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Linwood, Renfrewshire facts for kids

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Linwood
  • Scots: [Linwuid] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Linwood from the air (geograph 5440984).jpg
Linwood from above Black Cart Water
Linwood is located in Renfrewshire
Linwood
Linwood
Population 8,450 (2020)
OS grid reference NS435645
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town PAISLEY
Postcode district PA3
Dialling code 01505
Police Strathclyde
Fire Strathclyde
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament
  • Paisley and Renfrewshire North
Scottish Parliament
  • Renfrewshire South
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°50′49″N 4°30′07″W / 55.847°N 4.502°W / 55.847; -4.502

Linwood (Scots: [Linwuid] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) is a small town in Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland, 14 miles (23 kilometres) west of Glasgow. It is about 1+12 miles (2.5 kilometres) northeast of Johnstone and west of Paisley close to the Black Cart Water and the A737 road.

History

The expansion and economy of Linwood from 1961 onwards relied heavily on the Rootes, later Chrysler then Peugeot Talbot car plant, and the associated Pressed Steel Company body parts pressing facility.

Construction of the car factory began in 1961 to produce the Hillman Imp, a revolutionary small car which went into production when the factory was opened on 2 May 1963, and was not discontinued until 1976. The factory, opened by the Duke of Edinburgh, had the advantage of a direct rail link, which allowed cars to be transported by rail to places all over Britain. It later produced the Hillman Avenger (later badged as a Chrysler and finally a Talbot) from 1970 and the Imp's successor, the Sunbeam.

After Chrysler UK was bought by Peugeot Talbot, a review of the plant and associated models decided to close the Linwood plant in favour of retaining the Ryton plant near Coventry. Linwood was closed in 1981 with most of the factory demolished soon afterwards. The remaining part was demolished in 1996.

The closure left mass unemployment. This state of the town was immortalised in the song "Letter from America" by The Proclaimers, the lyrics "Linwood no more" referred to the closure of the car factory.

In December 2011 Linwood received the annual Plook on the Plinth award for 'Scotland's most dismal town', part of the Urban Realm magazine's Carbuncle Awards. The magazine suggests that the award is intended to cause debate and inspire redevelopment.

Present

Linwood has undergone a major redevelopment which began in 2008;

  • Four schools have been rebuilt or refurbished
  • New housing stock - private and social -
  • £24 million sports facility - home to several sports clubs
  • Tesco town centre regeneration
  • Community care home

Linwood is located to the nearby Phoenix Retail Park. Originally a brownfield site, numerous private developers have invested in retail, vehicle showrooms, restaurants, cinema complex, hotel and business centre.

Transport

Linwood is on the A761 close to its junction with the A737 which links the town to Glasgow Airport and the motorway network to the east, and Garnock Valley and the North Ayrshire coast to the south-west.

Local transport is served by McGill's Bus Services who have several services that link the town to the nearby towns of Johnstone, Bridge of Weir, Houston and Paisley, and it also has services which connect the town to Braehead and Glasgow.

Rail transport can be accessed from the nearby Johnstone railway station, which includes a two level park and ride car park. This route provides services westwards to Ayr, Troon, Stranraer, Irvine, Kilwinning, Largs, Ardrossan and Lochwinnoch and eastwards to Paisley, Hillington, Cardonald and Glasgow Central.

Economy

Linwood is the HQ of the transport and construction company W H Malcolm and was the HQ of Beeks Financial Cloud Group Plc a low latency service provider for institutional capital markets, listed on the AIM market.

Education

The town has the following educational establishments:

Nursery

  • East Fulton
  • Our Lady of Peace
  • Linwood community childcare

Primary Schools

  • East Fulton
  • Our Lady of Peace
  • Woodlands

Secondary Schools

  • Linwood High
  • St Benedict's RC High

Special Education

  • Linwood's Riverbrae School (a special education school) opened in August 2017, it replaced Clippens (formerly Mossedge Primary), the Hollybush Pre-5 Centre and Kersland Schools.

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Linwood (Renfrewshire) para niños

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