From Overdale to'The Happy Haven'

A History of Cala Sonain Words and Pictures

Douglas Ferguson

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for Cresta

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INTRODUCTION

Cala Sona Court is an area of Netherton, Wishaw, which has a very distinguishedand interesting past. The story of this area goes back to the late 1890s and is still a vitalpart of Netherton to this day.

Netherton itself is a suburb of the town of Wishaw in south-west Scotland, around15 miles from Glasgow. Initially, Netherton was mostly farmland, some of which still exist,though by the turn of the 20 th century would be dominated by the iron and steel industry.This would remain a staple of the area through until the 1980s with companies such asRavenscraig, Clyde Alloy and Dalzell Steelworks being a major source of employment forthe local population.

© Mr. John J. McKillop, Lanarkshire Legacy

One of the major names in the iron and steel industry was John Williams, who in1866 founded Excelsior works in Motherwell, which became a medium sized malleableiron works specialising in iron sheets and diversifying into steel manufacture, then in lateryears went on to become involved in the manufacture of wire, nails, staples, rivets andwashers.

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OVERDALE

In the course of researching this booklet, I have been unable to find out exactly whyJohn Williams jr. authorised the construction of a mansion house and grounds on the landwhere Cala Sona Court now stands. What is known however is that his father, JohnWilliams sr. died in 1897 and the mansion house, which was named Overdale, anddesigned by local architect John Steel, was built the following year. Williams sr. had as hisresidence a closeby house named The Green, around half a mile away, not far fromCambusnethan Priory.

Whatever the reason, the mansion house and lodge house was built over threeacres of land bought from the Sinclair-Lockhart family, who owned Cambusnethan Prioryand the surrounding land. The mansion consisted of five bedrooms, three public rooms,three bathrooms, reception, kitchen and maid's accommodation. There were severalouthouses and tennis courts, though the main feature was the commanding views over theRiver Clyde towards Larkhall. The lodge house was 150 yards from the main hall andconsisted of two bedrooms, living room, kitchenette and bathroom. Williams jr., as ownerof Excelsior Works, would use Overdale as his company main office.

Williams himself would remain the owner and resident of Overdale until his death in1932 with his company going from strength to strength. His son would move to Cranleigh,Surrey and would later rename the company John Williams (Wishaw) Ltd., which wouldcontinue as a family business until it was taken over in 1950 by the Thomas Ward group.

After the death of John Williams, the mansion was sold to a family called Harington-Walker, the head of which was ex-army Captain Austine Harington-Walker, who was amerchant with business premises in Hope Street, Glasgow, though when he died hisbusiness activities would be based in Dundee. His granddaughter Noel would later achievea degree of fame in the 1950s as a ballerina under the name Noel Rossana. Ms. Rossanawould later become the wife of Sir John Gorst, a Conservative MP who was a controversialfigure in the crushing of the Grunwick strike in the 1970s.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Harington-Walker would continue to make afeature of the gardens which has been started by Williams. The circular featured plantingareas and putting green would be extensively developed and the planting areas wouldremain as a feature until the mansion house was finally demolished in the early 21 st

century. The gardens would be used for fund-raising by opening them up to public display,usually in aid of the Queens Institute. The lodge house would be a home for housekeeperand gardener/chauffeur.

As a sidenote, during research I came across a press cutting in The Times ofLondon, 1942, informing readers of a forthcoming marriage between Rosemary, elderdaughter of Captain and Mrs. Harington-Walker to a Captain Mervyn Sansome Preston.This was preceded by the news of Lady Constance Milnes Gaskell becoming lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary. Exalted circles indeed!

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Overdale Mansion (top) and Lodge House (bottom) © Mrs. Helen White

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CALA SONA – BEGINNINGS

After the death of the head of the household, the Harington-Walker family would also eventually move out of the area in the 1950s. The house would lie empty for a while, and the future must have looked rather bleak. At this time many of the mansions across Britain, including the very grand Wishaw House, were being stripped bare and demolished.However, a few years later the house, and indeed much of the surrounding area would be revitalised through the application and dedication of one woman.

