First team player Josh Hinds will visit the school next week to take part in a Question-and-Answer about the match and life as a professional footballer Not only are club partners McDades Coaches transporting the school group to and from the match but they are also donating half-time vouchers to the pupils attending the match said: “We received tremendous feedback from Calderwood Primary after their visit to the Dunfermline game Hopefully High Blantyre Primary School will enjoy their visit just as much.” Match ticket enquiries –tickets@queensparkfc.co.ukHospitality enquiries – hospitality@queensparkfc.co.ukSponsorship/Commercial enquiries – kieran@queensparkfc.co.uk The Queen’s Park Football ClubThe city StadiumMount FloridaGlasgow Phone: 0141 632 1275Email: generalenquiries@queensparkfc.co.uk Monday 5 May – ClosedTuesday 6 May – 10am – 4pmWednesday 7 May – 10am – 4pmThursday 8 May – 10am – 4pmFriday 9 May – 10am – 4pm © 2025 The Queen’s Park Football Club Designed by IanCairnsMedia A 100-year-old Scout group in Blantyre has been given community backing to take on the lease of a hall in the area Approval was given at the Housing and Technical Resources Committee to enable the 3rd Blantyre Community Group to lease High Blantyre Hall with the intention of developing an application for a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) The hall was among a number of assets that the board of South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture agreed to withdraw from as part of their plans to balance their 2024-25 budget the application for High Blantyre Hall is not a formal CAT request but the community group will be granted a 100% rent-reduction for a one-year lease to allow their CAT application to be developed The community group is a registered charity that has been set up by 3rd Blantyre Scout Group to lease and manage the facility on its behalf It follows a practice adopted by many Scout groups due to them operating under a national set of articles that are not suitable for them to take on leases which has more than 100 active participants and carries out partnership work with other local organisations has been in operation for more than 100 years It currently hires local halls but wishes to secure its future by having a set of premises where it can have long-term sustainability and grow Chair of Housing and Technical Resources at the Council said: “This is great news for the community in keeping this valuable resource open and it shows the value of the processes set up to address the lack of funding for premises like these across South Lanarkshire “It will allow this long-standing scout group to establish their own base where they can bring still more benefit to the area and it will remove the costs of operating this asset from the Community Fightback Fund and make them available for other vital purposes.” Employment support for care experienced young people Bold course set for health and social care in South Lanarkshire Elmer having a jungle adventure in Lanark next month Award for charity that connects people with jobs New Education director for South Lanarkshire Good_sports_are_a_perfect_match_for_each_other Find out more about what's happening in South Lanarkshire Five-star Crossbasket Castle in High Blantyre has announced its opening date following a £20m transformation by owners Alison and Steve Timoney and promising to bring something entirely new to the Scottish market a destination restaurant and cocktail bar as well as a brand-new entertainment-led dining experience The new 40 luxury rooms are made up of two grand suites eight deluxe rooms and twenty-six classic double/twin rooms and include handcrafted furniture with the owners taking an active part to ensure “elegance within even the smallest of detail.” Taking its name from the 1950s dance hall in nearby Hamilton Trocadero’s restaurant and cocktail bar is being overseen by Michelin star chef Michel Roux and it includes a state-of-the-art sound system as the hotel aims to attract the best artists and musicians to the venue “We are very excited to be announcing an opening date of 16 March 2025 for the new 40-bed hotel and Trocadero’s “A tribute to the elegance and allure of a bygone era we wanted to create a destination where guests could escape the ordinary and immerse themselves in a world of glamour and sophistication whilst enjoying the full experience that only the finest live music and entertainment can provide who have worked in some of the most respected five-star venues in the world and have been hand chosen to bring this unrivalled experience to us here in Scotland.” “We have taken exceptional care of all the finer details and it is thrilling to be upon the moment where we are about to open our doors Every aspect has been meticulously orchestrated to deliver an unparalleled experience and our entire team are immensely proud of what they are part of “Be assured that Crossbasket Castle is going to be the pinnacle of hotel excellence in Scotland.” The Hotel opens on 16 March and once complete the venue will have capacity for an additional 35,000 visitors each year and provide over 50 jobs for the local area delivering a projected economic boost to the South Lanarkshire economy of £5m per annum The luxury Four Angels Spa and two new eco-cottages are also due to open at Crossbasket Castle in Autumn 2025 Privacy Policy The road has been closed by officers following the incident. Emergency services were called to the northbound carriage of the A725 in High Blantyre after reports of a collision at around 6.13pm The road has been closed by officers following the incident Traffic appears to be coping well in the area at the moment UPDATE❗⌚19:06🛣️ #A725 High Blantyre⛔CLOSED Northbound due to a multi vehicle collision🚔Emergency services are at sceneTraffic coping well in the area tonight🚗 @SWTrunkRoads pic.twitter.com/USOverCQf5 A post from Traffic Scotland read: “A725 High Blantyre. “CLOSED Northbound due to a multi vehicle collision. “Traffic coping well in the area tonight. STV News is now on WhatsAppGet all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Follow STV News on WhatsAppScan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country '+scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text+' "+scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title+" "+scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text+" Almost 2000 trees have now been planted in the Blantyre area which will have a positive impact on the urban environment By providing a cooling effect in heatwaves and more resilience to extreme weather events the trees will also improve local air quality increase carbon storage and surface water management and create a more diverse place for wildlife to flourish The planting programme in Blantyre comes after the council signed a concordat agreement with the Clyde Climate Forest committing to help plant 18 million trees by 2032 across Glasgow City Region The first tree plantings were at Springwell Park and Ballantrae Road in Blantyre Children from High Blantyre Primary School worked with staff from the environmental charity Trees for Cities, and The Conservation Volunteers, who are Clyde Climate Forest delivery partners to help plant more than 1900 trees to enhance existing woodland and create new areas the chair of the council’s Climate and Sustainability Committee said: “This is a fantastic project that is part of a much bigger plan to tackle some of the key challenges we all face from the climate and biodiversity crisis to declining health and well-being “Trees are part of the