Hillington, Scotland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hillington
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 Hillington
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| OS grid reference | NS523647 |
| Council area | |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GLASGOW |
| Postcode district | G52 |
| Dialling code | 0141 |
| Police | Strathclyde |
| Fire | Strathclyde |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Hillington (also called Hullintoun in Scots and Hileantan in Gaelic) is an area on the southwest side of Glasgow, a big city in Scotland. It has homes where people live and a large area with many factories and businesses. The homes part of Hillington is completely inside Glasgow. But most of the business area, which is across the railway tracks, is actually in a different place called Renfrew. Even so, it still uses a Glasgow postcode!
Contents
History of Hillington
Building a "Shadow Factory"
In the mid-1930s, the world was getting ready for World War II. The British government wanted to make three times more airplanes. They created a special plan called the "Shadow Factory" plan. This plan aimed to build new factories and help existing car factories make aircraft parts.
One very important company was Rolls-Royce. They made the powerful Merlin engine, which was used in many famous planes like the Spitfire. Rolls-Royce needed a new factory in the north. They looked for a place with good transport, skilled workers, and homes for those workers. Hillington was perfect because it already had homes and was near a railway line.
Hillington's War Effort
The government paid for the Hillington factory to be built. It opened in 1937. The whole industrial area was officially opened in 1938 by Queen Elizabeth (who later became the Queen Mother). It was the first industrial estate of its kind in Scotland.
The first Merlin engines were made at Hillington just two weeks before World War II began. By 1943, the factory was making 400 engines every week! Sometimes, they even made 100 engines in a single day. By the end of the war, the Hillington factory had built 23,500 new engines. This was 14% of all Merlin engines made worldwide during the war.
After the War
After the war, in 1947, Rolls-Royce took over the factory directly. At first, they repaired and fixed Merlin engines. Later, they started making parts for new types of jet engines, like the Avon turbojet, especially during the Korean War. By 1965, the factory focused on making special parts for jet engines called compressors.
The Rolls-Royce factory in Hillington closed in December 2005. All the work moved to other Rolls-Royce factories nearby. In 2015, a new business called Glasgow distillery started making drinks in Hillington.
Getting Around Hillington
Hillington has two train stations: Hillington East and Hillington West (which is near Penilee). If you travel by car, Junction 26 of the M8 motorway is just north of the industrial area.
Businesses in Hillington
- Instyle Furniture (since 1983)
