Things you didn't know about... Lanarkshire

Braveheart—made in Lanarkshire

The town of Lanark features a memorial stone on the site of the house William "Braveheart" Wallace shared with his wife Marion. Marion's death at the hands of the English kick-started Wallace's vengeful crusade.

Steel yourself for a noisy time in Lanarkshire

Coatbridge is home to "Scotland's Noisiest Museum", Sumerlee Heritage Park, where visitors are given a taste of what life was like when Lanarkshire was at the vanguard of the world's iron and steel industry.

Lanarkshire breeds adventurous types

The Lanarkshire town of Blantyre is the birthplace of Victorian missionary and explorer Dr David Livingstone, discoverer of Lake Ngami and the Victoria Falls of the Zambezi. Livingstone died in Zambia in 1856 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Free wine and money in Lanarkshire's "Het Pint" ceremony

At 10 am each New Year's Day, Lanark's citizens gather at the Tolbooth to receive a glass of mulled wine from the Royal Burgh Community Council. Lanark's elderly may also claim a pound coin. This "Het Pint" ceremony originates from a bequest made by Lord Carmichael in the 1660s and remains an important annual fixture.

Lanarkshire's Blue (cheese) period

Lanark Blue is a world-renowned, full-flavoured blue gourmet cheese made in Lanarkshire. Produced near Carnwath by Humphrey Errington since 1985, it uses the cheese maker's own flock of sheep to make one of the first ewe's milk cheeses produced in Britain since medieval times.

Lanarkshire cottons on to its heritage

New Lanark, a preserved 18th-century cotton mill village, is one of only four Unesco World Heritage sites in Scotland.

Sheena's got the look

The 1980s pop sensation Sheena Easton, born Sheena Shirley Orr in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, was discovered on the BBC documentary The Big Time. She went on to have hits with 9 to 5 and a James Bond theme, For Your Eyes Only. Easton also appeared in Miami Vice and collaborated with Prince, notably on the 1987 single U Got The Look. She landed 14 Top 40 smash hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Lanarkshire echo—not a newspaper but a record

The longest echo ever detected in any building lasted 15 seconds, and was produced by the noise of shutting the door of the chapel of the Hamilton Mausoleum, Lanarkshire.

Lanarkshire sons have dominated the world of football

Two of the greatest ever Scottish football mangers hail from Lanarkshire—Jock Stein CBE (1922-85), born in Burnbank, and Sir Matt Busby CBE (1909-94) from Orbiston.

They raced by night here first

In July 1947, Hamilton Park Racecourse in Lanarkshire became the first to stage evening racing.

Lanarkshire: there's gold in them thar hills

Since Roman times Lanarkshire has been a famous source of precious metals. Visitors and locals still pan for gold.