solution to some of these issues They work to restore the environmental and social balance in our communities and contribute to the conditions for our economic success as well as enhancing the look and feel of our local communities provide long term benefits as they grow and enrich the local biodiversity in our communities.” Groups can share their stories on social media using the hashtag #ScotClimateWeek – more information is also available on the Stories for Change page And you can watch another film about the work of Biggar Food Growing Group on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/1vXTX0qdL3M The Clyde Climate Forest is part of the Glasgow & Clyde Valley Green Network and is also being delivered in partnership with Green Action Trust Scottish Forestry and Woodland Trust Scotland with funding from the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund A MAJOR Scots expressway is closed after a multi-vehicle smash Mercy crews have been scrambled to the East Kilbride Expressway this evening following reports of a crash in Blantyre at around 6.13pm this evening The A725 to High Blantyre is closed off northbound It is not yet known if anyone was injured in the smash They wrote: "NEW 18:13 #A725 High Blantyre CLOSED Northbound due to a multi vehicle collision Emergency services are at scene Traffic slowing on the approach tonight" Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click here Metrics details Salmonella Typhi is a human-restricted pathogen that is transmitted by the faecal–oral route and causative organism of typhoid fever Using health facility data from 2016 to 2020 this study focuses on modelling the spatial variation in typhoid risk in Ndirande township in Blantyre we developed a marked inhomogeneous Poisson process model that allows us to incorporate both individual-level and environmental risk factors The results from our analysis indicate that typhoid cases are spatially clustered with the incidence decreasing by 54% for a unit increase in the water Typhoid intensity was also higher in children aged below 18 years than in adults our results did not show evidence of a strong temporal variation in typhoid incidence We also discuss the inferential benefits of using point pattern models to characterise the spatial variation in typhoid risk and outline possible extensions of the proposed modelling framework Our work builds on the current literature by developing a spatially explicit statistical model for point pattern process typhoid data The specific objectives of the study were as follows: To investigate the association between spatial and temporal covariates with the occurrence of typhoid in Ndirande township after adjusting for individual-level markers To investigate spatial and temporal trends of typhoid in Ndirande township Ndirande exhibits a variation in elevation Total precipitation also varied from 819 millimeters (mm) to 1602 mm from 2016 to 2019 The variation in total precipitation across Ndirande was minimal with the maximum difference being 209 mm each year we included season as a temporal covariate in our modelling the STRATAA study was carried out by the Malawi-Wellcome-Liverpool Clinical Research Programme at the government-run Ndirande health clinic which is the largest clinic in Ndirande township our focus is on the passive surveillance sub-study of the STRAATA project A blood culture was collected from the patients who consented to be enrolled in the study A total of 161 typhoid cases were recorded at Ndirande health clinic in a passive surveillance study between October 2016 and February 2020 The gender and age of the study participants were collected as part of the routine data collected in the study 1 case did not have a date of collection and was therefore excluded from the analysis Handheld Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices were used to collect the locations (latitude and longitude) of the households of the typhoid cases The STRATAA study also carried out household and individual-level population censuses in 2018 we restricted our attention to those covariates that are available at a spatial resolution of 100 m2 for Ndirande our spatial covariates are: distance to Ndirande health clinic in meters The raster was cropped to a 100 m2 Ndirande grid and hygiene (WASH) survey was carried out in 14,136 households in Ndirande township in 2018 as part of the STRATAA study The WASH variables were self-reported in the questionnaire A WASH score was derived using principal components analysis (PCA) and a linear geostatistical model was used to interpolate the WASH score over the grid are supplied in the supplementary material with \(i=1\) corresponding to “male” and \(i=2\) to “female” We then use j to denote the subscript that identifies a specific age group \(j=1\) representing individuals between 0 and 5 years Our outcome variable corresponds to the locations of the reported diagnosed cases x that fall in A representing the area encompassed by the boundaries of Ndirande township follows that \(n_{ij}\) corresponds to the number of typhoid cases in a specific age-gender combination we model the cases reported within each age-gender subgroup as independent inhomogeneous Poisson processes we model the intensity of the subgroup for gender i and age j as \(\lambda _{ij}\left( {x}\right) = \exp \left( \alpha _{i} + \gamma _{j} + d\left( {x} \right) ^{\prime }\beta + \log {m_{ij}(x)} \right) .\) In the equation for the intensity we use \(\alpha _{i}\) to account for the gender effects and \(\gamma _{j}\) to account for differences across age groups The vector \(d\left( {x} \right)\) denotes a linear combination of spatial covariates: distance to Ndirande health clinic (\(\beta _1\)); elevation in meters (\(\beta _2\)); and the WASH score (\(\beta _3\)) \({m_{ij}(x)}\) is an offset corresponding to the population for an individual with gender i and age j at location x We denote the vector of unknown parameters with \(\theta\) which consists of intercepts quantifying the gender effects (\(\alpha _i\) for \(i=1,2\)) and age effects (\(\gamma _j\) for \(j=1,2,3\)) and the regression coefficients \(\beta\) The likelihood function for \(\theta\) is then given by Simulate N= 10,000 samples from the fitted point process model with mean: Fit the model to the N bootstrap realisations simulated in step (1) Store parameter estimates from each of the fitted models Use the percentile method to get a 95% confidence interval from the estimates stored in step (3) We fitted both a spatial model (2) and spatio-temporal model (equation 3 in the supplementary information) to our data We tested for temporal trends in the data by comparing the purely spatial model and model with temporal covariates using a likelihood ratio test under the null hypothesis that the spatial model should be used to fit the data We computed predicted incidence rates for each combination of marks (age and gender) while adjusting for the spatial covariates and population as defined in the intensity equation above \(\left( \lambda _{ij}\left( {x}\right) = \exp \left( \alpha _{i} + \gamma _{j} + d\left( {x} \right) ^{\prime }\beta + \log {m_{ij}(x)} \right) \right)\) In addition to plotting the age and gender predicted incidence rates on the 100m by 100m regular grid we also estimated the area-wide incidence for Ndirande The integrals in Eq. 4 were approximated using a regular grid with a spatial resolution of 100m by 100m where: \(D=\frac{1}{|W|} {\sum }_{h} 1/\hat{\lambda }\left( x_{h}\right)\); r is the distance at which the function is evaluated; \(\hat{\lambda }(x)\) is