Muriel Gofton originally came from Middlesbrough, England and during the war came to work for the British Red Cross Society. In April 1945, she was one of the first people to go into the liberated Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen and the experience of the suffering she saw there shaped her future career. Later, she would work with the Guide International Service, helping TB sufferers.

As Overdale had became ownerless, Miss Gofton set about raising funds for aventure which was quite unique at this time. Many millions of people in Europe had beendisplaced as a result of World War Two, and even by the late 1950s there were still manythousands of people living in makeshift camps. Although many of the young and able ofthose people were relatively easy to make room for in other countries, it was much harderfor those who were elderly, disabled or completely shell-shocked by the events of theirlives, many of whom had been victims of the cruelty in Nazi concentration camps. MissGofton fought for nearly a decade to try and remedy this situation and in 1958, after aHerculean task of fund-raising, letter writing and sponsorship was given the funds topurchase Overdale mansion and to house ten families of displaced persons in the area.

The name of the mansion was now changed to reflect an optimistic future for the families living there. The name chosen was Cala Sona, Gaelic for 'the happy haven'.

The purchase and rename of the mansion house threw Miss Gofton into another major round of fund-raising and sponsorship, with money being sourced from everyone from Christian Action, to local jamborees and perhaps even more bizarrely, a donation from one of Adolf Hitler's inner circle, munitions chief Albert Speer. This resulted in four bungalows being built to help house the families of Cala Sona and also to help set up a slew of businesses. The community of Cala Sona threw themselves into hen rearing, stamp sorting, dress making and many other money making schemes. Miss Gofton helpedset up a limited company called Cala Sona Enterprise, which helped to raise money and co-ordinate these schemes. The company was a wildfire success, as a result of which a cobblers and a market garden were opened in the grounds of Cala Sona and a haberdashery and a chip shop were opened nearby. This resulted in the Cala Sona enterprise being completely self-sufficient.

Cala Sona by the mid 1960s had become a major success and the people of the area had become integrated into the local community. The chip shop and market garden inparticular became major attractions and were a huge success. However, it appears that very success would sow the seeds of its eventual downfall.

(continued page 18)

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A Life at Cala Sona

Mrs. Danuta Miller, February 2015 © Douglas Ferguson

In the course of writing this booklet, it became obvious that purely personal memories of Cala Sona were missing. With that in mind, on a cold morning in February 2015, I visited Danuta Miller and her husband Anthony in their modern flat in the new Cala Sona complex. Danuta is the last of the original members of the diaspora of displaced peoples that made up the original Cala Sona community and as such I was interested to hear her story. Danuta is a lovely, fiesty person and the following is her story in her own words, of the life of her family and herself leading up to, then living in, Cala Sona.

“My grandparents had a smallholding in Poland. My family name is Kaczynska. My father was born in the barracks at the Poland-Ukraine border. My father's father was Polish and his mother was partly Jewish. My mother's grandfather died when he was 111 and he passed away in his sleep after he and my mother were peeling potatoes. At 111!

My father was a prisoner in Dachau concentration camp and his job was to help burn corpses in the oven. My mother was in Burgenheim then taken to work on a farm by the Germans. She was shot in the legs there and would always have trouble with her legs after that. She was only 14 at the time she went in. My father also had a bad time and contracted typhoid.”

Danuta's husband then tells of a story Danuta's mother, Genevieve had told him:

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“One day Genevieve had missed her meal of water and a piece of bread, and she was crying so a nun gave her a piece of her bread. The Nazi's saw her giving Genevieve that piece of bread and the nun was never seen again”.

Danuta: “In 1958 there was Sue Ryder, Muriel Gofton (MG), Joyce Spears and others who came out to Germany looking for families to bring over to the United Kingdom, and we were one of these families. We stayed in a displaced persons camp in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. I was nearly nine years of age when MG got us out of Ingolstadt. I had two brothers and a sister who were sent to be educated, my brothers at Donington Hall and my sister in Reading, all done privately through charities arranged by MG. They left a year before we left Germany.

We eventually left Germany in a liner called the Arcadia, it took a month to reach Britain, an absolutely horrendous journey. As the Arcadia carried stateless people, the shipwasn't allowed to dock, we had to remain out-with a certain radius of the mainland so we were taken to land in dinghies or small boats. I remember being hauled over the top of the ship onto the boat. It was December and it was freezing.

