Local Information - useful details for prospective house buyers and residents
Council Services | Community Councils | Education | Transport | Communications | Post Offices | Shops | Activities and Entertainment | Facebook Groups
- Council Services
Benefits, Bins, Council Tax, Housing, Licenses, Lighting, Pavements, Planning, Roads, Social Care and more
- South Lanarkshire Council (Abington, Crawford, Crawfordjohn, Elvanfoot, Lamington, Leadhills, Roberton, Wiston)
http://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/ Customer Services 0303 123 1015
- Dumfries & Galloway Council (Wanlockhead)
http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/ Customer Services 030 33 33 3000
Community Councils
According to http://info.dumgal.gov.uk/communitycouncils Community Councils were introduced mainly to gather public opinion and pass these opinions on to local authorities and other public sector bodies. Here are some examples of what you can expect your Community Council to help you with:
- How do we get a salt bin for our street?
- More detail about Planning and licensing applications
- How do we get something done about potholes
- Power cuts, water supply disruption – knowledge about vulnerable people to pass on to public sector bodies
- Advice about antisocial behaviour
- Duneaton (Abington, Crawfordjohn, Lamington, Roberton, Wiston) meets 1st Tuesday of each month at 7.30 pm at Roberton Village Hall (or via Zoom as required).
- Leadhills (Leadhills) meets once per quarter at 7.30 pm in Leadhills Village Hall.
- Wanlockhead (Wanlockhead) details are here.
Education
- Nurseries
None directly in the area
Many children go to the Rigside and Rural Communities Nursery in Rigside, or Bizzyberry Nursery in Biggar.
- Primary Schools
Abington (Abington, Crawfordjohn) 01864 502341 http://www.abington-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk/
Crawford 01864 502686 http://www.crawford-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk/
Lamington 01899 850249 http://www.lamington-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk/
Leadhills (Elvanfoot, Leadhills, Wanlockhead) 01659 74202 http://www.leadhills-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk/
Wiston (Roberton, Wiston) 01899 850634 http://www.wiston-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk/index.htm
- High Schools
Children then move to Biggar High School, outside the 9 villages, 01899 222050.
- Further Education
West Lothian College run a SCQF Level 5 course Preparation for Apprenticeship in Construction at Wiston.
There are no college campuses within the 9 villages. The nearest one is New College Lanarkshire (Motherwell campus).
Transport
There is very little public transport. If you live away from the main roads and commute you will probably need a 4x4 for the winter. The A702, A73 and M74 are all priority roads for gritting and snow clearance in the winter.
- Trains
There are no train stations within the 9 villages.
The nearest stations for mainline services e.g. to London are Motherwell MTH (north of the 9 villages) or Carlisle CAR (south).
Sanquhar SQH (south of Crawfordjohn and Wanlockhead) is on the Dumfries to Glasgow line, services are operated by Scotrail.
Lanark LNK, Hamilton HNC or Motherwell MTH Scotrail trains will take you into Glasgow Central.
Carstairs CRS (north of the area) goes to Edinburgh Waverley EDB, or you can change in Glasgow. Both options are run by Scotrail.
- Buses
The X74 (Stagecoach) stops at Abington Services and can take you into Glasgow via Lesmahagow and Hamilton, or down to Dumfries via Moffat.
Stagecoach run a Dumfries-Biggar-Edinburgh service 101 & 102 that stops at Elvanfoot, Crawford, Abington Village, Abington Services, Roberton and Lamington.
Stuart's Coaches (on behalf of SPT) run a Lanark-Leadhills-Wanlockhead service 30 & 31 that stops at Wiston Road End, Roberton, Abington, Crawford, Leadhills and Wanlockhead.
MyBus Rural (SPT) runs an on-demand Crawfordjohn-Lanark Three Valleys service 900 that stops at Crawfordjohn. Journeys need to be booked in advance and conditions apply.
Ad hoc buses are run from Leadhills to visit shopping centres and other towns, see Leadhills Facebook page .
Bus trips are occasionally organised by the WRI branches.
