Rutherglen

Rutherglen Scottish Gaelic: An Ruadh Ghleann Scots: Ru'glen
Population	25,000
OS grid reference	NS607617
Council area	South Lanarkshire
Lieutenancy area	Lanarkshire
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLASGOW
Postcode district	G73
Dialling code	0141
Police	Scottish
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Scottish Parliament	Glasgow Rutherglen

Rutherglen (pronounced: ruh-ther-glen) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Rutherglen comes from the Gaelic An Ruadh Ghleann, meaning "the red valley". In 1975, it lost its own local council and administratively became a component of the City of Glasgow. In 1996 Rutherglen was reallocated to the South Lanarkshire council area.

Map of Rutherglen in 1923

History

Rutherglen remains the oldest royal burgh in Scotland, being more than 500 years older than Glasgow. It was a centre of heavy industry, having a long coal mining tradition which died out by 1950, and was until the 1960s home to the infamous White's chemical works, which was responsible for huge swathes of the area from southern Glasgow across to the town of Cambuslang being polluted with chromium waste. Rutherglen, and most of the towns encircling the city, are now dormitory suburbs of Glasgow.