Eventually with other displaced families we were taken to Southampton and from there to Worthing, which was were Sue Ryder and Joyce Spears had their organisations. Peoples were sent all over England, South Wales etc. But MG had Cala Sona, which means Happy Haven, peace. Before that we had to be registered at the police station in London, and we didn't speak English at that time. There, my mother got hit by a car and hurt very badly, she was rushed to hospital and nearly died. After she pulled through we moved to Cala Sona. On the train we had one trunk, some boxes, a couple of suitcases and round our neck a box with our name on it. We got to the train station, and it was windyand snowing.

At the train station we were met by MG and some friends and her dog Honey. She drove an old banger, a green car and took us to our new home, the bungalow number 5 at Cala Sona. There was such a bad wind that night. Inside there was no central heating but there was a Rayburn stove with a kettle whistling on it, no fridge, a little pantry with some bread, milk, beans, cold meat. The living room had curtains, no venetian blinds, no carpetsbut lino, a little couch, two chairs, no television though many people had no television at that time. The bedrooms had two single beds with candlewick bedspreads, nylon sheets. Lino on the floor, with a wooden built in wardrobe and a chair. A bathroom. This was the first time I'd ever seen a bath! In Germany, we bathed in wooden barrels with boiling waterand a hose. A flushing toilet indoors! In Germany we had outdoor toilets. When I had a bath in our bungalow it was like luxury. It was luxury.

When we had settled in at Cala Sona, there was a table and on it was £8, from that we paid 50p rent, there was £1 for me and the rest was to keep the family going for the week. The next day MG came and gave us some more clothes and bedding. A few days later, we went to the mansion house and other families were there, moving in and getting settled. We had tea and a sandwich. The house had a roaring coal fire and a big Aga cooker. We went to the Methodist church and attended Christmas service.

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It took time. MG was like a bee, buzzing around everywhere with her dog Honey. We all got a little present at Christmas, I got a scarf. Anna (neighbour) stayed in the big house with her little son. MG really was a wonderful woman and she educated me. She gave me a job in the kitchen as a maid. I cooked, cleaned tables, set the Aga. She sent me to Knowetop school but I couldn't speak English. MG then sent me to a personal tutor to learn and speak English. Eventually I would go to Our Lady's High.

MG would take me on lots of sightseeing trips on the train. When my sister Barbara returned from boarding school, MG got her a placement to Hamilton Academy and she didwell. She went to Glasgow University and later became a qualified translator speaking six languages. My brother also became an engineer, they all did well.

Everyone at Cala Sona did some work and every family got a bit of land to grow ourown vegetables. We all lived off the land. MG worked hard with the children though it was difficult with some as they were affected by what had happened to their parents. One man attacked his wife and son because he was so mentally ill and MG went round helping them all. No one could have done more. She did everything. She clothed and fed me, I stayed often in the mansion house with her. As I got older, she took me to Bury St. Edmonds and took me to a girls boarding school. I stayed there for a while but I came home as I was missing my parents. I can only give her the highest praise. If MG hadn't gotus out of Germany when she did, my parents wouldn't have survived.

Danuta with her father, Anton, at Cala Sona © Mrs. Danuta Miller

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When Cala Sona was rebuilt (in 2008), my mother was interviewed by Karen Greenshields on television and she told her of MG and of what she did for Cala Sona. My mother passed away four years ago. MG saw to all the families, and money was even left over for all the older residents funerals.

My father eventually got compensation for what he endured and he and MG put together and opened the first greenhouse, a tiny one then moved over and built bigger greenhouses to sell plants, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, lots more. There was hens too. They even grew tobacco! They made sacks of the stuff, I would roll it and heat it in the oven! They were actually selling contraband tobacco! Everyone would do different things, wine, vodka, everything.

My mother and father were Polish and Mrs. M (neighbour) was Ukrainian and they were always arguing with each other often over daft things. Mrs. M would grow poppies and the seeds would blow to our side of the fence and this would make my mother very angry! Mrs. A (fellow resident) and MG would try to calm things down, to keep peace. My father once had Mr. M by the throat. Different nationalities. The woman would all work on their allotments but used to come back snarling, growling at each other! When I left the bungalow for a walk, all the neighbours would call me in to feed me, all different food, Russian, German, Polish and they all wanted me to tell everyone else their food was the best!