the estimated intensity from the model at location x; \(I\left\{ || x_{k}-x_{h}||\right\}\) is an indicator function that takes the value 1 if the absolute distance between any two locations \(x_{k}\) and \(x_{h}\) is less or equal to r We then validate our model using the following bootstrap procedure By plugging in the maximum likelihood estimate for \(\theta\) simulate a data set based on the inhomogenous marked point process defined in the previous section Compute the inhomogeneous K-function defined in (5) for the simulated data set in the previous step For a set of predefined distances r compute the 95\(\%\) confidence intervals using the 10,000 functions obtained from the previous steps we then conclude that the data do not show evidence against the fitted model if the K-function computed on the original data falls within the 95\(\%\) envelope for each of the age-gender combinations the head of the household provided written informed consent for household surveys on behalf of the entire household In the other components of the STRATAA study an informed consent form was signed by study participants aged at least 18 years informed consent forms were signed by parents or guardians of children less than 18 years old sought from children aged between 11 and 17 years We confirm that the methods performed in this study were conducted in accordance with appropriate regulations and guidelines we confirm that the study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki Locations of 160 typhoid cases and Ndirande health clinic from October 2016 to February 2020 The shaded area represents the study region Figure 2 illustrates the typhoid cases recorded per season from October 2016 to February 2020. This plot does not show any discernible temporal pattern. Observed typhoid cases per season from October 2016 to February 2020 Predicted incidence of typhoid by gender and age per 100,000 population The rows represent the gender of a typhoid case whilst the columns represent the age group of the case We fitted an inhomogeneous K-function to validate our spatial point pattern model The model validation plots for the final model are attached in the supplementary material the figures show that the K-functions from the observed data mostly fell within the simulated envelope for most of the distances This suggests that our model was a good fit for the data we have shown how spatial point pattern methods can be used to analyze reported cases of typhoid fever in health facilities Our approach based on a multiple-marked inhomogeneous Poisson process model allowed us to estimate typhoid incidence at the household level while adjusting for both spatial and individual-level risk factors The GPS coordinates used in this study were collected at the household level and thus may not reflect the true locations of the exposure to typhoid Future research should focus on a better understanding of the factors and mechanisms that drive the likelihood of attending health facilities to better parameterise the probability of going to the hospital and overcome the identifiability issues in the estimation The proposed modelling approach in this study may be applied to the analysis of reported cases from passive surveillance data for other diseases One of the strengths of the illustrated modelling approach is its flexibility in being adapted to any other environmentally driven diseases through the selection of suitable covariates typhoid occurrence is higher among children and in areas with households with poor WASH facilities Optimal typhoid control initiatives could focus on this age group and on improving WASH facilities in households The global burden of typhoid and paratyphoid fevers: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017 The burden of typhoid fever in low-and middle-income countries: A meta-regression approach Seasonal dynamics of typhoid and paratyphoid fever Environmental transmission of typhoid fever in an urban slum Domestic river water use and risk of typhoid fever: Results from a case-control study in Blantyre The strataa study protocol: A programme to assess the burden of enteric fever in Bangladesh Malawi and Nepal using prospective population census serological studies and healthcare utilisation surveys Distinct climate influences on the risk of typhoid compared to invasive non-typhoid Salmonella disease in Blantyre Population-based incidence of typhoid fever in an urban informal settlement and a rural area in Kenya: Implications for typhoid vaccine use in Africa Prevalence of typhoid and paratyphoid fever in the Hohoe municipality of the Volta region Ghana: A 5-year retrospective trend analysis Typhoid and Other Invasive Salmonellosis 1–13 (Vaccine-preventable diseases surveillance standards Typhoid vaccine acceleration consortium Malawi: A phase III controlled trial of the clinical efficacy of typhoid conjugate vaccine among children in Blantyre Burden of enteric fever at three urban sites in Africa and Asia: A multicentre population-based study Trends in antimicrobial resistance in bloodstream infection isolates at a large urban hospital in Malawi (1998–2016): A surveillance study Mathematical modeling to assess the drivers of the recent emergence of typhoid fever in Blantyre 1990–2018: A systematic review and meta-analysis Rainfall anomalies and typhoid fever in Blantyre Spatial and genomic data to characterize endemic typhoid transmission Spatial and temporal heterogeneities of district-level typhoid morbidities in Ghana: A requisite insight for informed public health response Ismail, K., Maiga, G., Ssebuggwawo, D., Nabende, P. & Mansourian, A. Spatio-temporal trends and distribution patterns of typhoid disease in Uganda from 2012 to 2017. Geospat. Healthhttps://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2020.860 (2020) Risk factors associated with typhoid fever in children aged 2–16 years in Karachi Combined high-resolution genotyping and geospatial analysis reveals modes of endemic urban typhoid fever transmission Partial-likelihood analysis of spatio-temporal point-process data Approximating point process likelihoods with glim the Bootstrap and Other Resampling Plans (SIAM Spatial Point Patterns: Methodology and Applications with R (CRC Press A bayesian approach for estimating typhoid fever incidence from large-scale facility-based passive surveillance data Age and gender difference of typhoid fever among paediatric patients attended at a tertiary care hospital in Bangladesh Typhoid fever and its association with environmental factors in the Dhaka metropolitan area of Bangladesh: A spatial and time-series approach A Toolkit for National Dengue Burden Estimation (World Health Organization A spatial hierarchical model for integrating and bias-correcting data from passive and active disease surveillance systems Estimating koala density from incidental koala sightings in south-east Queensland using a self-exciting spatio-temporal point process model Download references We would like to acknowledge the following STRATAA Consortium Team for their various roles in the STRATAA studies: Amit Aryja and the Nepal Family Development Foundation team The STRATAA study was funded by the Wellcome Trust (no 106158/Z/14/Z) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (no analysis and interpretation of the results A list of authors and their affiliations appears at the end of the paper Malawi Liverpool-Wellcome (MLW) Trust Programme Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Nirod Chandra Saha & Prasanta Kumar Biswas All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript All the authors declare no potential conflicts or competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-66436-9 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing: AI and Robotics newsletter — what matters in AI and robotics research More than £150,000 of major resurfacing works will be carried out on the B7012 Main Street in High Blantyre this month South Lanarkshire Council’s Roads teams will first be on site - between the junctions with Douglas Street and Craigmuir Road (main picture) – from Monday 18 until Friday 22 March A second phase of improvement work is scheduled for March 25-29 on the carriageway between numbers 270 and 309 each section of the road will be closed to all traffic during the relevant period of work with signed diversion routes in operation.  