The village of Rigside began life as a overspill housing estate for the adjacent village of Douglas Water, which itself began life as a small mining community, also known as Ponfeigh, in the county of Lanark. There were only a few cottages provided by the local drift mine owners to the miners as tied accommodation. However the miners were worked hard with long hours underground in waist deep water and this prompted the miners to strike in 1837 for more pay, but this request was rejected and the miners and their families were evicted. The mine owners advertised for people to replace them and the adverts were answered by weavers from Lanark and Irish labourers, but when they saw they were taking work from people who were also losing their homes they packed up and left.
Years later the village was to prosper from a large mine being opened by the Coltness Iron & Coal Company which became known as the Douglas Colliery where due to the excellent quality of coal, including the celebrated Rigside cannel coal, jobs were assured for many years.
All in all, over the years the village was host to a bowling green, tennis courts, a village green, swing park, quoiting green, butchers, bakers, Co-Operative grocery store, drapers, cobblers, abattoir, hairdressers, pub and other small shops. There was also the railway station taking you to Lanark in one direction and Ayr or Glasgow the other. The village also had its own band which went on to win many competitions, and football club; many of the footballers who played for Douglas Water Thistle went onto play for Rangers and Celtic.
There were many houses in the village but the village grew at such a rate that they began developing housing in Rigside. As the council began demolishing the houses in Douglas Water, due to subsidence caused by mining work underneath, and developing more houses in Rigside, the village began slowly disappearing. The school children were moved to a newly built school in Rigside, and when the pit closed in 1967 the bands, clubs, football teams, shops and railway disappeared as people scattered to Ayrshire, Fife, Lothian and England seeking work. Most of those houses and streets in Douglas Water are gone, only a handful of houses are left, and the same seems to be happening in Rigside, with the council demolishing houses as the population falls.
The Loudon Pond was once the place where the village held its May Day celebrations, annual Gala, and football games but again, due to subsidence, they moved the gatherings to the new football ground at the other end of the village. Loudon Pond is now a Community Nature Reserve, managed by a small group of volunteers who are always looking for new committee members and workday volunteers to help to preserve and improve this hidden gem. This cache has been placed by the Loudon Pond volunteers, please visit the reserve and you can contact them on Facebook "Making Rigside Greener Group" page or by emailing greenerrigside@gmail.com if you want to join them or help in any way.
The decision to create Douglas Water Golf Club, which actually lies within Rigside, was taken at a meeting in 1921 attended by about 20 people. Land at Collierhall farm was chosen and the tenant farmer approved of the proposal as did her landlord, the Earl of Home. A Lanark Golf Club greenkeeper laid out the course and volunteers did the construction work. The first shot was played in 1922. When the pits closed in the 1960s the golf club suffered a bad period but was healthy again by 1981, when a refurbished clubhouse and course extension was opened. It remains a tidy course with a great mix of challenges and suitable for all players.
Do not park by the side of the A70 road or in the bus stops, the turning for the Golf Club is signposted and street parking is available.