Laid out below is an extract from the Third Statistical Account of Scotland. This excerpt, written in 1954, with a final revision in 1961, was published in 1966 for volume 18 of the accounts, this volume entitled "County of Stirling and County of Clackmannan". Logie parish, being by this time located solely within the County of Stirling, comes under the editorship of Robin C. Rennie, with overall organisation being carried out via Glasgow University. The text below provides an historical snapshot of roughly the first half of the 20th century in the area.
The Third Statistical Account of Scotland – Volume 18, (1966)
Chapter 17
PARISH OF LOGIE
(County of Stirling.)
By the Late Rev. William Paterson.
When the first Statistical Account was written it was necessary to point out that the parish of Logie lay in three counties, Stirling, Clackmannan and Perth. It now lies entirely within the county of Stirling. Towards the close of last century the eastern boundary of the parish was moved from a line running north and south between Menstrie and Alva to a position west of Menstrie and crossing the Hillfoots road at a point near Cotkerse, thus transferring the village of Menstrie to the parish of Alva. At the same time the western boundary was moved westwards from the Allan Water to the Stirling - Inverness railway line, thus transferring from the County of Perth and from the parish of Lecropt the Keirfield area, ground which has been developed for housing purposes since 1919. The northern boundary is the Wharry burn separating Logie from Dunblane parish, while the southern boundary is the Forth. The only area outwith the parish and north of the river is that of Cambuskenneth which after centuries of uncertainty has for a long time been part of Stirling parish.
The Physical Background.
Physically the parish is of two distinct types of area almost equal in extent. A line drawn roughly east and west separates the western extension of the Ochils from the flats of the carse of Stirling. The Ochil Hills consist of volcanic rocks of the Old Red Sandstone age, the lava and ashes showing alternate cliff and slope. These hills provide shelter from the north to the communities at the foot of their southern slopes. The vast stretch of the parish south of the Ochils is a flat marine terrace of carse lands of yellow clay, which was formerly extensively used for the making of bricks, over a very soft silt containing a mixture of sea shells and sand. This flat expanse is known to geologists as a 50-foot raised beach. At certain points, especially on the irregular plateau on which the upper part of Bridge of Allan is built, the older 100-foot raised beach is easily traceable and consists of sand and gravel laid down by the sea when it covered this wider area. Interesting traces of the occupation of the area by the sea are the skeletons of whales discovered, one in 1819 to the east of the eastern lodge of Airthrey, one in 1864 at the Cornton brick work, and a third in 1897 no great distance from the Causewayhead roundabout on the Alloa road. The principal deviation from this simple geological plan of the parish is the Abbey Craig, an intrusive dolerite mass in the surrounding carboniferous rocks, similar to Stirling Rock and Craigforth, south of the Forth.
History.
The history of the parish is a long one. It is certain that the parish lay on the Roman route from Camelon to Ardoch and it is possible that Bridge of Allan was a minor station on that route. Most of the early references call it Logie Atheren, with variations of spelling. Airthrey was the name of the district and meant the ascending road. The name Logie signifies a low-lying place.
It appears first in the twelfth century as the eastern limit of the ancient province of Fortrenn, which included Menteith and Strathearn. There is now no record or trace of the earliest church of Logie but the old church, the ruins of which stand a little north of the present church, was erected about the end of the fourteenth century and was dedicated to St. Serf whose activities spread into this area. From 1214 the church belonged to the Nunnery of North Berwick and continued so until the Reformation. Details of church and parish until the Reformation are singularly meagre. The records of mediaeval history would be much more complete if the lands of Cambuskenneth had been included in the parish.
A few prominent names call for attention. On the eve of the Reformation Isobel Hume, Prioress of North Berwick, renewed a lease of the parsonage of Logie to her kinsman, Patrick Hume of Polwarth, whose son, Alexander, one of the 'makars', became minister of Logie in 1597. His works are now little known to the world but literary connoisseurs esteem them highly. Another outstanding figure at the time and a friend of Hume was the first Earl of Stirling, a scholar and poet in his own right. He was Lieutenant of Nova Scotia at the time of the creation of the Nova Scotia ‘baronets.’ In later years General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, the hero of Aboukir, had his home in the parish, an avenue of trees near the church commemorating the victory.