Access will be maintained for cyclists and pedestrians and as much as possible for drivers who live and work inside the closure areas with traffic marshals on-site during working hours. Delays are possible depending on the status and progress of work taking place.  neither of the areas of Main Street being repaired is sufficiently wide to enable us to maintain vehicular access and keep our workforce safe That’s why closures will be required in each phase.  “We fully appreciate the inconvenience and frustration road closures can cause and businesses in advance for their patience and cooperation As ever we would ask motorists in the area to plan ahead and build in additional journey time when they can.” access to nearby Hunthill Road (to its junction with Stonefield Crescent) will also be restricted Added Colin: “This work represents a significant investment in road maintenance and safety in one of the busiest areas of High Blantyre and we hope that all who use it will agree that the temporary inconvenience will deliver long-term benefits for the community.” The following diversions will be in place from 8 am on Monday 18 March until 6 pm on Friday 22 March:  The following diversion will be in place from 8 am on Monday 25 March until 6 pm on Friday 29 March: Auchinraith Road and Main Street and Vice Versa This website requires you to be 18+ years of age or older Please verify your age to view the content Family Shopper is a completely new retail format for me This has meant that I have been on a huge learning experience to develop new management skills and processes that are demanded by the business The larger format discount business is very different from the smaller scale Premier convenience store we have run for over 20 years and needs a different retail psychology Booker provides their Family Shopper retailers with a lot of support and this includes an operations manual This has everything that a retailer needs to operate the store at a basic level It has been a great help to me in the start-up period Of course operating the store at a basic level was never on my agenda and I have been chasing sales however I can was the twelve chest display freezers (yes twelve!) for the extensive frozen food range that Family Shopper specify I was of the belief that frozen was a dying category so have watched with utter disbelief the volume of frozen we are selling It is the category that is booming and leading the sales charge for us The bakery was and initial disappointment as for the first few months. It didn’t work and we were losing money on it every day. But with the support of our Delice de France business development manager we sorted out the range and our baking timetable and turned the category around It is now working very well and the weeks when it just was not working are a dim memory now The category that has proved to be much harder to sort out is fresh fruit and vegetables. It seems that our customer base needs to be encouraged to give fresh a go. We have signed up with Healthy Living Scotland and have been provided with a free standing display for apples I have a stand next to the checkout and we encourage our customers to add fruit to their baskets but I know that fresh fruit and veg should be part of a healthy diet Our first year with a Family Shopper store gave us much to celebrate and we held a barbecue party for our customers to share the occasion Being a business we had a fantastic selection of offers to tempt spending and spend they did delivering us our best trading day yet There is more to tell on my Family Shopper experience and I will cover this in my next article This article doesn't have any comments yet Join today to get exclusive content and subscribe to the online and print versions of Retail News © Better Retailing is part of Newtrade Media Limited These essential cookies do things like remember your progress through a form and keep you logged in Our website uses one or more analytical statistical data collection programs to assemble records about who uses the site and many other items of statistical importance that allow us to improve our effectiveness in the supply of web experiences The nature of the data collected does not give us information about who you are (by name or address) but it can give us IP address identity Information is collated into a series of reports and is studied on a regular basis The stats that these cookies generate are anonymous and cover things such as; Some pages may contain content from other sites These sites are sometimes called ‘third party’ services This tells us how many people are seeing the content and whether it’s useful Neil and Cara Rodger of Blantyre butcher D&J Rodger with their gold award(Image: Graeme Hart/Contributed/Hamilton Advertiser)A Blantyre butcher tasted success at a national competition by striking gold for one of their popular products won a gold award for their beef slice sausage at the Scottish Craft Butchers product evaluation It passed with flying colours following a grilling by expert industry judges held at Forth Valley College who assessed more than 140 entries from sausage makers from all over Scotland The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now Get all the news from your area – as well as features sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android He was presented with a certificate recognising the achievement at the organisation’s recent regional meeting Scottish Craft Butchers president George Jarron said: “It isn’t until you pitch products against others that you find out just how good they really are “To win awards in this evaluation is a great honour for the recipients because the standards are high this serves as an important signpost for sliced sausage lovers on the quest for the best.” It was sponsored by Dalziel and by Colin Hewitson (weighing and processing) with the latter saying: “Sliced sausage is an iconic product here in Scotland “The local butcher is the home of high-quality sliced sausage with many distinctive recipes that we all enjoy; w are proud to sponsor this evaluation and congratulations to all the award winners.” * Don't miss the latest he adlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Head on over and give us a like and share! An appeal to help find the 15-year-old was launched on Wednesday. Connor Rowan was last seen at Stonefield Park in Blantyre at around 8pm on Tuesday evening We can confirm that Connor Rowan aged 15 who was reported missing from the Hamilton area has been traced safe and well. Thankyou to everyone who shared our earlier appeals. pic.twitter.com/BYMru9ha1S Police confirmed on Thursday morning, the boy had been found “safe and well”. The group was initially set up to provide a warm space and food as part of the council’s Warm Welcome initiative and has continued to offer support to those who need it Blantyre Old Parish Church received £1,300 from the fund which will go towards kitchen equipment Treasurer Norma Burns said: “The Participatory Budget funding for a hot water boiler will make such a difference to the smooth running of a very busy kitchen.  “At present we are working with a well-used urn which continually requires filling up with water which is time consuming and the quantity of water in the urn has to be checked frequently.  “The fitted boiler will provide a safer setting remove that task and free up our volunteers.” Council Leader and Chair of the Community Planning Partnership said: “Participatory Budgeting works so well because it targets what local people tell us they need the work the church volunteers are doing to help those in need in Blantyre is vital “It once again shows the tremendous sense of community we have across South Lanarkshire and I would like to thank the church volunteers for all the invaluable work they do.” More information about Participatory Budgeting is available on the Community Planning website At UKC/UKH we are all experienced internet users and as such we understand why some people want to use Ad Block to remove annoying and distracting advertising that proliferates on some web sites We don't feel that UKC/UKH should be considered as such a site We have developed a site that has subtle and appropriate advertising; we don't use pop-ups we don't force you to read adverts before you can see content and we don't use third party ad servers dishing up totally inappropriate advertising We have worked incredibly hard over the years to make sure that we keep a good balance between advertising and editorial content Please could you consider disabling Adblock when visiting UKC/UKH Willie Arrol told me about some modern sport style routes he had bolted These are unusual routes which can be found on the sandstone block piers of the long time abandoned Greenhall railway viaduct adjacent to the village of High Blantyre in South Lanarkshire The climbing is surprisingly varied and enjoyable considering the uniform nature of the stonework being climbed Holds tend to be either crimpy or of the two finger pocket variety but the odd jug and sloper appear along the way The routes are long and sustained by West of Scotland standards - those without EICA Ratho stamina will find the routes very pumpy This all adds up to fantastic training for the greater ranges Just to be clear in case there was any doubt the venue has been developed as a sport crag and dry toolers are NOT welcome midges & cleggs (horse flies) can all be a nuisance at times in the summer take repellent or pick a day with a breeze Topo - A basic topo guide for the Towers can be found in the crag photo gallery on this web site Grades – the climbs have been graded for red-point ascents Giving on-sight grades for these climbs would by default offer very inflated grades for the red-point On-sighting here is a battle due to the high number of blind holds and the sheer number of poor holds which don't look significantly different from the good holds Give yourself an extra pat on the back if you do manage to battle through for the on-sight as not having a bit of sequence knowledge and your favorite holds chalked-up makes a big diffrence here It is a matter of debate whether anything climbing a stone wall could ever merit any stars however I’ve allocated "local stars" as a means of highlighting the best climbing the venue has to offer Equipment – Willie typically used 86mm and 100mm long M10 stainless steel expansion bolts and longer M12 bolts at the two stainless steel lower-off rings it should be noted that the use of long stainless steel glue-in bolts for new and replacement bolts is to be encouraged The routes typically have about eight bolts to the lower-off rings It is to be hoped that anyone tempted to put up further routes will bolt in a similar safe sport style i.e Be aware a few rogue short mild steel bolts exist on the route Orion however where these are present additional bolts were added so any possible future failure would not be catastrophic A 50m rope and a rack of at least 10 quickdraws is recommended allow time for the stone to dry after rain to avoid breaking holds The quickest drying routes are on the narrow side faces that catch the sun Don’t be tempted to manufacture additional holds if you are having difficulty with a route - climbing is supposed to be difficult The Towers can be reached via Blantyre train station and a 30 minute walk The piers (structure EKB/3) are now the responsibility of Historical Railways Estate who are the body tasked with annual inspections and repair of such abandoned railway structures traversed by a way-marked riverside footpath popular with dog walkers The woodland is managed by South Lanarkshire Council's countryside rangers I’m fairly certain dear old Willie did not seek permission to place bolts in the piers I guess he didn’t feel the need on account of the Towers being a long time local training venue with many old pegs from long forgotten ascents still present bear in mind that although the Council are aware climbing takes place here and are currently choosing to turn a blind eye the right to climbing at this venue is a bit woolly There is a local community group that takes an active interest in the park and have good communication with the Council management team so it goes without saying there is a need for climbers not partake in any anti-social behaviour than might upset this group These preferences will be saved and used for any crag page you visit and can be changed at any point by clicking the button again Adding too many columns to a small device may require horizontal scrolling Fynn McIntosh and Alfie Lindner-Kelly came out top among 34 participating teams from across the local authority area – in their school’s first year of taking part in the international-themed quiz Now the Primary Six quartet are preparing to take on teams from across Scotland in June’s national final at the McEwan Hall in Edinburgh High Blantyre’s pupils studied hard at home and school and successfully answered a host of questions on European geography culture and general knowledge covering topics ranging from currencies to sport The annual competition is run by the Scottish European Educational Trust and is open to all P6 pupils across Scotland – and head teacher Kirsteen Helsby praised the school’s “amazing” team saying: “They have worked so hard and are a credit to the school and their parents.” She added: “This is our first time entering the Euroquiz and we are so excited to have the opportunity to represent our school and South Lanarkshire at the national finals.” * Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here Motorists are being advised that access to Bothwell and Hamilton via the B7071 Bellshill Road (from Whistleberry Toll to Bothwell Bridge roundabout) will be restricted from 24th March for approximately 4 weeks Traffic travelling towards Bothwell and Hamilton from the M74 Junction 5 Raith and the A725 Bellshill-Bypass will be diverted via A725 southbound (East Kilbride Expressway) and returned via the B7012 High Blantyre junction This traffic management is required to construct the new approach roads to Raith Junction including the removal of Whistleberry Toll roundabout which will be replaced by a new ‘T’ junction with traffic signals said: “We are approaching a major milestone in the construction of the new Raith Junction The approach roads at Raith are nearing completion on the south side of the roundabout