Communications
- Broadband
There are BT exchanges at Abington, Crawford and Leadhills that service the 9 villages. BT and the usual resellers offer their own packages. In general, the closer you are to the exchange the faster speeds you will get and there are some areas without any coverage. You can check BT’s plans for your postcode at http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/.
Elvanfoot has fibre to the home following a successful Clyde Wind Farm Fund/BT community-led project.
Roberton also has superfast broadband thanks to community action.
There are no cable companies operating in the area.
Some villages/houses have no broadband today and will still not get superfast services after the exchange upgrades (‘white areas’). Some will get broadband for the first time, but it will not be superfast.
Mobile dongles may be an alternative depending on your location, some people are getting 60MB+ download speeds on 4G.
Satellite is also used successfully by many people living outside the main villages. Sky, Tooway and many others are available.
- Phone Coverage
Landlines are available for almost all houses. If you are particularly remote and need a new line then the installation costs are likely to be very high.
4G/3G coverage is generally available but in some remote areas coverage is patchy or non-existent (voice as well as data). It’s worth testing at your particular property and asking neighbours what they use since provider coverage can vary wildly.
Post Offices
Abington General Store 87 Carlisle Rd, Abington, ML12 6SD 01864 502374
Mon-Fri 6:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Sat 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Sun 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Shops
- Abington
Abington General Store 87 Carlisle Rd, Abington, ML12 6SD 01864 502374
Mon-Fri 6:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Sat 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Sun 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
- Leadhills
Leadhills General Store 37 Main Street, Leadhills, ML12 6XP 01659 74625
Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Sat 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Sun 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Public Holidays: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Activities and Entertainment
- See the GANDL What's On page
- See the Duneaton Community Council Clubs and Groups page
Facebook groups also have details of events that are organised at shorter notice.
- Local Halls
Abington Village Hall - South Lanarkshire Council Tel: 01698 476247, option 4 www.slleisureandculture.co.uk
Coulter Village Hall - South Lanarkshire Council Tel: 01698 476247, option 4 www.slleisureandculture.co.uk
Crawford Village Hall - South Lanarkshire Council Tel: 01698 476247, option 4 www.slleisureandculture.co.uk
Crawfordjohn Village Hall - Community owned, Pauline Sandford [email protected] 07979 031186/01864 502862
Lamington Holy Trinity Chapel - Donations to Biggar Museum Trust via Bob Riddell [email protected]
Leadhills Village Hall - South Lanarkshire Council Tel: 01698 476247, option 4 www.slleisureandculture.co.uk
Roberton Village Hall - South Lanarkshire Council Tel: 01698 476247, option 4 www.slleisureandculture.co.uk
Wanlockhead Community Centre - Community run, 01659 74529
Wiston Village Hall - Community owned, [email protected]
Wiston Lodge - https://wistonlodge.com/facilities/ or 01899 850228
- Local Attractions
Crawfordjohn Heritage Venture http://crawfordjohn.org/
Leadhills Heritage Railway http://www.leadhillsrailway.co.uk/
Leadhills Miners Library www.leadhillslibrary.co.uk
WanlockheadLead Mining Museum http://www.leadminingmuseum.co.uk/
- Pubs/Hotels
Crawford: Heatherghyll Motel https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heatherghyll-Motel/465763673620743
Crawfordjohn: Colebrooke Arms https://www.facebook.com/ColebrookeArms
Leadhills: Hopetoun Arms http://www.hopetounarms.co.uk/
Wanlockhead: Wanlockhead Inn http://www.wanlockheadinn.co.uk/
Facebook Groups
Each village has their own Facebook group and there are also buy/swap/sell pages. Each has slightly different rules for what can be posted, please check them first (especially if you're a business). They're a great way to ask for recommendations, find out what's going on and maybe grab yourself some bargains! You may need to ask to join some of the groups.
GANDL's Facebook group covers all the Nine Villages.
- Village pages/groups
Abington
Crawford & Elvanfoot
Crawfordjohn
Lamington
Leadhills
Roberton
Wanlockhead
Wiston
- Buy/swap/sell pages
Crawford and surrounding areas
Biggar area
If you spot an error or you have information you'd like to add to this page please contact us via the link at the top of the page.