The battle of Stirling, 1297, stands out as the most important event in the history of the parish although it had more of a national than a local significance. The Scottish army camped on the Abbey Craig hill on the eve of the battle, which took place on the flat lands of Cornton. On the Abbey Craig, overlooking the scene of the battle, stands the most conspicuous structure in the parish, the Wallace Monument. Begun in 1861, it consists of a Scottish baronial tower, 200 feet high, topped by an imperial crown, 50 feet high. Within the tower are stored antiquarian relics and busts of notable men in Scottish history.
The story of the parish since the Reformation, though full of incident and local interest, does not differ from that of other parishes and therefore does not call for detailed treatment here. Until comparatively recent times only the scantiest of records have been kept of deaths and burials. Kirk Session records seem to have been kept consistently since the seventeenth century but substantial gaps exist even in these.
No attempt seems to have been made to write a full-length history of the parish until the Rev. Dr. Menzies Ferguson published his substantial work in 1905, providing a most exhaustive and well documented record of our history. A full treatment is given of the story of the church as well as of the land and landowners in the parish. In addition, this history brings together in two volumes a magnificent array of early records not easily accessible in any other form. Individual families have been dealt with in a few other volumes, outstanding among these being By Allan Water in which Miss Katherine Stewart tells of the Steuart family who kept the famous inn at Bridge of Allan in the eighteenth century. In 1852 Charles Rogers published 'A Week at Bridge of Allan' with attractive accounts of life and its fashions in the heyday of the resort.
Mention should be made of the Rev. Alexander Douglas, minister of the parish, who claimed to be a great-grandson of Mary, Queen of Scots. A forceful figure for most of the eighteenth century was James Steuart, to whom reference as a ready been made, keeper of the change-house at Bridge of Allan. He claimed direct descent from James II and was a staunch Royalist. Although some of his descendants became Whigs the inn remained for many years after his death the centre of Jacobite intrigue over a vast area. Most of the names prominent in the history of the parish are of landowners, some of whom have more than a local interest. The Airthrey estate from the fifteenth century belonged to Grahams of the main line. Possession of the estate fell to holders of other distinguished names, Abercrombie, Stirling, Hope and Haldane.
Generous gifts have been made from time to time for religious, charitable and cultural purposes but none has been on such a scale as to modify the way of life of the people to any material extent.
Population.
Over the last hundred years there has been a considerable growth of population. In 1801 the population was 1,092. By 1891, when the parish lay still partly in Perthshire and partly in Stirlingshire, it had grown to 3,465. This increase is due largely to the coming into being of Bridge of Allan as a township and to some extent to development elsewhere, particularly at Causewayhead. In 1931 the figure was 4,579. This is now much exceeded because of the development or housing of a large portion of the lands of Cornton near Stirling by Stirling town council; the population was recorded in 1951 as 6,921 and in 1961 as 7,124. Most of the occupants of this new area have been rehoused from Stirling burgh outwith the parish of Logie. Examination of the population trends will be made when we come to consider the separate centres of population.
There has been no significant movement of population either into the parish or from it with the exception of the movement occasioned by the development of the Cornton scheme. During the recent war when many of the hotels, halls and large houses were under military occupation a number of Polish units was stationed here. A few dozen Poles have married and settled down and have been accepted into the community. Since the war small numbers of young men, and women have migrated to other parts of the Commonwealth. Further, as is usual in areas where there are not extensive industrial undertakings, young people tend to go far afield for advanced education and for employment.
Bridge of Allan.