and over the next month traffic will be moved onto the permanent alignment “This will include opening the new bridge on the south of Raith roundabout which will ease congestion for traffic leaving the northbound M74 at junction 5 and those travelling towards Bellshill.” traffic on the A725 East Kilbride Expressway northbound will follow the new road alignment to a ‘T’ junction controlled by new traffic signals at its junction with the B7071 Bellshill Road Mr Reid added: “The final traffic switch on the south side of Raith will take place at the end of April when two-way traffic will run on the B7071 from Raith roundabout towards Bothwell and Hamilton traffic between Raith and Whistleberry has been one-way so a two-way arrangement will be a significant change to the current layout We are advising road users to drive carefully and adhere to the signage as they get used to the new road layout “The good news is that the construction of the roads on the south side of Raith is scheduled to be completed by the end of April with the exception of the underpass which is the last piece of the jigsaw.” the underpass will provide free flow for traffic from the A725 East Kilbride Expressway to the Bellshill By-pass Work on the excavation of the underpass is now well underway with some of the 1600 piles which have been constructed now visible road users and pedestrians are being advised that the (B756) Bellshill Road will be closed from 4th April for approximately two weeks The closure is required to extend the existing M74 motorway bridge over Bellshill Road in Uddingston Road users should follow the signed diversions via the A721 New Edinburgh Road 24 hour shuttle bus which will operate during the footpath closure We use cookies to collect information about how you use the Police Scotland website We use this information to make the website work as well as possible and improve our services A 28-year-old man has been found guilty of reset following a robbery after an investigation into an incident which involved a high value theft of cryptocurrency.John-Ross Rennie from Lanarkshire was convicted following a trial which concluded at the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday 2023.The robbery took place at an address in Blantyre on Wednesday was forcibly transferred to an account which following investigation was found to be linked to Rennie A car and other valuable items were also taken Rennie was not present during the robbery but has been found guilty after it was established he had benefitted.Detective Inspector Craig Potter of Police Scotland’s Cyber Investigations unit said: “This was complex investigation and the first robbery in Scotland to involve tracing the movements of stolen cryptocurrency.“Specialist cybercrime officers were able to follow the movement of funds to show he had been responsible for the bitcoin wallet which received the stolen funds.“This is a complex and constantly evolving technology This conviction demonstrates Police Scotland capability and commitment to tackling criminality involving the digital space and bringing criminals operating in this world to justice.”Rennie will be sentenced at a later date Police Scotland support those who wish to become police officers special constables or police staff by hosting various online and in-person recruitment events throughout the year supported victims and a thriving workforce Read about our 2030 vision and three-year plan Worried that your partner or the partner of someone you know might have an abusive past we'd appreciate your feedback on the service we provided Police Scotland has been working to make its websites more accessible - read our accessibility statement Hamilton Sheriff Court.(Image: Hamilton Advertiser)A paedophile who sexually abused young boys in Blantyre decades ago has been jailed for five years William Dunn skipped bail in 1998 after being charged and made a new life for himself in the south of England But justice finally caught up with the 61-year-old at Hamilton Sheriff Court this week indecent and libidinous behaviour towards two boys One victim was aged between six and 10 when Dunn targeted him repeatedly between April 1980 and April 1985 The second boy was aged five or six when he was abused on a single occasion between March 1991 and March 1993 denied the charges but was found guilty after trial he failed to turn up at court in May that year In 2018 he was jailed for 22 months for grooming a teenage boy online then giving him alcohol showering him with gifts and getting him to send intimate pictures in light of his record and the nature of the latest charges a significant prison sentence had to be imposed She also put Dunn on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here TWO pupils and a member of staff at a Lanarkshire school have tested positive for coronavirus The three individuals from High Blantyre Primary School are now isolating after testing positive in the past two days ⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates The staff member tested positive on Saturday, August 22, while the two children tested positive today (Sunday, August 23).  All three last attended the school on Thursday. All pupils and associated staff in primary three and four classes (P3 – room six and P4 – room ten) are being asked not to attend school.  They will be offered testing on Wednesday 26 August and asked to self-isolate until they receive confirmation of a negative result.  All parents have been notified and the school will open as normal on Monday.  Dr Josephine Pravinkumar, NHS Lanarkshire’s consultant in public health medicine, said: “Our test and protect team will continue to contact anyone who may be affected. Public health advice is being given to these individuals and they are being told to self-isolate and offered testing as required.  “There is evidence that mixing socially in the community without maintaining physical distancing measures can transmit the virus. It is therefore important that people remain vigilant and follow physical distancing guidance.   Dr Pravinkumar continued: “We are aware that there will be concern among both children and their parents at this time. We would like to reassure the local community that appropriate measures are being implemented.”  executive director of education resources at South Lanarkshire Council said: “The council is fully supporting the incident management team “We will continue to respond to advice from NHS Lanarkshire and provide information and reassurance to parents and carers We fully understand that parents and pupils will be anxious No blame is attached to anyone who is interviewed by Test and Protect but it is important that as much information as possible is given support within school is available to any pupil who is anxious or has concerns.”  