Tradespeople in Alloa, Clackmannanshire

About Alloa

Alloa is the county town of Clackmannanshire and its largest settlement, with a population of around 20,000, sitting on the north bank of the River Forth roughly seven miles east of Stirling.

The town has a long association with brewing, having been home to several major breweries including Younger's, Maclay's and Arrol's - at its peak in the 19th century, Alloa was one of the most important brewing centres in Scotland.

Alloa Tower, managed by the National Trust for Scotland, is one of the largest surviving medieval tower houses in the country, dating from the 14th century and once the ancestral home of the Earls of Mar.

The town is home to Alloa Athletic FC and offers a good range of shops, schools and transport links, with regular rail services to Stirling and onward connections to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

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About Clackmannanshire

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Clackmannanshire is the smallest council area in Scotland by land area, tucked between the Ochil Hills to the north and the River Forth to the south, with Stirling to the west and Fife across the water to the east.

Alloa is the county town and largest settlement, a former brewing centre on the north bank of the Forth, while a chain of hillfoot towns and villages - Tillicoultry, Alva, Menstrie and Dollar - runs along the base of the Ochils to the north.

The county has a rich industrial heritage: textiles in the hillfoot towns, brewing in Alloa and coal mining across the lowland parishes shaped the area through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

Despite its small size, Clackmannanshire packs in considerable variety - from the dramatic gorges and hill walks of the Ochils to the flat carseland of the Forth, from medieval tower houses to Victorian mill architecture.

The area is well connected, with the A91 running along the hillfoot corridor and rail services from Alloa to Stirling and onward to Glasgow, making it a practical base for commuters working across the central belt.