Plans have been unveiled to recreate the lost East Ayrshire village where Liverpool legend Bill Shankly was born and raised, with his former family home set to become the centrepiece of a new social history heritage destination.
The proposals were announced on the 113th anniversary of Shankly’s birth and are being led by his eldest granddaughter, Karen Gill. The project aims to reconstruct the two-room house where Shankly grew up with his nine siblings, alongside a small visitor centre and sustainable accommodation.
Glenbuck, a former coal-mining village in the hills of Scotland’s East Ayrshire, was largely demolished after its coal seam was exhausted. Today, only the foundations of several houses in the main terrace, known as Monkey Row, remain.
A memorial stone to Shankly stands on the hillside and continues to attract Liverpool supporters. Scarves and other tributes left at the site reflect the lasting affection for the manager who transformed Liverpool after taking charge of the club in 1959.
The Glenbuck project has already established a not-for-profit social enterprise company, Shankly Glenbuck Village Community Interest Company. Its immediate priorities are feasibility studies, commissioning architectural plans and securing funding to appoint a project manager.
A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to raise the initial £250,000 required for that work.
“There was nothing left to signal that this was such a special place,” said Ms Gill. “Our first stage is to rebuild his house as it was. That is part of a larger regeneration project to bring people to this beautiful place and join other communities together. It is what my granddad would have wanted. This is not a commercial project. It is community based.”
The Scottish Government, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and East Ayrshire Council have previously supported the creation of a basic industrial heritage site at Glenbuck. Information boards there describe the area’s history as an iron ore and coal-mining community.
The site also recalls Glenbuck’s remarkable contribution to football. Its local team, the Glenbuck Cherrypickers, was coached by Shankly’s father and produced an extraordinary number of professional players. The pitch used by the team can still be seen.
The Cherrypickers may have taken their name from the miners who sifted coal, and their former players went on to represent leading clubs in England and Scotland. Several members of the Shankly family played for the side, as did Sandy Brown and Sandy Tait, who were both part of the 1901 FA Cup-winning team.
Shankly left Glenbuck to join Carlisle United before enjoying a lengthy playing career with Preston North End. He later moved into management and took charge of an ailing Liverpool in 1959, beginning the rebuilding process that established the club among England’s leading sides.
In Liverpool, his influence remains visible through the supporters’ union that bears his name. The organisation continues to be a significant presence as wealthy American investors trade shares in the club Shankly rebuilt during the 1960s.
The village where he developed many of his beliefs was marked by hardship. Shankly’s parents brought up five boys and five girls in a small house without running water or electricity, while other Glenbuck families lived in similarly difficult conditions.
‘The only way they could survive was if they worked together and I think this is where my granddad got so many of his ideals,’ said Ms Gill.
That collective spirit helped produce a football team of unusual quality despite Glenbuck’s small size. The village was also known for its political independence. During a miners’ struggle in the 1870s, mine owners warned residents that anyone who gave socialist politician Keir Hardie hospitality during his visit would be evicted. Glenbuck nevertheless remained defiant.
Shankly later described the community in his own words: ‘We had our pride and our characters, who made their own world, the best of a bad lot, the best of isolation. We talked to each other and about each other. We had fun, jokes, laughs and exaggeration.’
He continued to return to Glenbuck after his retirement from management in 1974, which came painfully early. Ms Gill remembers walking through the surrounding hills with him and the rest of the family.
‘We want to complete the circle and help others to discover this beautiful place,’ she said.
More information about the project is available at www.shanklyglenbuckvillagecic.co.uk.