The East Kilbride Expressway was shut in both directions at around 12.33pm on Thursday. Emergency services, including three appliances from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, were called to the A725, East Kilbride Expressway, at around 12.33pm on Thursday. Traffic Scotland reported that the road was closed in both directions and that heavy smoke was affecting vision in the area. As of 4pm, the northbound carriage remains closed but the southbound has reopened. Kevin McTear, who drove by the vehicle, said: “The bus is completely burnt out. It’s honestly some state.” A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 12.33pm on Thursday, April 11, to reports of a single-decker bus on fire on the A725 East Kilbride Expressway. “Operations Control mobilised three appliances to the scene. “There are no reported casualties, and the crews remain in attendance.” Traffic Scotland wrote on X: “The A725 at High Blantyre is CLOSED in both directions due to a vehicle fire. “Emergency services are at the scene. Heavy smoke affecting vision in the area so do take care.” INVESTIGATORS found a badly damaged pistol inside a burned out motor where an alleged shooting victim’s body was found Forensic scientist Rachel Sharpe told the High Court in Glasgow the weapon was discovered beside the left leg of deceased Rafal Lyko The Italian Beretta 9mm gun was later found to have five live bullets inside four in the magazine and one in the barrel The details were revealed to jurors at the trial of Darren Owen, 23, and Thomas Wilson, 26, who deny murdering Mr Lyko Ms Sharpe, a Scottish Police Authority firearms expert told the court: “We had been informed that there was an initial search of the vehicle and a firearm was located in the footwell.” Advocate Depute Lorraine Glancy KC asked the witness about reports she had prepared in relation to an investigation into Mr Lyko’s death on February 11 The vehicle was later transferred to the Gartcosh Crime Campus where further analysis was carried by investigators including Ms Sharpe. Ms Sharpe said: “At the garage we were shown to the front passenger side. The pistol was found within. “In an area to the left leg was a self-loading pistol in very poor condition.” Further examinations uncovered four cartridges described as “9mm Luger bullets” within the magazine and a fifth inside the chamber Ms Sharpe told the court the weapon was not capable of being fired due to the damage But by removing important metal parts from inside the "melted" plastic casing and placing them in a “stock gun” they were able to test fire the pistol Ms Glancy asked: “There is a UK-wide database used to see if it can be connected to any other crimes and that was negative in this case?” Owen and Wilson deny murdering Mr Lyko by discharging a firearm at him and shooting him in the head deny attempting to murder Scott Bennett by discharging a firearm and shooting his head on December 3 Guthrie and Harvey also deny attempting to murder lawyer Joseph Shields by striking him on the head and body with a knife in July The pair are also accused of murdering Gary More in Airdrie on September 6 that year The trial continues before Judge Lord Clark A DAD allegedly gunned down outside his Lanarkshire home will be laid to rest tomorrow - one month after his death. Graham Williamson - known to pals as Kermit - was allegedly shot in Blantyre on August 17. The 26-year-old was rushed to hospital but died a short time later. His grieving family and friends will finally lay him to rest tomorrow at an intimate funeral. But the dad-of-one's hearse will travel through High Blantyre, and his childhood Burnbrae Road, for anybody looking to pay their respects. Two men have appeared in court charged with Graham's murder. 24 - both from Hamilton - are also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by prosecutors The pair made no plea at the town's sheriff court and were remanded in custody We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at scoop@thesun.co.uk or call 0141 420 5300 The bus fire on the East Kilbride expressway at Blantyre was reported just after 12.30pm(Image: Jim Donnelly/Contributed/Hamilton Advertiser)A bus has burst into flames on the busy East Kilbride expressway Firefighters spent 90 minutes tackling the coach blaze on the A725 near Blantyre with the road being closed in both both directions for two hours No casualties have been reported and emergency services have now departed the scene but the northbound carriageway currently remains closed which was not carrying passengers at the time was reported just after 12.30pm on Thursday afternoon with Traffic Scotland posting on social media site X that “heavy smoke [was] affecting vision in the area” All three fire crews attending the incident left the scene just before 2pm while the opposite southbound carriageway for motorists heading towards East Kilbride reopened half an hour later Lanarkshire Live was told by a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson: “We were alerted at 12.33pm on April 11 to reports of a single-decker bus on fire on the A725 East Kilbride expressway “Operations Control mobilised three appliances to the scene; there are no reported casualties Crews left at 1.55pm after ensuring the area was safe.” we were requested to attend a bus on fire on the A725 East Kilbride Road “Emergency services attended and there were no reports of any injuries and there were no passengers on the bus “The eastbound carriageway towards Blantyre is closed at the junction with the B7012 while emergency services are in attendance.” Traffic Scotland updated drivers just before 2.30pm saying: “The northbound carriageway remains closed due to a vehicle fire Southbound has now opened; emergency services at scene.” an intelligent loyalty scheme and a shop you want to spend time in betterRetailing discovers why Mo Razzaq’s Family Shopper is the UK’s top store Family Shopper / Subway / Roxy's Desserts / Post Office Richard MarshallA Lanarkshire boxer who inflicted “grotesque injuries” on his neighbour by breaking every bone in the man’s face before stabbing him to death has been given a life sentence Shane Young, 22, struck Richard Marshall 40 times at his flat in Blantyre on March 31 The High Court in Glasgow heard how Young repeatedly punched and kicked Mr Marshall to the head and body causing a fracture to every bone in his face He then went on to arm himself with what was believed to be a screwdriver before plunging the weapon into Mr Marshall’’s body Young then locked his bruised and bloodied victim in the flat and fled the scene - his actions delayed the response of emergency service workers who attempted to save Mr Marshall’s life Young observed proceedings at the High Court in Edinburgh via video link from prison where he had been placed on remand Judge Lord Young told the callous killer - who had plans to become a professional boxer prior to his crime - that he’d spend a minimum of 18 years behind bars Lord Young - who had moments earlier heard a submission from defence lawyer Brian McConnachie KC - said: “You have been found guilty of the murder of Richard Marshall “You inflicted horrific injuries on Mr Marshall - you fractured every bone in his face You left him lying close to death in a room and you locked the door and that hampered the response of the emergency services “I have taken into account everything which your counsel Mr McConnachie has said on your behalf the sentence of the court is fixed at life imprisonment I will fix the punishment part for 18 years.” a jury at the High Court in Glasgow heard prosecutor Greg Farrell tell them that Young’s motive for the attack could have arisen from a disagreement between the pair about noise The court heard that Mr Marshall had tried to confront Young at his flat months earlier and he called the police Mr Marshall's mother Betty told the jury in her evidence that she was also aware of a dispute about music She stated she was to go shopping with her son on the day of his murder Mrs Marshall claimed that her son had initially came out to see her in her car before heading back inside to get changed But she said she was alarmed as she saw a man running from the building and she went to investigate A 999 call was made and entry was later forced Officers found Mr Marshall in a pool of blood and was still breathing however life was pronounced extinct