Alva, Clackmannanshire

Last updated

Alva
Alva1.jpg
A view of Alva from Myreton Hill, facing east.
Clackmannanshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Alva
Location within Clackmannanshire
Area0.598 sq mi (1.55 km2)
Population4,630 (mid-2020 est.) [2]
•  Density 7,742/sq mi (2,989/km2)
OS grid reference NS882970
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town ALVA
Postcode district FK12
Dialling code 01259
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°09′11″N3°47′58″W / 56.153048°N 3.799565°W / 56.153048; -3.799565

Alva (Scottish Gaelic: Ailbheach, meaning rocky) is a small town in Clackmannanshire, set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is one of a number of towns situated immediately to the south of the Ochil Hills, collectively referred to as the Hillfoots Villages or simply The Hillfoots. It is located between Tillicoultry and Menstrie. Alva had a resident population of 5,181 at the 2001 census but this has since been revised to 4,600 in 2016. [3] It boasts many features such as a park with an event hall and a newly opened outdoor gym, and is the home of Alva Academy.

Contents

Etymology

The name of this place, the orthography of which has successively passed through the different forms of Alueth, and Alvath or Alveth to that of Alva, is of Gaelic origin, and is supposed to be derived from the term Ailbheach, signifying "rocky."

History

Alva House in its late 18th century form Alva House early 20th c postcard.jpg
Alva House in its late 18th century form

The old town centred on Alva House a tower house dating from 1542 and enlarged and remodelled in 1636 by Sir Charles Erskine. It remained in the Erskine family until sometime after 1802 when it passed to the mill owner James Johnstone. [4] [5] Alva House was requisitioned by the government during the Second World War and as an act of sanctioned vandalism (although hard to believe) was used for target practice by local artillery battalions. [6]

During the Industrial Revolution, Alva developed as a textile manufacturing centre; the woollen mills, originally water-powered, provided employment for locals and migrants to the area. The former Mill Trail Centre is next to the Cochrane Park, housed in the old Glentana Mill built in 1887. It housed permanent exhibitions about the history of the old woollen industry and the experiences of the many people employed in the industry. The Dalmore Works was built in 1874 for Wilson Brothers, who produced textile products including tweed, woollen novelty fabrics and mohair and woollen rugs. The works were operated by Wilsons until 1964, when the failure of Wilson Bros (Alva) Ltd, set up jointly with McBean and Bishop Ltd, caused the firm to lose the works. [7]

Alva was historically in an exclave of Stirlingshire, but it was transferred to Clackmannanshire in 1891. [8]

Geography

Wee Torry looming over Alva Dumyat from upper Alva.jpg
Wee Torry looming over Alva

Alva lies right at the foot of the Ochil Hills. The Ochil Fault, movement of which gave rise to the steep southern scarp of the Ochil Hills, coincides approximately with the old road along the base of the hills. The rock beneath the carse in this area is of Carboniferous age. The main hill dominating the town is Tory, with Craigleith adjacent to the west.

The town is situated on slightly higher ground than the surrounding carse, being on two overlapping alluvial fans, made up of material deposited by the Carnaughton Glen and Alva Glen burns. The spectacular Alva Glen cuts into the Ochils immediately north of the town. Alva Burn flows from the glen, through Alva, and into the River Devon.

To the east of Alva Glen, and parallel to it, is the Silver Glen, where silver was mined at one time. [9] A more recent attempt about 1 km to the south of Alva, the Glenochil Colliery, was not a success, and the site is now the site of HM Prison Glenochil.

Facilities

Alva has many shops, three Christian places of worship: a small but growing Baptist fellowship, a well established Church of Scotland and St. John Vianney's Roman Catholic Church ; a few pubs, a small library and a medical practice. There are two large parks - Johnstone Park and Cochrane Park, which contains the local hall (Cochrane Hall). Every second Saturday in July, Johnstone Park is host to the Alva Games, [10] the last remaining Highland Games show in Clackmannanshire. The McArthur Braes, at the foot of Alva Glen, was once a formal park that has fallen into neglect; it is now being regenerated.

Map of Alva from 1945 Alvamap1945.png
Map of Alva from 1945

The town has both a primary school and a secondary school. Alva Academy takes pupils from several primary schools in the Hillfoots area. The school was relocated on a new campus early in 2009. The new Alva Academy has been built at the end of Greenhead, a street on the south-east side of the town. [11]

Transport

Alva is on the main A91 Stirling to St Andrews road. Bus services run to Stirling and to Alloa (via Tillicoultry), and (less frequently) to St Andrews.

There was once a railway station that served the town from 1863 to 1954.

Recreation

In 1856, a gathering was organised in a park for gymnastics that evolved into an annual Alva Games. [12] [13]

Between 1937 and 1954, Alva Glen was famed for its annual Illuminations, which drew visitors from across Scotland. In 2004 the Illuminations were revived.

Economy and industry

A bottle of Old Engine Oil Old Engine Oil 001.jpg
A bottle of Old Engine Oil

Harviestoun Brewery

Harviestoun is a small Scottish brewery founded in 1983 by Ken Brooker in a 200-year-old stone barn on a farm on the Harviestoun estate near Dollar. [14] It moved in 2004 to Alva Industrial Estate in Alva, before being bought by Caledonian Brewery in 2006. It became independent again in 2008 - when Caledonian was bought by Scottish & Newcastle, Sandy Orr & Donald MacDonald saw Harviestoun as a valuable asset and decided to purchase the brewery and run it independently. [15]

Harviestoun Brewery produces a variety of beers in keg, cask, bottle and can. The most notable brews include Schiehallion Craft Lager, Bitter & Twisted Golden Ale, Old Engine Oil Black Ale, Ola Dubh Whisky Barrel Aged Ale. [16]

Architecture

The most prominent building in Alva is Strude Mill, a former woollen mill that has been restored and converted to flats. It stands above the town at the base of the hills, and is clearly visible from some distance away.

