Bishopton, Renfrewshire

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Bishopton
Bishopton's location locally and nationally
Demographics
Population:	5,157 (1991 Census)
Administration
Local Government Region:	Renfrewshire
Nation:	Scotland
Geography
Traditional County:	Renfrewshire
Former Region:	Strathclyde
Grid reference:	NS435712
Post Office and Telephone
Post Town:	Bishopton
Postcode:	PA7
Dialling Code:	01505

Bishopton (Baile an Easbaig in Scottish Gaelic) is a large village in Renfrewshire, Scotland, a few miles west of Erskine.

1 Transport Links
2 The former ROF Bishopton site
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Transport Links

Bishopton sits a couple of miles from the southern end of the Erskine Bridge, which spans the River Clyde between Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire. Part way along the B815 road is a computer factory; which was built in the late 1980s by Compaq Computers. Compaq merged with Hewlett-Packard in 2002. However, this factory is considered to be a part of larger town Erskine. A chain ferry transported vehicles across the River Clyde before the bridge was built. The former Ferry Master's house still survives on the south side of the Clyde.

Bishopton is served by the, double track, electrified, Inverclyde railway line, (former Caledonian Railway), Gourock and Wemyss Bay branches; with frequent train services in both directions. The ROF Bishopton railway sidings joined the railway line just west of Bishopton railway station; but they have been closed for some years.

The A8 passes through Bishopton; and the M8 motorway runs parallel to the A8, with access to Bishopton from both junctions 30 and 31.

[edit] The former ROF Bishopton site

A very large Explosive-manufacturing Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Bishopton, was built in World War II on farm land, acquired by compulsory purchase, on the other side of the railway line. Over 2,000 acres (8 km²) of land from up to seven farms was used to build this factory. The land included Dargavel House, which still survives.

The ROF was privatised in 1984 and has now closed down.

After privatisation the Ministry of Defence Police (MOD Police) moved out and the former MOD Police Social Club at Holm Park, and its adjoining sports field, became part of Bishopton. The former MOD Police houses at both Holm Park and Rossland were sold off to private buyers.

Bishopton's Medical Centre was built in a corner of this sports field, opposite the shops.

BAE Systems the current owners of the ROF Bishopton site and Redrow have submitted controversial proposals to use a large part of this site for building new housing. If accepted this could, at least, double the size of Bishopton. Local residents have indicated their concern at the proposals by voting in a local referendum, held on the 4th of April 2005, organised by local action groups and council. The results showed that out of the 1485 who voted, 100 (6.7%) were for the development, 1361 (91.6%) were against it, 19 (1.3%) were not concerned and there were 5 (0.3%) spoiled votes. The major concerns they have are with the size of the expansion - with the associated knock-on effects to the local infrastructure - and fears of the high levels of contamination that are likely to be found on the site. Although there is little evidence of the extent of the contamination, there is significant anecdotal evidence of heavy pollution.