The largest concentration of inhabitants in the parish is in Bridge of Allan, the population of which, according to the census report of 1951, was 3,173. The findings of the 1961 Census reveal a further increase of 145 to a total of 3,318. This figure includes 1,451 males and 1867 females and shows an increase since 1951 of 104 males and 41 females in the population of the burgh. Causewayhead comes next. The Cornton housing area follows closely. The only other centre of population is the hamlet of Blairlogie.
Bridge of Allan is situated in the extreme western part of the parish and mostly on the left bank of the Allan which meets the Forth about a mile south of the town. Part of the town, the expanding portion, lies on the level carse land and part on the wooded plateaux and extreme western slopes of the Ochils. These hills provide unusual shelter for the district, which enjoys a mild climate.
Until 1820 Bridge of Allan was little more than a bridge, an inn and a few thatched cottages, one of a number of tiny scattered villages in the parish. In the third decade of last century when the mineral waters of the district attained popularity a substantial village came into being. It was fortunate in its planners who made the most of an attractive setting. A large number of villas of pleasing design rapidly appeared on the plain and on the wooded slopes to accommodate the visitors, whose numbers rose to 40,000 annually. Until the close of the nineteenth century Bridge of Allan and its villas existed almost exclusively to cater for these visitors. It was only about that time that the village became a residential place and a favourite haunt of retired people. The numerous villas became private residences and the village became a community with a keen interest in its own affairs.
When the waters of the Spa ceased to attract great numbers of distinguished visitors Bridge of Allan continued to grow as a residential and holiday centre providing a great variety of diversions for the leisure of holiday makers. The arrival of the motor car again changed the character of the community and has provided to the six hotels and several boarding houses a steady flow of guests who seek accommodation for short periods. Many older people, however, continue to visit Bridge of Allan for longer holidays, regarding it as an excellent centre for a leisurely survey of the surrounding countryside.
The 130 years of its history have allowed to grow up a considerable section of the community who have their family roots deep in the village and there is a growing sense of belonging. This is true even when allowance is made for the large number of people who spend only their years of retirement in the village and when consideration is given to the great numbers who reside in the village and have their work in Stirling, Glasgow and many other places. Even so, Bridge of Allan is far from having the character of a village of similar size that has taken centuries to grow up. Proximity to Stirling has always allowed many to live in Bridge of Allan and have social and cultural interests in Stirling. At least two thirds of the population now have an origin in the parish or surrounding areas of Stirlingshire and Perthshire. The popularity of Bridge of Allan with retired people has brought large numbers from other parts of the country and from overseas. There has, however, been no influx of people from outwith Scotland in sufficient numbers to modify the character or the way of life of its people.
Services.
In 1870 Bridge of Allan was made a burgh, with a council of nine members. The normal public services have been provided. Until the middle of last century water was supplied from four different sources but about 1868 a water company was formed to supply the whole town. A reservoir was built at Cocksburn. Extensions since then have provided in this reservoir a capacity of 38,000,000 gallons. Since 1920 it has supplied much of the carse of Lecropt and the Cornton area as well as providing water to add to the supplies of the burgh of Stirling beyond the Forth. Water is conveyed to Stirling along pipes which are led across the river on the railway bridge.
Nearly fifty years ago a Stirling company began to supply electricity and continued to do so until the company became part of the national undertaking. Bridge of Allan is included in the Stirling area of the South of Scotland Electricity Board. Electricity is in general use throughout the burgh and in the landward area. Certain of the new houses, indeed, built by the local authority, have no other methods of heating, lighting and cooking. The main streets are lit by sodium lamps and the side streets by the standard type of electric lamp.
Street lighting by gas was introduced in 1905 and the gas company retained a monopoly of street lighting until 1949. The first gas works were in Inverallan Road and certainly existed in 1884. About the turn of the century the Bridge of Allan Gas Light Company bought a site near Cornton Vale. In recent times the manufacture of gas has been in the control of the burgh of Stirling and supplies for Bridge of Allan are drawn from there. There is still widespread use of gas in the parish for heating and cooking. Very few houses, perhaps six in all in the burgh, retain it for lighting.
