Looking over Alva from the Ochils
Already in existence as far back as 1260, Alva is a village in the hillfoots area of Clackmannanshire. It is one of a small number of villages situated immediately to the south of the Ochil Hills, strung along the A91, collectively referred to as the hillfoots villages. Alva is located between Tillicoultry and Menstrie. Alva had a resident population of 4,600 in 2016. The Ochil Fault, movement of which gave rise to the steep southern slope of the Ochil Hills, coincides approximately with the old road along the base of the hills.
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The old town centred around Alva House, a tower house dating from 1542 and enlarged and remodelled in 1636 by Sir Charles Erskine. It remained in the Erskine family until around 1800 when it passed to the mill owner James Johnstone.
During the Industrial Revolution, Alva developed as a textile manufacturing centre; the woollen mills, originally water-powered, provided employment for locals and migrants to the area. The Glentana Mill was built in 1887 was more recently used as the mill trail centre for a time. The Dalmore Works was built in 1874 for Wilson Brothers, who produced textile products including tweed, woollen novelty fabrics and mohair and woollen rugs. The works were operated by Wilsons until 1964.
Alva was historically in an exclave of Stirlingshire, but it was transferred to Clackmannanshire in 1891.
The village is situated on slightly higher ground than the surrounding carse, being on two overlapping alluvial fans, made up of material deposited by the Carnaughton Glen and Alva Glen burns. The Alva Glen cuts into the Ochils immediately north of the town. Alva Burn flows from the glen, through Alva, and on into the river Devon. To the east of Alva Glen, and parallel to it, is the Silver Glen, where silver was once mined.
Alva has two large parks - Johnstone Park and Cochrane Park, which contains the local hall (Cochrane Hall). Every second Saturday in July, Johnstone Park is host to the Alva Games, the last remaining Highland Games show in Clackmannanshire. The McArthur Braes, at the foot of Alva Glen, was once a formal park that has fallen into neglect; it is now being regenerated.
Alva Academy takes pupils from several primary schools in the Hillfoots area. The school was relocated on a new campus early in 2009. The new Alva Academy has been built at the end of Greenhead, a street on the south-east side of the town. There was a railway station that served the town from 1863 to 1954.
The most prominent building in Alva is Strude Mill, a former woollen mill that has been restored and converted to flats. It stands above the town at the base of the hills and is clearly visible from some distance away.
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