Balfron, is a village in the Stirling

Stirling (council area)

Stirling is one of the 32 unitary local government council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 87,000 . It was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirling district of the former Central local government region, and it covers most of the former...

 council area

Council Area

A Council Area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act.-Legislation :1889...

 of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is situated near Endrick Water on the A875 road, 18 miles (29 km) west of Stirling

Stirling

Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...

 and 16 miles (26 km) north of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

. Although a rural settlement, it lies within commuting distance of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, and serves as a dormitory town.

History

The name means 'village of mourning' in Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....

. This originates from a legend that the village was attacked by wolves, which stole children out of their homes. Modern historians believe that an attack by Vikings was more likely, as they did steal children. Haakon’s

Haakon IV of Norway

Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....

 Saga and Exchequer Rolls of the time give evidence of a Norse invasion as far as Stirling Castle through the Endrick Valley in 1263 – the same year as the Battle of Largs

Battle of Largs

The Battle of Largs was an engagement fought between the armies of Norway and Scotland near the present-day town of Largs in North Ayrshire on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland on 2 October 1263. It was the most important military engagement of the Scottish-Norwegian War. The Norwegian forces were...

. The first documented evidence of a settlement at the site dates from 1303, when it was referred to as "Buthbren".

Balfron has an ancient oak – The Clachan Oak – where William Wallace

William Wallace

Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence....

 is said to have rested and later Rob Roy

Robert Roy MacGregor

Robert Roy MacGregor , usually known simply as Rob Roy or alternately Red MacGregor, was a famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw of the early 18th century, who is sometimes known as the Scottish Robin Hood. Rob Roy is anglicised from the Scottish Gaelic Raibeart Ruadh, or Red Robert...

 is supposed to have hidden. Rob Roy's sons abducted young widow-heiress Jean Key from nearby Edinbellie and forced her to marry Robin Oig MacGregor who was hanged for the crime.

In 1789, when Robert Dunmore built Ballindalloch Cotton Works he expanded the settlement from a hamlet of around 50 people to a bustling Industrial Revolution planned village with a population of almost 1,000 within a year.

As the cotton boom began to fail, the arrival of the Forth and Clyde Junction Railway

Forth and Clyde Junction Railway

The Forth and Clyde Junction Railway was a railway line in Scotland which ran from Balloch to Stirling.It shared a short stretch from Gartness Junction to Buchlyvie Junction with the Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway.- Opening :...

 transformed Balfron into a popular holiday resort. Testament to this was the presence of the Tontine Hotel, which stood at the corner of Buchanan Street and Cotton Street. The plethora of no longer required ex-army vehicles after World War I began the village's connection with buses which still survives today.

Facilities

Balfron has shops, a health centre, a village hall and a secondary school (Balfron High School

Balfron High School

Balfron High School is situated in the village of Balfron, approximately 18 miles from Glasgow and 20 miles from Stirling. The catchment area includes the larger villages of Killearn, Strathblane, Drymen and Kippen; the smaller villages of Buchlyvie, Fintry and Croftamie; along with the village of...

). The village also contains a fire station, garage, ambulance depot, police station, primary school, bowling green and an 18 hole golf course. The residential special school Ballikinrain

Ballikinrain

Ballikinrain is an independent residential school in Stirling, central Scotland. It is run by CrossReach, a social care outreach arm of the Church of Scotland...

 is also located in Balfron and caters to intervening for boys with special needs from all over Scotland. Its future is, however, in doubt as a result of Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

 funding problems.

The Secondary School (Balfron High School) opened in 2001, replacing a 1960s era building which had previously acted as the secondary school, and was built under the governments PPP Public-private partnership

Public-private partnership

Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...

 project with the company Jarvis plc

Jarvis PLC

Jarvis plc is a British company that provides support services to the British railway industry. It also runs rail freight operations. The most significant feature of the modern firm is its leading share of the UK’s railway maintenance and infrastructure services.-19th and 20th centuries:The...

. It and the local primary school, which has nursery provision, are located in separate buildings on the same campus and is signposted in the village as "Balfron Campus". The old school, which originated from the 19th century and was still used as classroom space until 2001 is now being made into two homes. Jarvis, the company that managed the school under the PPP arrangements, went into administration in March 2010. The administrator appointed Jarvis approached the council with an offer from SGP Ltd to take over both the PFI(Private Finance Initiative) contract and the facilites management contract.
As part of the PPP agrement the leisure facilities of the school are open to the public outwith school hours.

