Lanark

History

The town's name is believed to come from the Brythonic meaning "clear space, glade". In May 1297, the action at Lanark is said to have seen William Wallace, later a prominent figure in the First War of Scottish Independence, joining the uprisings taking place across Scotland with an attack on the English Sheriff of Lanark, William de Heselrig, killing the sheriff and many of his men. Lanark originally had four town gates: West Port, East Port, Wellgate and Castlegate. West Port gate was demolished in the 1770s. Toll gates were constructed at Cartland Bridge and Lanark Racecourse around 1820. These were relocated to the former site of Lanark Auction Market after tolls were abolished in 1883, but the Cartland Bridge toll gates are still extant, and are protected as a listed building. The first aviation meeting in Scotland was held at Lanark Racecourse between 6 and 13 August 1910. This location was chosen because the land was relatively flat, the racecourse already had facilities for a paying public, there were stables to act as hangars for the aeroplanes, and the racecourse was accessible both by road and by rail, especially as the Caledonian Railway Company was prepared to construct a new station near the main entrance. The aeroplanes were transported to the meeting by rail, as aviation technology at the time was not advanced enough to safely fly there. The Lanark meeting took place shortly after a similar event in Bournemouth at which Charles Rolls died. Influenced by this, it was decided that no aircraft would fly closer than away from the spectators. For the first time, aeroplanes were accurately timed over a straight measured distance, allowing the first world records to be set, covering flights over . The meeting was described by The Aero magazine as 'the…