Some of the present sewers have been in operation for a century. That in Fountain Road is an example. Sectional renewals have been made from time to time. The system is water-borne, two trunk sewers, one on each side of the Allan, disgorging at the tidal portion of the river. A plan for a new system is under consideration and a survey of the land involved has been carried out. A system of cleansing has existed since the formation of the burgh. Disposal of refuse is effected near the banks of the Allan at Cornton.
The main thoroughfare is part of the Stirling - Inverness road (A9). Conversion to tar roads took place in 1908 and was one of the first undertakings of the kind in Scotland. Probably the earliest highway through the parish was that which leaves the main road east of the town and rises sharply north over Sheriffmuir. Near this familiar drove road was a halting place at Blawlowan. Late in the eighteenth century the road to the bridge and the north was diverted south from the vicinity of Airthrey Castle and from the higher parts of Bridge of Allan to the line of the present highway. A very fine new bridge over the river was completed in 1958 and was formally opened by the Secretary of State.
Medical services follow the pattern familiar in the rest of the country. There are three doctors in general practice. Specialist and hospital services are provided in Stirling Infirmary. Use is made of nursing homes in Stirling and of one in Bridge of Allan. There is a resident district nurse.
There is an excellent range of good shops, including a branch of Stirling Co-operative Society, capable of meeting most needs but much shopping is done in Stirling. Industry in the village has always been on a small scale. Cloth working was for generations the main industry and had the name of Pullar associated with it during nearly all of that time. This family's connection with the village and with the workers has always been intimate and friendly. A paper mill on the riverside until recently provided work for a small number. Since 1879 a bacon factory has flourished until very recently when it ceased work. After the recent war the Kierfield cloth mill was taken over by an English firm making corks and seals. A small proportion of local labour has been absorbed.
Most of the key workers have come from elsewhere and have become part of the community but several hundreds of the workers come daily by bus from other centres. This factory offers opportunity to housewives and others who seek part time employment. A block of offices for staff of a firm employed in the manufacture of glass bottles of all kinds has been built in the Keirfield area, and an engineering firm operates in Strathallan Road. Hotels, boarding houses and restaurants provide work for considerable staffs. Industrial are almost unknown, partly because the small scale of each industry creates a less impersonal atmosphere than is usual now in industry.
A number of years ago the Church of Scotland began social work with youth at Cornton Vale, south of the town, but the premises are now used by the borstal authorities for youths who have proved themselves reliable and capable of some freedom. A large house, Uplands, has been used since the recent war for the training of girls in domestic service. In 1946 the county council bought Airthrey Castle for conversion to a maternity hospital. There have been various extensions of the hospital and a nurses’ home has been built on the estate, which is partly sublet to farmers.*
* This estate, it has now been decided, will become the site of the new University.
Progress has been made in housing. Between the wars the local authority in Bridge of Allan built 90 houses. Construction of 12 of these was authorised by the Act of 1919, 50 by the Act of 1924 and the remaining 28 by the Act of 1935. Division of the total number into two, three and four apartment houses was approximately equal. Since the war a further 205 houses have been built, authorised by the Act of 1950. Six of these houses have five apartments. In the period between the wars some 25 houses were built for owner occupation. Between January 1945 and March 1961, 86 more have been built or are in course of construction.
Two 'All-electric' houses of two apartments each have been built very recently by the local authority to determine the value of these houses; 18 houses now being built are of the traditional pattern.
Changing social conditions have made large villas less attractive to many people and some 50 of these have been converted since 1945 into flats, providing upwards of 100 houses. In addition, in two instances the local authority has carried out conversions of old property in one case creating four new houses from eight old houses and in the other converting eleven old houses into six modern homes.
There are approximately 1,200 houses in the burgh and there is practically no evidence of overcrowding. Building societies have had little influence on the development of the burgh. In post-war private building however their influence has been felt, and they play a significant part in the purchase of houses already built. The new housing areas are situated sufficiently near the centre of the village for the occupants to remain in vital contact with the rest of the community. There is no temptation to form separate interests.