Balfron Church is situated in the settlement and shares a minister with the neighbouring parish of Fintry

Fintry

Fintry is a small village in central Scotland, nestled in the strath of the Endrick Water between the Campsie Fells and the Fintry Hills, some 19 miles north of Glasgow. It is within the local government council area of Stirling...

. The catholic community is served by St Anthony's, which shares a priest with St Kessog's, in Strathblane

Strathblane

Strathblane is a village and parish in the registration county of Stirlingshire, situated in the southwestern part of the Stirling council area, in central Scotland. It lies at the foothills of the Campsie Fells and the Kilpatrick Hills on the Blane Water, north of Glasgow, east-southeast of...

. Strathendrick Baptist Church is also based in Balfron and meets at McLintock Hall.

There are eight listed buildings in Balfron, and a further fifteen in the area around the village.

Many youth groups work in the village including Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, scouts and guides.

Transport

Balfron railway station

Balfron railway station

Balfron railway station served the village of Balfron in Scotland. The station was served by trains on the Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway and the Forth and Clyde Junction Railway.-History:...

, on the line between Kirkintilloch

Kirkintilloch

Kirkintilloch is a town and former burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal, about eight miles northeast of central Glasgow...

 and Aberfoyle

Aberfoyle

Aberfoyle is a village in the region of Stirling, Scotland, northwest of Glasgow.The town is situated on the River Forth at the base of Craigmore...

, was opened to serve the village in 1856. It closed in 1951.

The main road in Balfron is the A875. Local bus services are provided by First Edinburgh

First Edinburgh

First Edinburgh is a bus operator which operates in the south east and central Scotland, and was created by the merger of three companies: Lowland Scottish, Eastern Scottish and Midland Scottish to form a single company for the area and is part of First Group plc...

 and Aberfoyle Coaches.

People from Balfron

Balfron is the birthplace of the architect Alexander 'Greek' Thomson

Alexander Thomson

Alexander "Greek" Thomson was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was little appreciated outwith Glasgow during his lifetime...

 (1817 – 1875), whose father was a bookkeeper at Ballindalloch Mill. He became an eminent Glaswegian architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 and architectural theorist and a pioneer in sustainable building.

His brother, George Thomson

George Thomson (botanist)

George Thomson was a Scottish missionary in Cameroon who collected plants to send to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and to the British Museum.Thomson was born in Balfron, 16 miles north of Glasgow and trained as an architect...

 (1819 – 1878), was born in Balfron, and after an early career as an architect became a baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 in Limbe, Cameroon (then known as "Victoria"), where he combined his religious activities with a passion for botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

. An epiphytic orchid of the Pachystoma

Pachystoma

Pachystoma is a genus of orchids . The genus has about 10 species, distributed over India, China, Indomalesia, northern Australia and several Pacific Islands ....

genus was named Pachystoma thomsonianum in his honour.

Also from Balfron were the Barnwell Brothers, Harold

Harold Barnwell

Harold Barnwell was an aircraft pioneer. He was born in Lewisham, Kent, the son of Richard Barnwell, a director of the Clyde shipbuilder, Fairfields. Barnwell was brought up at Elcho House in Balfron, Stirlingshire, and educated Fettes College in Edinburgh...

 and Frank

Frank Barnwell

Captain Frank Sowter Barnwell OBE AFC FRAeS BSc was an aeronautical engineer, who performed the first powered flight in Scotland and later went on to a career as an aircraft designer.-History:...

, who began their love affair with gliders and planes in the grounds of Elcho House, Balfron and after a subsequent trip to meet the Wright Brothers

Wright brothers

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...

 in America they returned to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and began building innovative designs in Bridge of Allan

Bridge of Allan

Bridge of Allan is a town in Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. It was formerly administered by Stirlingshire and Central Regional Council....

.

External links

• Balfron Heritage Group aims to promote the history of the village and parish : preserving the past – protecting the future.
• Ballikinrain
• Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service
• Balfron High School
• Balfron Golf Society
• Balfron Curling Club
• Balfron Church of Scotland
• Strathendrick Baptist Church, Balfron
• St Anthony's, Balfron
• Balfron 10K