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==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.armadale.org.uk/ www.armadale.org.uk] - Armadale's community website
* [http://www.armadale.org.uk/ www.armadale.org.uk] - Armadale's community website
* [http://www.geocities.com/armadalethistle/ Armadale Thistle FC]
* [http://www.geocities.com/armadalethistle/ Armadale Thistle FC] ([http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1256488597795615 Archived] 2009-10-25)
* [http://www.edinburghspeedway.com Edinburgh Speedway]
* [http://www.edinburghspeedway.com Edinburgh Speedway]
* [http://home.freeuk.net/pastandpresent/notes.htm History of Armadale]
* [http://home.freeuk.net/pastandpresent/notes.htm History of Armadale]

Revision as of 19:55, 25 October 2009

Armadale (West Lothian)
West Main Street, Armadale
Population9,063 [1] (2001 census)
est. 10,830[2] (2006)
OS grid referenceNS935685
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBATHGATE
Postcode districtEH48
Dialling code01501
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
For the village on the Isle of Skye, see Armadale, Isle of Skye.
For other uses, see Armadale.

Armadale is a town within the district of West Lothian in central Scotland. Armadale, formerly known as Barbauchlaw, is an ex-mining town which is also known for its brick manufacturing.[3] It is named after Armadale in Sutherland,[4] this estate being owned by Sir William Honeyman who later acquired the land of Barbauchlaw.[5]

Geography

The leaning clock tower of The Goth public house is a feature of the town.[6]


Armadale (Woodend Farm) is officially the site of Ogilface Castle.[7] Woodend Farm has another site nearer Blackridge, marked as 'Ogelface in ruins' on a 1773 map.[8] These sites have been the subject of archaeological geophysics surveys[9] by the Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society[10] and kite aerial photography[11] by members of the History of Armadale Association.[12]


Transport

The station at Armadale, first opened by the defunct Bathgate and Coatbridge Railway[13] is currently under construction to be reopened as part of the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link in the south end of Armadale.[14]

Culture and sport

Armadale Stadium features greyhound racing and speedway.[15] It was also used in the past for stock car racing. Speedway started in 1997 when the Edinburgh Monarchs[16] team moved based there and has now competed for ten seasons at the venue. The team won the Premier League in 2003. The town also has a long-established football team, Armadale Thistle, whose home, Volunteer Park, is located on North Street.

The Armadale Flute Band, established in 1983, have won competitions all over Scotland.

Education

Armadale Academy, Armadale

The local High School[17] , Armadale Academy, was rebuilt and opened in August 2009, immediately behind the original (built 1967). The site of the old building will be used for new playing fields.

Famous residents

Tom Hanlin[18] was born in Armadale in 1907. He showed promise at school and was interested in becoming a writer from an early age. However, he had to leave school at fourteen years of age to begin work. He worked on a farm for a year, and then he worked down the mines for the next twenty years, from the age of fifteen until 1945. In 1942, he attended a school of journalism in Glasgow, making the fifty-mile weekly journey while still working down the pit. As a result of a pit accident, he spent three months in the Royal Infirmary. During that time of convalescence, he wrote five stories, which he was able to sell. One of them, Sunday in the Village, won the Arthur Markham Memorial Prize (See Sir Arthur Markham, 1st Baronet), awarded annually by Sheffield University and available to those who were 'manual workers in or about a coal mine, or have been injured when so employed'. Later, he won the Big Ben prize of £500 for his long story, which became his first novel, Once in Every Lifetime. 250,000 copies of the Big Ben paperback edition were sold in England in the first month of publication. A popular book in Europe and Scandinavia, it was translated into more than a dozen languages, and, eventually, was broadcast in a BBC radio version. About the novel, John Steinbeck, 'A wonderful, young, strong, true book'.

References

  1. ^ "Comparative Population Profile: Armadale Locality". Scotland's Census Results Online. 2001-04-29. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  2. ^ "www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data".
  3. ^ "www.armadale.org.uk/employmentandindustries.htm".
  4. ^ "www.caithness.org/atoz/sutherland/photogallery/index.php?gallery=41".
  5. ^ "www.armadale.org.uk/honeyman.htm".
  6. ^ "www.armadale.org.uk/goth.htm".
  7. ^ "www.armadale.org.uk/archaeology3.htm".
  8. ^ "www.armadale.org.uk/archaeology2.htm".
  9. ^ "www.armadale.org.uk/archaeologyindex.htm".
  10. ^ "www.eafs.org.uk/".
  11. ^ "www.kiteaerialphotography.org.uk".
  12. ^ "www.armadale.org.uk/haa.htm".
  13. ^ "Bathgate and Coatbridge Railway". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  14. ^ "Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  15. ^ Bamford, R; Jarvis, J (2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3.
  16. ^ Henry, J; Moultray, I (2001). Speedway in Scotland. ISBN 0-7524-2229-4.
  17. ^ "www.westlothian.org.uk/armadaleacademy/".
  18. ^ "www.armadale.org.uk/tomhanlin.htm".
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