Alva, Clackmannanshire

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."

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]

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.

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

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]

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.

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.

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

• John Eadie (1810-1876) Moderator of the General Assembly for the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland 1857/8
• Robert Erskine (physician) (1677-1718) physician to Tsar Peter the Great, head and reformer of the Russian medical service, founder of botanic gardens in Moscow and St Petersburg

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alva, Clackmannanshire.

• Alva Glen Heritage Trust
• Alva Primary School
• Alva Academy
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