Causewayhead is a very ancient centre of population. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it is referred to as the Hospital of Stirling at "the head of the causey." It was a Hospital of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, an Order introduced to Scotland by David I who founded the Hospital at Torphichen in 1152. Little is known either of the origin of the Hospital or of its history. There is no record of its ultimate suppression. The only relic is in the place name Spittal in the area.
When the boundaries of Stirling burgh were extended in 1939 they included a considerable stretch of the flat lands of Cornton lying to the west of the Stirling - Causewayhead road. A housing scheme has been constructed and many Stirling families have thus moved into the parish. Although now resident in the parish the people of this housing scheme retain affinities with Stirling.
In 1939 the village of Causewayhead became part of the burgh of Stirling and it receives most of its public services from that burgh. The water supply comes from a reservoir in the Touch Hills. Provision of electricity, which was the concern of the Scottish Central Electric Power Company, and of gas, as for Bridge of Allan, has passed from the hands of local companies to the national authority. The river Forth, which is tidal, is used for sewage disposal. The roads are under the care of the local authority except for a few short lengths in private housing areas. Street lighting is by electricity but one or two street gas-lamps remain near the Monument.
In the combined Causewayhead and Cornton area the local authority since 1918 has built 201 houses of the permanent type. Throughout the whole burgh of Stirling 279 temporary houses were erected and of these 222 remain in use in the Cornton Area. In addition the Scottish Special Housing Association was responsible for the erection of 126 houses of the Weir Type. These are prefabricated houses of Steel. The temporary houses are all of three apartments. Of the 201 houses, 112 are of four apartments, 72 are of three apartments and 17 have five apartments each. There has been a considerable amount of private building in Causewayhead since the war of 1939. Indeed more than one third of the new privately-owned houses in the burgh of Stirling have been erected in Causewayhead. The total number is in the region of eighty. These houses are, in the main, bungalows and villas of modern, pleasing design and are extremely well equipped. In almost every case the house, whether built for sale or by the burgh authority, has a garden. Overcrowding is slight. The influence of building societies has been confined to owner occupied houses built by local contractors since 1918. In this portion of the parish, housing development has had the effect of diminishing the village atmosphere.
There is some variety in the local industry. It includes a woodwork factory in which disabled people work and there are firms engaged in the manufacture of articles made of rubber, in building, engineering, motor engineering, laundry work, joinering, mason work, and the manufacture of meat products. In addition a small egg-packing station exists and a research station for pig and bacon development. There is a range of shops providing many commodities and services. Stirling Co-operative Society is represented.
There are 133 houses in all in the area of the parish outwith the burgh boundaries. Of these, four are the property of the local county authority; 78 of the remainder are owner occupied and 51 are rented. Providing additional facilities in the Blairlogie area are two caravan sites.
The tiny village of Blairlogie lies snugly at the foot of the Ochils at the eastern end of the parish. On Castle Law above the village are traces of an ancient round fort. Between the fort and the village stands the mansion house of Blairlogie, the earliest parts of which date from the sixteenth century. At one time the village was a favourite resort of invalids who sought 'the goats' milk at Blair.' In 1953 the church declined closer association with the nearby congregations of the Church of Scotland and seceded to the United Free Church. Most of the people are associated in some way with agriculture while some others find it a pleasant and convenient residential area. There has been little new building since 1918.
The only coal mining in the parish is carried on at Manor Powis in the south east. About a hundred residents in Causewayhead are affected. A few workers reside in the neighbourhood of the pit but most come from Tullibody in the adjoining parish.
When horse-drawn tramways were in common use throughout the country a popular service was maintained from St. Ninians through Stirling and Causewayhead to Bridge of Allan. With the arrival of more modern systems this mode of transport was discontinued. The depot was in Causewayhead, the stables being in a building now in use as a motor engineer's workshop and the sheds across the way in premises now used as a factory.