MG would keep the peace and would easily sort out the disputes. She didn't get anyrecognition for all the good she did but she wouldn't have wanted it. She was a spinster, never married. A tall woman. There is a plaque out there (in the new Cala Sona main area) to MG and I had to fight tooth and nail to get it put up there. It seems those in chargenow want to let her name fade into history. I think if something happens to me they will take that plaque away. One chap told me they want to look to the future. They want to forget Muriel Gofton. I wanted MG's name put in the stonework of the new structure at the entrance of Cala Sona and this was refused.

Muriel Gofton plaque © Douglas Ferguson

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After I got married, I continued to work for MG as she was by now getting a little more frail so I helped her. I was paid yearly! It worked out about £30. I made her meals, bathed her, kept her company. She loved home-made soup. She gave me an antique piece of furniture in 1963 which she said would help set my husband and I up in life. It did as we got £500 for it. We moved to Castle Douglas, then lived in a caravan in Shotts. She visited us a lot. I took not well with a kidney infection and she took me back to live in Cala Sona. I lived in a few places but always came back to Cala Sona. It was home.

MG and I went to visit a building in Nether Linking, Dumfries and above the door was inscribed 'Cala Sona'. MG couldn't believe it, she did her nut. 'How can this be?' she asked me!

I always come back to MG. She didn't dress in fancy clothes or wear expensive jewellery but she did everything for eveyone around here. She worked so hard. We had our little squabbles but it never lasted. She had difficult times. Sometimes it was hard workwith the children and the young people. But she kept it all together. She had no airs nor graces, never wore make up. I remember her in green jumper, skirt, tights, not glamour. Every penny she had was poured into Cala Sona.

MG got to know everyone in the neighbouring area and got me another little job with Mr and Mrs Kerr, both GP's. I was paid 30p an hour to do odd jobs, wash dishes, stufflike that. They were very thrifty with no children. When they passed away, they left around £300-400,000 which went to the government as they had no dependents. I also worked in Cambusnethan Priory as a serving wench! They had medieval banquets at the weekend and they became a bit naughty! I lived in the Priory Stables for a while.

Continental chip shop at Netherton Cross 1960s © Mrs. Danuta Miller;Danuta's mother Genevieve behind counter (right)

Miss Gofton in black behind counter

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MG also persuaded families nearby to 'adopt' a family from Cala Sona, to help guide them, show them where the supermarkets were, get buses, how to do things. Every family at Cala Sona had a family that helped them settle in. It would give the families a feeling of safety, a bit of confidence.

Through time, I feel the concept of Cala Sona has went awry, the mansion house was abused by people with drugs and drink. It's quite sad.

Motherwell Heritage Centre has all the files about Cala Sona, details of all the people who went there and all MG's notes. I will make a point of going to see my own files and also to see what she's said about me, then I'll wring her neck! (laughs).

The story of Muriel Gofton is the story of Cala Sona. It would not exist without that wonderful woman.

Mrs. Anna Adamski & Mrs. Genevieve Kaczynska © Mrs. Danuta Miller

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Three photographs of Muriel Gofton © Mrs. Helen White

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Helping Cala Sona

I was fortunate to be able to get in touch with two people who helped Cala Sona in its formative years. Mrs. Olive Coomarasamy (then Miss Olive Hedge) was involved in Cala Sona with Muriel Gofton from the beginning, in many ways she wasMiss Gofton's right hand woman:

When I first met Muriel Gofton, she was already working with the displaced people. She came and stayed in the top room of our house. I would go with her to visit the displaced people. She eventually came to London where she had a flat and asked if I would like to help with the setting up of Cala Sona. There was an elderly lady called Elfrieda Glennie who helped her raise funds to buy Cala Sona. Cala Sona looked so different then, what a wonderful view.

They also used to have tennis courts at the top of the road and Muriel and I would play tennis there. Wonderful. Eventually they would build the wooden bungalows there. I keep in touch with the son of the lady who stayed in the end bungalow.

There were three big rooms at the top of the house. I had a tiny little room, Muriel's room was slightly bigger. The families would also live in the house until we started buildingthe bungalows.