Strude Mill in 2014 Strude Mill.jpg
Strude Mill in 2014





Notable residents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clackmannanshire</span> Historic county and council area of Scotland

Clackmannanshire, or the County of Clackmannan, is a historic county, council area, registration county and lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth and Kinross. In terms of historic counties it borders Perthshire, Stirlingshire and Fife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alloa</span> Town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland

Alloa is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to be the River Forth and becomes the Firth of Forth. Alloa is south of the Ochil Hills, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east of Stirling and 7.9 miles (12.7 km) north of Falkirk; by water Alloa is 25 miles (40 km) from Granton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tillicoultry</span> Town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland

Tillicoultry is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the locals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochil Hills</span> Range of hills in Scotland, UK

The Ochil Hills (; Scottish Gaelic: Monadh Ochail is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross, Auchterarder and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/Glen Eagles and Glenfarg, the latter now largely replaced except for local traffic by the M90 Edinburgh-Perth motorway cutting through the eastern foothills. The hills are part of a Devonian lava extrusion whose appearance today is largely due to the Ochil Fault which results in the southern face of the hills forming an escarpment. The plateau is undulating with no prominent peak, the highest point being Ben Cleuch at 721 m. The south-flowing burns have cut deep ravines including Dollar Glen, Silver Glen and Alva Glen, often only passable with the aid of wooden walkways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochil and South Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Ochil and South Perthshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dollar, Clackmannanshire</span> Small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland

Dollar is a small town with a population of 2,800 people in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is 12 miles east of Stirling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menstrie</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Menstrie is a village in the county of Clackmannanshire in Scotland. It is about five miles east-northeast of Stirling and is one of a string of towns that, because of their location at the foothill base of the Ochil Hills, are collectively referred to as the Hillfoots Villages or simply The Hillfoots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochil Fault</span> Scottish geological feature

The Ochil Fault is the geological feature which defines the southern edge of the Ochil Hills escarpment in Scotland.

The Hillfoots Villages are the villages and small towns which lie at the base of the southern scarp face of the Ochil Hills, formed by the Ochil Fault, in Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire in central Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Devon, Clackmannanshire</span> Tributary of the River Forth, Scotland, UK

The River Devon is a tributary of the River Forth in Clackmannanshire and Perth & Kinross, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harviestoun</span>

Harviestoun is an estate in Tillicoultry parish, Clackmannanshire, central Scotland. It lies at the base of the Ochil Hills, around 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) east of Tillicoultry and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of Dollar.

Harviestoun Brewery is a craft brewery based in Alva in Clackmannanshire, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stirling and Dunfermline Railway</span> Former railway in Scotland

The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway was a railway in Scotland connecting Stirling and Dunfermline. It was planned by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to get access to the mineral deposits on the line of route, but also as a tactical measure to keep the rival Caledonian Railway out of Fife.

Strathdevon is the strath of the River Devon in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Strathdevon is associated with the parish of Muckhart and was up until 1971 the southernmost tip of Perthshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon Way</span>

Devon Way is a pathway in Clackmannanshire, Central Scotland. It lies on the southern section of the former Devon Valley Railway from Dollar to Tillicoultry a distance of 3+1⁄4 miles (5.2 km). It is used by for walkers, cyclists and horse riders and forms part of Route 767 on the National Cycle Network.

Hillfoots RFC is a Scottish rugby union club based in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire. The club plays its home games at the Public Park in Tillicoultry

Crauford Tait WS was a 17th/18th century Scottish lawyer, improver and landowner and also a contemporary and friend of Robert Burns.

John Melvin (1855–1905) was a Scottish architect in central Scotland specialising in Arts & Crafts architecture.

References

  1. ↑ Mac an Tàilleir, Iain (2003) Placenames Archived 2011-09-23 at the Wayback Machine . (pdf) Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Retrieved 2011-05-28
  2. ↑ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  3. ↑ Web Content Co-ordinator, Clackmannanshire Council. "Population of settlements". www.clacks.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  4. ↑ Clackmannanshire and the Ochils by Adam Swan ISBN 07073 0513 6
  5. ↑ Land Tax Rolls 1645-1831, v.4, National Records of Scotland.
  6. ↑ Scottish Garden Buildings by Tim Buxbaum p.23
  7. ↑ "MS 82WB Wilson Bros (Alva) Ltd". Archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee . Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "Alva ScoP through time". Vision of Britain. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  9. ↑ Moreton, Stephen (2007). Bonanzas and Jacobites: the story of the Silver Glen. Edinburgh: National Museums Scotland on behalf of Clackmannanshire Field Studies Society.
  10. ↑ "163rd Famous Alva Games. Saturday 13th July 2019 at 12 noon". The famous Alva Games. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  11. ↑ "£60M New Schools Project Approved". BBC News. 6 July 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  12. ↑ Forsyth, Valerie (4 July 2018). "A Walk in the Past: The history of the Famous Alva Games". Alloa Advertiser. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  13. ↑ "The famous Alva games". www.alva.ukctest.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "Harviestoun Brewery Ltd". www.quaffale.org.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  15. ↑ "Beer Blog with Roger Protz: Caledonian Brewery". www.beer-pages.com. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  16. ↑ "Harviestoun". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
Alva and the Ochils - geograph.org.uk - 688046.jpg
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.