Leisure.
The Proportion of children and young people has never been equal to the average for the country but the present trend is upward. The senior youth company is the Boys Brigade, formerly represented in Bridge of Allan and Causewayhead but now meeting only in the latter place. There is a troop of Scouts and a pack of Cubs in Bridge of Allan, and there are several companies of Guides. A youth club meets in the reading room of the old Blairlogie School. There are badminton clubs in most of the churches.
Each church has strong organisations for women and there are vigorous bodies like the Townswomen's Guild in Bridge of Allan and the W.R.I. in Blairlogie. The W.V.S. is also active. The Masonic movement, as well as the Order of the Eastern Star has a strong membership and is in possession of a serviceable hall. There is a branch of the British Legion in Bridge of Allan and Causewayhead but their efforts are handicapped through lack of premises.
Outdoor sport is well represented in two bowling clubs, two tennis clubs, a golf club and an association football club. Stirling County Rugby Club plays on the Games Park, Bridge of Allan. Anglers can find satisfaction on the waters of the Allan and in the Cocksburn reservoir. The ‘Strathallan Meeting’ for Scottish athletic games is held annually in August in well laid out grounds. This meeting, which has celebrated its centenary, has long had a nation-wide reputation.
The arts were early cultivated in Bridge of Allan. In the heyday of the resort concerts, art shows, lectures and conferences were famous. The most significant survival of these is the concert series organised each winter by the Bridge of Allan Music Club which draws large numbers from a wide area. This activity and many others are facilitated by the attractiveness and convenience of the Museum Hall, a Victorian structure erected towards the end of last century by the trustees of the late John Macfarlane of Coneyhill to provide, among other things, accommodation for many curios. The curios have departed: the building is now in the hands of the town council. An enthusiastic and successful operatic society in Bridge of Allan decided some years ago to join forces with the corresponding Stirling society. The local churches have in recent years sponsored dramatic clubs whose resources gradually became concentrated in a single Bridge of Allan club. The club is no longer in existence. The Rostrum is a club of men who meet to discuss a wide variety of subjects. There are two bridge clubs. A rifle club flourishes. A Ratepayers’ Association made its existence felt from time to time but is no longer active.
The Keirfield Company provides premises for social activity among its workers and also a field for recreational purposes. In Cornton a community centre made considerable endeavours to bring a sense of corporate life into the new area but this centre was closed some three years ago. In addition to the new recreational facilities already mentioned Bridge of Allan is proud of its Pullar Park in the south-east of the main thoroughfare, an attractively laid out stretch of ground with a remarkable display of spring flowers and blossoming trees and shrubs. Causewayhead boasts an attractive little public park to the east of the church hall.
Friendly Societies, Trade Unions and Professional Associations are supported as elsewhere but are centred mostly in Stirling.
There is a branch library of books provided by the County Library in Bridge of Allan and the mobile Library van pays regular visits to Blairlogie. The branch library was opened in September 1944 with a stock of 3,000 books in the former Church of Scotland canteen in Henderson Street. Accommodation was improved in 1960 and the stock is now 6,400 books. In the year 1960-1, 44,929 books were issued. Almost eighty per cent. of these were works of fiction.
Delinquency and crime are on a very small scale and are not a marked feature of the community. The number of crimes and offences of all types recorded in 1960 in Bridge of Allan was 327 of which only eight arose from drunkenness. There are thirteen licensed premises in the burgh.
Religion.
The church at Logie has been frequently mentioned. After seven or eight hundred years it maintains its vitality and serves a large part of the rural portion of the parish as well as Causewayhead with its mission hall there. At the end of the last century the Menstrie area was disjoined and a parish quoad sacra was created. In 1868 most of the village of Bridge of Allan was disjoined for ecclesiastical purposes and a new parish quoad sacra came into existence. The Church, Holy Trinity, is in Keir Street. One of the most distinguished theologians Scotland has produced, Dr. George Hendry, was was minister here for twenty years until 1949.