We had lots to do. I remember the big main room in the house with the big wooden floor, polishing those floors with dusters on our feet! We had lots to do, cooking, cleaning, all the paperwork for letters, fundraising. We had the wool shop down the road (at Netherton Cross). We grew Christmas trees and sold them. And so much to do to help the families settle in. Though we had it so only one family would come over at a time so we could have time to help them settle in before the next of the families arrived.

I also talked to a local resident, Mrs. Mary Louise Archibald who was also involved with Cala Sona in those early days:

I was one of a number of people who were contacted by Muriel to help a family at Cala Sona. I helped one of the families who came from the Ukraine as I could speak a little German. This was how I became involved with a Cala Sona family, helping the mother with her English, help them settle in, see to their needs and so on. There were many families from Wishaw and Carluke who helped. The Ukrainan family I was attached to needed most help with their English and I am glad to still be in touch with some of them all these years later.

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What struck me most at Cala Sona was the ecumenical side. I am Church of Scotland and Rev. Cameron Wallace of Thornlie Church went to welcome them,and as thelocal minister, he had a responsibility for Cala Sona. Rev. Wallace, his wife and children would spend a lot of time at Cala Sona. But we also met Catholic priests there and Ukrainian Catholics there. Muriel was very good at looking at the best way of finding support for the people, using her connections to help. Catholic priests, Church of Scotland ministers, Methodist ministers. If she knew someone who had a smattering of Polish, German or whatever, she would try and fix them up with a Cala Sona family.

At Christmas we would sing 'Still the Night' 'Stille Nacht' in all different languages and there would be three or four different types of religious people there. And this was back in the days when you lived in your own religion and mostly didnt mix. Muriel would tryto get all the people of Cala Sona to mix, find things in common whatever their different backgrounds or religions so in a way that was a real eye-opener for me too.

Also all the different families at Cala Sona would make their own countries food, very good food, and they would be singing all their different countries songs, we would have some games like 'Musical Hats', really really good nights at Cala Sona in those days.That way it broke down not only the barriers of the families staying there but also the barriers of all the helpers. It didn't matter eventually who was Catholic, Methodist or whatever.

Muriel ran Cala Sona almost like it was her own extended family, it meant so much to her. She was always available to help others and to give advice, she was really a wonderful woman.

Later, Muriel knew it was coming to an end, which is what she wanted. She wanted to see the youngsters move out and become integrated into the wider world, while the older ones would have a safe place to stay. Eventually she saw Cala Sona as it is now, she saw it as being a place for younger, more local disabled people with the original residents having a place to stay. In a way you could say she started up to shut it down! In that, Cala Sona was needed at the beginning but eventually it was hoped places for displaced persons wouldnt need to be used for that purpose. They would be out in the world, carving their own way forward.

It's remarkable, Muriel went into the concentration camps at the end of the war and later went into the camps for displaced persons and saw these people who were told they couldn't come to America, Canada or the UK or wherever because of their health records. It was many years before she got some of them out. Some of the families had it very difficult, the Ukrainian woman I knew had to look after her husband who was in a wheelchair and had a very hard life. On the welfare committee, we sometimes felt they were too close together as the different nationalities had their little gripes with each other. Then again, Muriel wanted that, for the families to become neighbourly, in a way to learn the British way of life.

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Cala Sona Mansion House 1960s © unknown

Cala Sona Bungalow 1960s © Mrs. Helen White

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Cala Sona Fundraising Brochure 1960s Cala Sona Residents in the 1960s© Cala Sona Enterprise © Mrs. Helen White

Exhibit from the Cala Sona Exhibition, Wishaw Library 2008 © Douglas Ferguson

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CALA SONA – BLACKWOOD

As time progressed many of the children and grandchildren of the older inhabitants of Cala Sona did as all young people do and moved away from home to make lives and careers for themselves. As a result of their endeavours in helping make Cala Sona a success, they became highly sought after by local employers. This did however mean that the older inhabitants of Cala Sona had to pick up the slack and as a result some of the businesses had to be wound up. Most of the resources of Cala Sona Enterprise now focused around the market garden.

