Paisley factfile

How to get to Paisley
The town of Paisley is almost a suburb of Glasgow, which is just 11 km (7 mi) to the northeast. Paisley can be reached via the M8 motorway and three A-roads. There are regular bus services and plenty of links to the national rail network: Paisley has no fewer than four railway stations.

Paisley through the ages
Paisley was already settled when the Celtic monk St Mirin, now the town's patron saint, established a church here after AD500.

The town had become the most significant settlement in Renfrewshire by 1600, when the textile industry was born, and is the county's administrative capital today. Key industries included thread-making, shipbuilding and engineering.

Shopping in Paisley
Paisley has two large shopping centres, the Paisley Centre and the Piazza, while on its outskirts you'll find the Braehead shopping centre. The town also holds a monthly farmers' market.

Famous people from Paisley
Andrew Neil, former editor of the Economist and Sunday Times, was born in Paisley in 1949, as was hairdresser Trevor Sorbie. The actor Tom Conti was born here in 1941, and the singer Gerry Rafferty, who wrote and performed the hit song Baker Street, was born in Paisley in 1947.

Sports and leisure in Paisley
Renfrewshire Council provides Paisley with classes and facilities in a wide range of activities, including swimming, gym work, martial arts, team sports, ice skating and athletics. Central Paisley is home to the Lagoon Leisure Centre, with its pool and extensive fitness facilities.

Arts and culture in Paisley
Paisley Arts Centre has an all-year programme that covers drama, dance, comedy, jazz, popular music and family events, while Paisley Town Hall is used for a variety of events and functions.

Each year, the Sma' Shot Day workers' festival in Paisley celebrates the town's weaving industry heritage.

Paisley's claim to fame
The town is famous for the paisley pattern, which was originally used on shawls made in its factories and mills between 1805 and the mid-1870s. Though these patterned shawls were themselves based on Kashmiri shawls that used the teardrop-shaped buta ("flower" in Hindi), the link to the Paisley mills has forever stuck.