At the middle of last century the United Presbyterian Church established a charge and erected a building in Henderson Street. Over fifty years ago a handsome new church was erected on the same site but defects in the foundations caused the building to be demolished sixteen years ago and the congregation united with that of the parish church under the name of Holy Trinity Parish Church. Following the Disruption of 1843 the Free Church erected a small building in Union Street and later removed to a more commodious building on a more suitable site in Henderson Street, where a successful work has been maintained as Chalmers Church. The Scottish Episcopal Church is represented by a congregation worshipping in a church erected in 1857. The only other church in the parish is that in Blairlogie to which reference has been made. The churches continue to strive to make adequate arrangements for meeting the religious needs of the new Cornton area, which is situated sufficiently near the centre of Stirling to enable the people to maintain a church connection in Stirling but not near enough for the connection to remain very active. Generally speaking the attitude of the people to Christianity and to the churches is tolerant and even benevolent. In the three three long-established centres of population church affiliation is claimed by about ninety per cent. of the population.
Agriculture.
The area of the parish is 9,087 acres. Returns for 1960 record that more than 5,700 acres are devoted to agriculture. Approximately 900 acres of this are in crops and fallow and almost half of the total agricultural area is in rough grazing. More than 400 acres were given over to wheat.
There are 41 farms and other agricultural units. Of these 29 are owned by the occupiers and twelve are rented. Nine farms have fewer than five acres, and eleven have areas of between five and fifteen acres. There is one farm of over 300 acres and five others of more than 150 acres.
The principal crops are timothy hay in the carse where the yield can be as high as three and a half tons, oats yielding up to 25 cwt. from one acre and beans yielding from each acre up to 30 cwt. The yield of potatoes, which are grown in the dryfield areas, may be from an acre as much as thirteen tons. Grass on arable land is good and is ploughed and renewed every six or seven years.
There are some 900 dairy cattle and approximately 500 beef cattle in the parish. Breeding stock of black-faced sheep are kept on the hill land; the number of sheep in the parish is 3,481. Some farms are of the mixed type, keeping dairy cattle and feeding sheep.
Modern methods of agriculture are normal now and mechanisation is almost complete. Some indication of this is contained in the fact that since 1945 the number of horses in the parish has decreased from 94 to the present total of nineteen.
Education.
A school was maintained by the Church from the earliest days of parochial schools in a building near the old church, which was then central for the whole parish. This school was discontinued only on the introduction of the Education Act of 1872 when the school board erected schools in Menstrie, Bridge of Allan and Causewayhead. In the hundred years with which this account is mostly concerned private educational establishments have been Stanley House, Kelvingrove, the Ladies’ College and St. Helen’s. The famous Strathallan School had its origin in Ferniebank and Glenbrae. The only private establishment now is the Beacon School, which is attended by girls from a wide area.
Bridge of Allan School has, in late 1961, a roll of 289 pupils who are taught by a staff of nine including the head teacher. The school serves the children throughout their primary school days. Formerly three years of secondary education were provided here but this work is now concentrated in the Stirling schools. The loss of status has been regretted locally but little loss is felt by the community, probably because Stirling is so near and transport is so convenient. Th buildings which once housed Causewayhead School are now no longer in use for school purposes and a new primary school at Cornton, with a roll of 122 and a total staff of four, has been opened recently. Children from the area are also provided with primary school education at Territorial Primary School in Stirling.
Way of Life.
Some indication of the life of the parish has been already given but perhaps it may be summed in this way. Life moves steadily and peacefully in the parish of Logie, but it has never been allowed to stagnate. People who come from far off to live among us bring with them vigour which is brought to use in the community. Those who live here and work away from the parish have never been prepared to see their home area lag behind in progress or in development. The setting is pleasing. The sense of community is strong.
Written, 1954.
Final Revision, 1961.