By 1972, Miss Gofton was getting elderly and was suffering from the onset of arthritis and the strain of running Cala Sona, and continuing a ferocious and never-ending process of fundraising was beginning to take its toll. Money and resources became meagre. After protracted negotiations, it was agreed that Cala Sona would be sold to Margaret Blackwood Housing Association, a provider of housing for the disabled, with the proviso that all current inhabitants of Cala Sona would be granted a dwelling for the rest of their lives.

Margaret Blackwood started a programme of extensive renovation and extension of Cala Sona. This coincided with the land immediately to the north of the complex, which had previously been farmland, developed into houses with new streets. A new main entrance to the complex was built into the new Montgomery Crescent housing development. It was decided that the complex would be developed as Cala Sona Court.

The first stage of the renovation consisted of the mansion house being gutted (to the ire of Miss Gofton, as she watched the original fixtures and fittings being replaced instead of renovated) and subdivided into five self-contained flats. The first person to be housed was Miss Gofton in a downstairs flat where she would remain until she moved into a nursing home in nearby Larkhall in the late 1980s. Incidentally, Miss Gofton would later write her personal history of Cala Sona in the early 1990s, though left instructions this was to remain unpublished after her death. Miss Gofton sadly passed away in 1996. Cala SonaEnterprises would be wound up in 2003.

The bungalows and lodge house, which housed the original Cala Sona inhabitants, were also modernised. Margaret Blackwood continued to expand and a complex of 30 sheltered units, a mixture of flats and bedsits was built alongside the mansion house. Harold Hicks, a patron of Cala Sona Enterprise since the 1950s, took over the running of the complex on behalf of Margaret Blackwood on the recommendation of Miss Gofton.

To say that the new Cala Sona was an immediate success would be a lie. In fact, in a 1980 article in the Evening Times, Mr. Hicks bemoaned the fact that only seven of the new flats were occupied and he was perplexed by the fact that Cala Sona was struggling. Doubts were cast on the long term viability of the complex. However, the complex would soon fill up and any danger to its future vanished.

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Cala Sona bungalow (top) and mansion house (bottom) 1990s © Blackwood Homes

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The sheltered complex was officially opened by Lord Ballantrae in late 1979 and, despite those early worries of under occupancy, became a busy centre of disabled housing. The sheltered housing complex became linked to the mansion house via a corridor. A public room in the mansion house was redeveloped into a sitting room for use by all residents of the sheltered housing. A laundrette and games room was also incorporated into the complex as well as an office and night accommodation for the warden and his staff.

Margaret Blackwood had turned Cala Sona into a very successful housing complex but as the years wound on and the 21st century approached, it became clear that the sheltered housing complex, which has been very modern in the 1970s, was no longer meeting the needs and aspirations of the disabled people who lived there. Ambitious and daring plans to regenerate Cala Sona Court were in the offing.

Cala Sona Sheltered Housing 2000 © Blackwood Homes

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CALA SONA – NEW BEGINNINGS

To regenerate Cala Sona Court, it was eventually decided that all of Cala Sona, including the original Overdale mansion house and lodge would have to be demolished and new style building be constructed throughout the whole site. The market garden, which had been leased to a local businessman, would also go and was relocated out-with the complex. The initial demolition started in 2004. The residents of the bungalows and lodge house were decanted to the sheltered complex and that area was demolished along with the market garden. In early 2006, the residents of the mansion house also moved intothe sheltered housing and with sad regret, John Williams original mansion was demolishedsoon after.

Work progressed swiftly. The west side of the complex empty, the area was now cleared and 24 two-bedroomed flats were constructed to house the inhabitants of the sheltered complex. These flats were populated in May 2008 which allowed demolition of the 1970s sheltered complex, and 20 additional two-bedroomed flats were constructed on this land.

Cala Sona Mansion House and Bungalow 2003 © Mr. John J. McKillop, Lanarkshire Legacy(note the iron gate post on the right)

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Cala Sona Mansion House before and after demolition, 2006 © Blackwood Homes

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Cala Sona Regeneration in the 21st century; all © Douglas Ferguson

As of 2014, Cala Sona Court is a vibrant community which now houses its inhabitants in very modern two bedroom flats. Nothing is however plain sailing, as the residents of the ten in a block in the west wing can attest to, after the roof was blown off their block in January 2012 during severe storms, causing widespread disruption and its tenants were decanted for almost a year. Nothing remains of the original Overdale mansion and gardens, though the spirit of the Christian goodness and the vision of Cala Sona founder Miss Muriel Goften lives on in the new Cala Sona Court. Hopefully the futureof Cala Sona is secure.

