The Heritage Centre at Coalburn with committee members Marion McBain (Treasurer), Fiona McLeish, Helen Brownlie (Chair), Billy Struthers, Jim McBain, Geoff Brown (Vice-chair and Secretary). Photo: 27th April 2022 by Helen Donnelly and Geoff Brown.
Meetings
Information on current and future meetings will be posted on our Facebook page when available.
Non-members are welcome to attend.
Meetings often have an invited guest speaker. The venue is Coalburn Bowling Club, next to the Miners Welfare's One Stop Shop.
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Coalburn's One Stop Shop
Heritage Centre
The Society runs the Heritage Centre in the One Stop Shop which contains a rich archive of photographs, documents and artifacts relating to Coalburn's social history and mining heritage.
The Heritage Centre is now open regularly on Tuesdays and on Thursday afternoons, and may be opened at other times by arrangement. (The building is normally open from 9am until 4.30pm Monday to Friday. It is closed at weekends.)
As the number who can safely be accommodated at any particular time is limited, it is best to call in advance to make sure that the slot when you hope to visit is available.
You can make an arrangement to visit by calling Geoff Brown on 01555 820379 or Helen Brownlie on 0141 630 1480, by e-mailing , or by sending a text message to 07950 706622.
If you do decide to drop in at short notice, you can contact the One Stop Shop on 01555 820060 and staff there will be able to check if the Resource Room is available.
The Heritage Resource Room is a community asset and one that we are keen should be accessible and well used, so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to visit.
Enquiries
We remain available for responding to enquiries about all aspects of local heritage, drawing on the extensive documentation held in the Heritage Resource Centre and from other sources.
You can e-mail us at: , phone Helen on 0141 630 1480, or write to: The Jim Hamilton Heritage Society of Coalburn, Heritage Centre, One Stop Shop, 42 Coalburn Road ML11 0LH.
Should you have any enquiries about future meetings, or about joining the society, or concerning any other aspect of our work, please feel free to get in touch using any of the contact details on this page.
Officials 2023/24
| Chair | Helen Brownlie |
| Vice-Chair | Geoff Brown |
| Secretary | Donald Williams |
| Treasurer | Marion McBain |
| Membership Secretary | Marion McBain |
| Other Committee members | Billy Struthers, Jim McBain |
Newsletter
An informative newsletter, designed and produced to a high standard by Helen Brownlie of the Society is published quarterly and the printed version is distributed FREE to members (Non-members £2). It also features a record of village events and articles of local interest submitted by members.
An online version is available free to everyone through this website.
What's new
Monument to David Steel at Nether Skellyhill Farm, Waterside near Coalburn
A series of photos taken by Geoff Brown taken on the 24th August 2022.
The latest newsletters Winter Newsletter69 and Winter Newsletter73 are now available in electronic format on this website. Newsletter 69 contains an interesting retrospective look at the early days of the Heritage Society with photos and memories.
Dalquhandy wind farm was officially opened on 5th May 2023 by Provost Margaret Cooper. On April 3rd 2023, BayWa r.e. announced the sale of Dalquhandy wind farm to Greencoat UK Wind PLC, a leading renewable infrastructure fund managed by Schroders Greencoat LLP. The Article on Windfarms near Coalburn Part 2 (Douglas West, Cumberhead West, Hagshaw Hill Repowering and Dalquhandy) was updated on 14th April 2023 and again on 18th May 2023.
Our thanks to Rosemary Chalmers who recently contacted the Society via Facebook about the article on her remarkable grandmother, Margaret Mary Ann Smith, who ran the Sabbath School at Birkhill House. We have now corrected the article in Newsletter 57- Winter 2019 on the basis of new information. Updated 24/11/2022.
Recent photos of Coalburn and surounding area in 2022
(Coalburn and School Roads, Middlemuir Road, highlighting recent changes). 17th July. Photos of Auchrobert Wind Farm added on 29th September. Updated with photos of Watermeetings and Shoulderigg Road on 13th October.
- Geoff Brown's photos of the 2022 Coalburn Gala on the 2nd July.
- Photos of the Gala Exhibition on 2nd July in the Coalburn Leisure Centre.
- Development Framework for the Hagshaw Energy Cluster: Planning for Net Zero. Added 20th September 2023. In Sept 2023, South Lanarkshire Council announced the development framework which has been adopted by both Planning Authorities (South Lanarkhire and East Ayrshire) as non-statutory guidance in relation to planning applications and will help shape future development in the area. More details in the linked article.
- New article on Windfarms near Coalburn Part 1 (Hagshaw Hill, Nutberry and Galawhistle). Added 23rd June 2022.
- Article on Windfarms near Coalburn Part 2 (Douglas West, Cumberhead West and Hagshaw Hill Repowering). Added 1st July 2022. Updated 21st July 2022 to include Dalquhandy Wind Farm. Again updated on 21st September 2022 to include the Cumberhead Wind Farm Project. Section on Dalquhandy Wind Farm updated 13th March 2023.
- A section in the article Shops in Coalburn Road near the Miners Welfare Building became too big and has been transferred to its own page at The former Co-operative Building. 9th May 2022.
- 7th May 2022. The page on Historic Photos of Coalburn Station and the Railway has been updated to include Robert Campbell's photograph and account of the last train from Coalburn. 13th May, Robert's photo of the last train at Lesmahagow Station is added to the page of Historic Photos of Lesmahagow.
- A new set of photographs of the Cumberhead Road area by Geoff Brown taken on the 21st March 2022.
- A related website has two articles on the history of Lesmahagow, The drinking water fountain and Fountain Hall and Lesmahagow Jubilee Hall..
- The fifth article on Shops in Coalburn covers Shops in Bellfield Road. Added: 19th Feb 2022. Updated 3rd April 2022
The fourth article on Shops in Coalburn has been completed - Shops in the Coalburn Brig area. Added: 9th Feb 2022. Updated; 10th March 2022 Further updated on 21st July 2022 with a current photo of the convenience store.
A third article on Shops in Coalburn has been prepared - Shops in Coalburn Road near the Miners Welfare Building. It is based on a Powerpoint presentation prepared and presented by the late Peter McLeish in 2010. Added: 21st Jan 2022
- A new article on the history of the Colliery Shop in Coalburn Road. Added 6th January 2022
A new article on Joe McGill and his Shop at Coalburn Brig. Added 1st January 2022