Alloa (Scottish Gaelic: Allmhagh) is a small burgh in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, 7 miles to the east of Stirling, on the north bank of the River Forth. The town was a burgh of barony, and at one time of considerable commercial importance but is now relatively insignificant. It has a population of 18,989.
During the 18th century, Alloa thrived as a river port through which the products of Glasgow manufacture was exported to continental Europe. At...
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Alloa (Scottish Gaelic: Allmhagh) is a small burgh in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, 7 miles to the east of Stirling, on the north bank of the River Forth. The town was a burgh of barony, and at one time of considerable commercial importance but is now relatively insignificant. It has a population of 18,989.
During the 18th century, Alloa thrived as a river port through which the products of Glasgow manufacture was exported to continental Europe. At that time, and until the 1950s, the main industry to the north and east of the town was coal mining, and an extensive waggonway existed to take the coal to the harbour. The Earls of Mar owned many of the coal mines, and Robert Bald, an unusually inventive local mining engineer, was instrumental in providing water power from the Gartmorn Dam to operate both the mines and other industries such as weaving. Many traces of the waggonway, and the Gartmorn Dam, can still be seen today, and although the dam is no longer used for energy production, or...
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