Menstrie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Menstrie is a village in the county of Clackmannanshire in Scotland, UK. It is about 5 miles (8 kilometres) east-north-east of Stirling. It is one of a string of towns that, because of their location at the base of the Ochil Hills, are collectively referred to as the Hillfoots Villages or simply The Hillfoots.
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[edit] Physical geography
Menstrie is overlooked by Dumyat and Myreton Hill, two of the most westerly summits of the Ochil Hills, which rise steeply to the north of the village. These two hills are divided by Menstrie Glen. Menstrie itself lies on almost flat ground, roughly astride the Ochil Fault, movement of which gave rise to the dramatic southern scarp of the Ochils.
The small watercourse of Menstrie Burn runs through Menstrie; just to the south of the town it joins the River Devon, which in turn meets the River Forth at Cambus.
[edit] Facilities
The village has two general stores (one containing the Post Office), a pharmacy, two pubs, a fish and chip shop, and a petrol station. Menstrie also has a library, small sports centre, public park, primary school, nursing home, and two churches, one being Menstrie Parish Church[1].
[edit] Transport links
Menstrie is on the A91 road from Stirling to St Andrews. Bus services run to Stirling and to Alloa (via Alva and Tillicoultry), and less frequently to St Andrews.
[edit] Recreation
Menstrie is popular with hillwalkers; along with Blairlogie it is situated at the foot of Dumyat, one of the most popular peaks in the Ochil Hills. Myreton Hill is much used by paragliders.
[edit] Industry and economy
Menstrie is now mainly a residential village, but immediately to the east is a yeast factory and a large area of bonded warehouses.
A conspicuous zig-zag roadway up the scarp face of Myreton Hill is nowadays used by the local sheep farmer for access to his livestock, but was originally built during the Napoleonic Wars for access to some mine workings, which apparently produced calcite.[citation needed] However, the volume of material mined was rather small in proportion to the effort needed to build the road, so the venture is unlikely to have been economic. There seems to be no record of why calcite was considered to be sufficiently valuable to have justified the considerable effort.
A more successful industry in Menstrie until comparatively recently was a woollen mill, and there was also a furniture factory, The Charrier, which was destroyed by fire in about 1968.
[edit] Architecture
Menstrie Castle was the birthplace of Sir William Alexander, James VI’s Lieutenant for the Plantation of Nova Scotia.[2] Despite its name, it is more of a fortified house than a genuine castle, and lacks many of the normal features, standing as it does on low ground. Most of the building is now residential. Another castle, Broomhall, a superb Scottish baronial mansion, also overlooks the village.
| Hillfoots Villages |
|---|
| Alva | Blairlogie | Dollar | Menstrie | Muckhart | Tillicoultry |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Undiscovered Scotland: Menstrie
- Look Aboot Ye - Clackmannanshire Community News, Information and Forums
- Ochils Paragliding Club
- ClacksNet - Clackmannanshire's Community Network