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ENDNOTE

When I first started researching this project, my first aim was to put together the facts of the Cala Sona area. It was to be a dry account of how and why the area is important and was to centre around the mansion house itself.

However, as the project has progressed and I have received help, advice and input from a number of sources, I have come to see the story of the area is, more than anything else, the story of Muriel Gofton. Yes, Overdale existed before Miss Gofton, but as a large family house. Its transformation as the focal point for a community was entirely down to theefforts of Miss Gofton. From the reading of the literature provided, to talking with Miss Gofton's friend and long time Cala Sona resident Mrs. Danuta Miller, to email conversations with her niece Mrs. Helen White, it's obvious that by far Miss Gofton is the most important piece of this history. Therefore, I dedicate this booklet not only to a fabulous dog called Cresta (as seen on page 1) but also to the memory of Miss Muriel Gofton, in the hope her achievements may never be forgotten.

Assorted views of Cala Sona Court © Douglas Ferguson

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AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In no particular order, thanks to the following:

Mrs. Danuta Miller: Danuta is the last of the original Cala Sona residents and was a close friend of Miss Muriel Gofton.

Mrs. Helen White: Helen is the niece of Miss Muriel Gofton and has provided me with photographs and recollections of Cala Sona and invaluable information on her aunt as well as access to her aunt's unpublished book on Cala Sona.

Mrs. Mary Louise Archibald: Friend of Cala Sona and Muriel Gofton.

Mrs.Olive Coomarasamy: Assistant to Miss Muriel Gofton in the initial years of the Cala Sona project, and friend of Cala Sona and Muriel Gofton. Mr. John J. McKillop: John is the founder and collator of Lanarkshire Legacy, a superb archive of local history photographs from the 1970s onward that deserves far more recognition. John also has a wide knowledge of local history.

Ms. Margaret McGarry and Motherwell Heritage Centre: Motherwell Heritage Centre is an absolute must for local research and were invaluable for help in finding records of Overdale mansion.

Mandy Devlin and Blackwood Homes: Blackwood Homes are the landlords of Cala Sona Court and kindly allowed use of their photographs in this booklet.

Mrs. Caroline Ferguson: For being Caroline.

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Useful Resources

Books

Old Wishaw by Rhona Wilson (1997)Old Newmains and Villages Around Wishaw by Lewis Hutton (1999)Wishaw: Life and Labour in a Lanarkshire Industrial Community 1790-1914 by Robert Duncan (1986)Wishaw (Images of Scotland) by Helen Moir (2000)For Love of Lanarkshire by John J. McKillop (2014)Motherwell and Wishaw, the Official Town Guide by Motherwell & Wishaw Town Council (1952)Walking on the Water: The Cala Sona Story by Carolyn Jones (1973)If the Walls Could Speak: Memories of Cala Sona – Author Unknown (circa 1970s)

Online

Pomphrey's Directory of Wishaw and Handbook of the Parish of Cambusnethan ebook (1893)https://archive.org/details/pomphreysdirecto1893wish

Historical Sketches of the Parish of Cambusnethan by Rev. Peter Brown ebook (1859)https://archive.org/details/historicalsket00brow

Blackwood Homes (Cala Sona)http://blackwoodgroup.org.uk/our-properties/property/cala-sona-court-217/?pid=217

Muriel Gofton (obituary)http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/muriel-gofton-1.445984

Muriel Gofton (interview)http://www.eriding.net/worldinconflict/annefrank/belsen.shtml

Cala Sona regeneration detailshttp://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2008-09-17-historic-community-moves-into-21st-century-housing

Gracies Guide (John Williams)http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/John_Williams_and_Co

Cala Sona tenants associationhttp://www.northlanarkshirefederation.org.uk/areagroups/groupdetails.php?fedgroupdetailsid=65

all text © Douglas Ferguson, 2015dougie.ferguson@gmail.com

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