Centre daily 10AM-5PM. Large park around two natural lochs - these are "kettle ponds" where lumps of glaciation depressed the surface. The park has woods and wetlands, walking trails, picnic and play areas and a visitor centre. Boats and canoes can be hired, small charge. Drumpellier House (demolished in the 1960s) was owned by Andrew Buchanan, a tobacco merchant whose nephew gives his name to Glasgow's Buchanan Street. The family went bust in 1777 when the American revolutionaries seized their tobacco plantations. Free. (updated Nov 2024)

Do

Railway footbridge

• Time Capsule Waterpark, 100 Buchanan St, Coatbridge ML5 1DL (200 yards southwest of Central Station), ☏ +44 1236 812679. Waterpark M-F 4-8PM, Sa Su 10AM-8PM. Activity complex with a waterpark, ice rink and gym. Ride the flumes and waterslides, catch a wave in the wave pool or work on your strokes in the 25 m pool: see website for age / height restrictions. There's also a kid's play area and a sheltered section for very young children. Booking essential, no walk-in sales. Adult £6.85, conc or child £4.75. (updated Nov 2024)
• Monklands Canal starts near Time Capsule and courses west for a mile towards M73, with a firm towpath for walking or cycling. From 1771 to 1942 it served the local coal mines and connected to the Forth and Clyde Canal, then was abandoned and built over.
• Cinema: Showcase is in Barrbridge Leisure Centre, on A8 west edge of town.
• Golf: Drumpelier GC is at the western edge of Coatbridge, and Airdrie GC is a mile north of Airdrie.
• Football: Airdrieonians were promoted in 2023, so they play soccer in the Scottish Championship, the second tier. Their home ground is Penny Cars (aka Excelsior) Stadium, capacity 10,000, at Craigneuk Ave a mile southeast of Airdrie town centre. The present club was formed in 2002 when the original club (founded 1878) went bust.

Albion Rovers were relegated in 2023 so they play in the Lowland League, the fifth tier. Their home ground is tiny Cliftonhill, capacity 1500, half a mile east of Coatbridge.

Glasgow Celtic Women play at Penny Cars Stadium in Scottish Women's Premier League, their top tier.

• St Patrick's Day Festival: Coatbridge has many residents of Irish descent, and the festival is held over two weeks in early March with art, theatre, sport, music and film. It culminates in a street event with Irish music and dancing. St Patrick's Day is always on 17 March, whenever that falls in the week.

Buy

• Asda on Coatbridge Main St is open daily 6AM-midnight. Faraday retail park is 200 yards south.

Eat

Fast food places in Coatbridge may deliver

• Shimla Cottage, 109 Sunnyside Rd, Coatbridge ML5 3HR (next to Sunnyside Station), ☏ +44 1236 436030. M-Th 4-10PM, F Sa 1-10PM, Su 2-10PM. Decent Indian, quality okay for what you're paying. (updated Nov 2024)
• 1 Crown Jewel, 293 Bank St, Coatbridge ML5 1EG, ☏ +44 1236 423377. M-Th 5-11PM, F Sa noon-11:30PM, Su 2-11PM. Large selection of Indian dishes, good-enough reviews. (updated Nov 2024)
• 2 The Mint, 16 Academy St, Coatbridge ML5 3AU, ☏ +44 1236 441191. M-Th 11:30AM-midnight, F Sa 11:30AM-1AM, Su 12:30PM-midnight. Small menu with burgers, traditional favourites (steak pie, fish & chips) and Italian dishes. Mixed reviews for quality & quantity. (updated Nov 2024)

Drink

• The Vulcan is a JD Wetherspoon at 181 Main Street Coatbridge opposite Mondo Hotel, open Su-Th 9AM-11PM, F Sa 9AM-midnight.
• Others in Coatbridge are Innishmohr and Argyll Bar on Main St, and Segton Bar and St Andrews Bar both next to Central Station.
• Airdrie has the Staging Post and others at the top of Bank St, and a whole slew of bars along Stirling St.
• 1 Whifflet Arms, 68 Whifflet St, Whifflet ML5 4EJ, ☏ +44 1236 433326. Daily 11AM-11:45PM. Pub with live music and DJs on weekends, a beer garden and big-screen TV. Decent food, prices and ambiance. (updated Nov 2024)
• Brewery: Outlandish Brew are at Woodend Farm in Glenboig, 5 miles north of Coatbridge.
• Distillery: Angus Dundee blend whisky on Main St, no tours. Their single malts are distilled at Tomintoul and Glencadam.

Sleep

Monkland Canal has a firm towpath

• Georgian Hotel, 26 Lefroy St, Coatbridge ML5 1LZ (200 m west of Central Station), ☏ +44 1233 421888. Comfy central hotel with 8 rooms en suite. B&B double £90. (updated Nov 2024)
• 1 Mondo Hotel, 144 Main St, Coatbridge ML5 3RB, ☏ +44 1236 424168, hotel@mondo-coatbridge.com. Decent mid-range hotel with 45 rooms. Check-in is in the basement, listen carefully to their advice on parking to avoid fines. No dogs. Attached restaurant is small and busy at weekends, reservations recommended. B&B double £80. (updated Nov 2024)
• 2 Tudor Hotel, 39 Alexander St, Airdrie ML6 0BA, ☏ +44 1236 764144, enquiries@tudorhotelairdrie.com. 20 room hotel with single and double rooms plus one family (2+2) room, all en suite. Decent clean rooms but a bit small. With restaurant / pub, beer garden & play area, they often cater to functions. (updated Nov 2024)
• 3 Doubletree by Hilton, Phoenix Cres, Bellshill ML4 3JQ (off jcn 7 of M8), ☏ +44 1698 395500. Clean friendly place in industrial park off A725. With pool and fitness centre. B&B double £100. (updated Nov 2024)
• Premier Inn is another mile south on A725.
• 4 The Grumpy Schnauzer, 1 Kippsbyre Farm, Coatbridge ML6 0PJ, ☏ +44 7308 648095. Amazing luxury B&B near Airdrie golf course. B&B double £220. (updated Nov 2024)

Connect

As of Nov 2024, Coatbridge and its approach roads have 4G from O2 and Vodafone, and 5G from EE and Three.

Go next

• Glasgow is a must-see, just as much as Edinburgh.
• Hamilton is where a grandiose palace subsided into the coal mines below: its impressive mausoleum and country park remain.
• Kilsyth to the north of Coatbridge has remains of the Antonine Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Stirling is a pocket-sized Edinburgh, with its well-preserved castle, the Wallace Monument and the historic battlefields of Bannockburn and Stirling Old Bridge.

Routes through Coatbridge

Glasgow ←	W  E	→ Livingston → Edinburgh
Cumbernauld ←	N  S	→ Carluke