Laurencekirk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Laurencekirk is a small town in the ancient county of Kincardineshire, modern county of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road. It is the largest village in the Howe o' the Mearns area and houses the local secondary school; Mearns Academy, which was awarded the Charter Mark in 2003. The 2004 population is estimated at 1,950.

Its old name was "Conveth", a corruption of Coinmheadh. Laurencekirk is situated in the valley between the Hill of Garvock and the Cairn O' Mounth. The famous landmark of the Johnston Tower can be seen on the peak of the Garvock.

Laurencekirk was, in the past, famous for making snuff boxes with a special type of airtight hinge (known as a "Laurencekirk hinge") invented by James Sandy.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon wrote much about The Mearns and the surrounding area in his book Sunset Song. A tribute centre can be visited at Arbuthnott a few miles from Laurencekirk.

The Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line passes through the town, but the station is currently closed. There are confirmed plans in motion to get this station re-built and re-opened at the end of 2007 due to the demand of an increasing population.

[edit] Services

Laurencekirk has a wealth of small public houses. The Crown and The Royal attract the younger patrons while the Western is a regular haunt for the older locals.

Laurencekirk has a large coach hire company which serves the Aberdeenshire area. MW Nicolls is an established company that has been situated in the town for many years. It provides a link to neighbouring towns and villages such as Stonehaven, Montrose and Brechin.

There is a main street which has limited amenities such as a recently re-built co-operative supermarket, a Royal Bank of Scotland, a Post Office, bakers, butchers and hairdressers.