after medics worked on him for 40 minutes Young told the jury in his evidence that Mr Marshall had came to his door with a knife and that he suffered a hand injury trying to fend him off Young claimed he was initially hit with a lamp before a struggle took place between the pair Young stated he “feared” for his life" and used to his "boxing training” to punch him twice He said Mr Marshall fell and hit his head against objects Young then claimed it was Mr Marshall who picked up the screwdriver and tried to attack him with it but was able to disarm him the court heard how social workers who had interviewed Young for a report found that he had a happy childhood and also had plans to join the army The court also heard that hew was a first offender and Mr McConnachie said his client had “acted out of character” during the incident The King’s Counsel also told Lord Young that he should consider sentencing guidelines for people aged under 25 These official guidelines state that young accused people should receive sentences focused on their rehabilitation due to a lack of maturity Mr McConnachie also said that his client wanted to pursue a career as a professional boxer and that he realised the impact that Mr Marshall’s death has had on his family He added: “Even although this was a catastrophic offence it was nonetheless his first offence In the circumstances Mr Young is concerned by the circumstances in which the family of the deceased find themselves in “He realises that the family of the deceased find themselves in their own life sentence in the sense that they have lost their son and loved one “These are a set of circumstances in which resulted in Mr Young acting entirely out of character.” Lord Young told the accused that the only sentence available to court was life imprisonment as members of Mr Marshall’s family sat in court the heartbroken family of Richard released the following statement: “We are completely devastated by the loss of Richard “He will be cherished in our hearts forever.” A MAN was shot to death in his back garden after a rival was humiliated in an online video Graham Williamson was executed in broad daylight at his home in Blantyre, Lanarkshire on August 17 2020 Jurors watched horror CCTV footage of a masked gunman racing up the street blasting the 26 year-old in the back before jumping into a getaway car Derek Felvus, 25, James Baillie, 26, and Thomas Duris, 28, were yesterday convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of the murder The trial heard of a "toxic feud" between flash drug dealer Felvus The extreme violence was sparked after Felvus was recorded hiding in a Chinese restaurant after being confronted days before the killing Felvus then teamed up with Baillie and Duris to get revenge on Graham. Afterwards Duris - the man who pulled the trigger - boasted to an associate: "No one will want it any more. "This will take us to another level." The trial heard there had been a number of tit for tat incidents in the lead-up to the shooting Days before there had been an incident near The Libertine pub in Hamilton Graham and his associates confronted Felvus and a friend at The Shanghai Teahouse in Bothwell It was there panicking Felvus was captured trying to hold a door closed while begging staff for a knife to defend himself The footage was then put on Instagram In his closing speech, prosecutor Greg Farrell said: "The purpose was to embarrass and humiliate Felvus, show him hiding and calling for the police "Felvus (in his evidence) accepted he was embarrassed "This did not fit with the public image Felvus was trying to project to the world." The court heard Felvus soon took to social media himself He posted a video directed at his rivals stating: "See you soon boys." Mr Farrell said this was a threat which Felvus "intended to act on" and that he knew the "cavalry was on the way" to help Duris arrived from Spain and Baillie was used as a getaway driver Graham was then murdered at his home as he dealt with a vehicle recovery firm called out to collect his burnt-out car the gunman came from behind and shot the dad In the space of 14 seconds of getting out the stolen Skoda the gunman then returned to the vehicle joining Felvus and Baillie Graham initially staggered onto the street before collapsing The killers returned to a hideaway in Edinburgh where it was said they "bragged" to others and were "glorifying" it Felvus was also described as "freaking out" warning a man to keep quiet and get rid of phones The trio then fled to Liverpool and abroad following the murder Felvus and Baillie were initially arrested weeks later before Duris was hauled back from Spain Duris claimed he had not even been in the car Felvus gave evidence and insisted Duris had shot Graham - but that he had been unaware the gunman had a firearm He believed only physical violence was going to occur Mr Farrell put to Felvus that he knew "very well" a gun was in the car that day I am gutted what happened to the guy." Lord Fairley deferred sentencing until June 17 in Edinburgh This was an execution in broad daylight." We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at scoop@thesun.co.uk or call 0141 420 5300 South Lanarkshire Council’s Roads and Transportation Services propose to carry out major carriageway resurfacing works on a section of Main Street Blantyre from its junction with Douglas Street to its junction with Craigmuir Road The works are due to commence on Monday 18th March 2024 at 08:00hrs and be completed by Friday March 22nd 2024 at 18:00hrs the road is not sufficiently wide to safely maintain vehicular access while the works are being undertaken and subsequently the road will be closed from its junction with Douglas Street to its junction with Craigmuir Road As a result of this work Hunthill Road from its junction with Stonefield Crescent to its junction with Main Street will also be closed General traffic will be unable to travel through the closure during the works although we will endeavour to maintain access for businesses/ residents who live/ work within the closure wherever possible There may be instances where access and egress will be significantly delayed depending on the status and progress of works on site it may be advisable to park your vehicle outside the road closure prior to works starting Traffic Marshals and site staff will be there to advise and assist residents during the working day Access for pedestrian and cyclist access will be maintained through out the works For full image, click HERE For traffic travelling East on the A725 continue East to Douglas Street Off ramp For traffic west of the closure a diversion will be in place via Hamilton Road A725 Douglas Street Off-slip and Douglas Street For traffic east of the closure a diversion will be via Douglas Street We would request that all road users allow additional time for all journeys which involve the use of Main Street Blantyre during the times indicated and that they plan their journey accordingly We apologise for any inconvenience that may occur during these essential road improvement works SW Trunk Roads has updated its cookie policy We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our websites This includes cookies from third party social media websites if you visit a page which contains embedded content from social channels or if you share content Such third party cookies may track your use of SW Trunk Roads websites If you continue without changing your settings we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on SW Trunk Roads website you can change your cookie settings at any time.