Clackmannanshire, SCT - Postcode - FK10 4AD - Post Codes & Zip Codes List

Clackmannanshire

Clackmannanshire is located in central Scotland, and it is surrounded by the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross, as well as the historic counties of Perthshire, Stirling, and Fife.

The name incorporates parts of three different languages. Clach, which means "Stone" in Scottish Gaelic, provides the first element of the name. The name Mannan comes from the Brythonic word for the local Iron Age tribe, the Manaw. English word "shire" rounds out the set. The county is known as "The Wee County" because it is the smallest historic county in Britain. Clacks is often used as an abbreviation for "Clackmannanshire" in written form.

History

The ancient stone associated with the pre-Christian deity Manau or Mannan gave the old county town of Clackmannan its name.

Near the top of Main Street in Clackmannan, the stone is now supported by a larger stone in front of the Tollbooth (constructed in the late 16th century) and the Mercat Cross.

Weaving mills on the Hillfoots burns gave Clackmannanshire its name. Brewing, glassmaking, mining, and shipbuilding were among the other major economic drivers. Clackmannanshire is now attracting service industries and tourism thanks to its central location and convenient transportation options.

Clackmannanshire has the fewest residents of any Scottish council area. At the time of the 1841 census, its population stood at 19,155. There are now over 51,400 of them (as of 2017), with about half of them residing in Alloa, the largest town and administrative center.

Clackmannanshire's official motto is "Look Aboot Ye" (Circumspice in Latin). After a branding exercise in 2007, the region began using the tagline "More Than You Imagine."

Administration and Politics

The counties of Perthshire, Stirlingshire, and Fife surround Clackmannan County, one of Scotland's 33 traditional counties. By 1822, neighboring Alloa had surpassed Clackmannan in population and replaced it as the county town. In 1971, the areas of Muckhart and Glendevon, which had previously been in Perthshire, were transferred to Clackmannanshire as part of a reorganization of the counties that began in 1889 and 1890. The Sheriff's Court in Alloa served as the seat of the Clackmannanshire County Council.

The existing burghs and 33 historic counties were abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and a new administrative structure of regions and districts was established. They changed the name of Clackmannanshire to "Clackmannan District." It, along with Stirling and Falkirk, was incorporated into the Central Region.

The Clackmannan district is now one of Scotland's 32 unitary authorities, which came into existence after the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act of 1994 abolished the country's two-tier system of local government. The initial council of the unitary authority rebranded the area as "Clackmannanshire" in response to vocal opposition from the local populace.

Clackmannanshire was the first council area to announce its vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Despite the fact that some polls had placed this region in the "Yes" column, this area ultimately voted 53.8% No. This was taken as an ominous portent of a no vote in Scotland's independence referendum.

Clackmannanshire, United Kingdom, voted to remain a member of the European Union in the 2016 referendum by a margin of 58%.

Geography

Ben Cleuch, the highest point in Clackmannanshire, is located in the Ochil Hills, which take up the majority of the northern part of the county. Along the Upper Glendevon Reservoir is where the county's northernmost point of prominence can be found. The Hillfoots Villages, which run parallel to the Ochil Fault escarpment, can be found in Strathdevon, which is situated directly to the south. The majority of Strathdevon is a lowland plain a few hundred meters wide on either side of the River Devon, which empties into the Forth near Cambus. The Black Devon River flows past Clackmannan and eventually empties into the Forth somewhere near Alloa. This intersection used to have a pier so that smaller sailing ships could anchor there while larger ones were accepted at Dunmore Pier on the south side of the Forth. The Gartmorn Dam County Park is located in the general middle of the county, and there are a few forested areas in the county's southeastern corner. The river Forth meanders to form two unnamed peninsulas along Clackmannanshire's southern border, with Tullibody Inch and Alloa Inch flanking the easternmost of these.

Economy

Agribusiness, brewing, and coal mining are the primary economic activities. The Docks area of Alloa, which has been in decline since the 1960s, was approved for waterfront development in 2006. Alloa is home to a sizable glass manufacturing facility.

Transport

Alloa station, which had been closed since the 1930s, reopened in May 2008, becoming the county's first operational railroad hub. Alloa was reconnected to the national rail network for the first time since 1968 when a new railway line between Kincardine and Stirling was opened to the public. Only between Alloa and Stirling do scheduled passenger services run, continuing on to Glasgow and Edinburgh; the line to Kincardine is typically used by freight trains only, though some special excursion trains are run by charter operators. After a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, May 15th, the first scheduled passenger service began on Monday, May 19th, 2008, in accordance with the new summer schedule. Alloa, Stirling, and Glasgow Queen Street are connected by this service once an hour.

As of 2008, there was a new road crossing the Forth, the Clackmannanshire Bridge, which was built to relieve traffic on the older Kincardine Bridge (technically the span of the new bridge is not within the county, instead falling just outside it and administratively divided between Falkirk and Fife).

The Hillfoots Villages are accessible via the A91 between Bannockburn and St. Andrews, which connects to the A907 between Stirling and Dunfermline, the A908 between Alloa and Tillicountry, and the A977 (fed by the A876) between Kincardine and Kinross, which runs east of Clackmannan.

Clackmannan

The Central Lowlands of Scotland are home to the small town and civil parish of Clackmannan. Clackmannan is located in the Forth Valley, just 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south of Tillicoultry and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) south-east of Alloa. Until Alloa grew larger and more significant, this town served as the county seat of Clackmannanshire, the county in which it is located.

Toponymy and naming

Clackmannan could have a Brittonic root.

The first component, Manau, comes from the root man-, which means "projecting," and is related to the element *clog, which means "rock, crag, cliff" (cf. Welsh clog). 

There is a pagan monument called the Stone of Manau or Stone of Mannan in the town square, right next to the Tolbooth or Tollbooth Tower, which was built in 1592, and this may be the inspiration for the name of the town.

History

A major contributor to the city's early development was the port that was situated on the Black Devon River's tidal section near where it met the Forth. No longer near the river, Clackmannan is now more than a mile inland. The residents dug out the silt from their port in an attempt to keep it open, but it was to no use. Due to the port in Alloa being put to use after Clackmannan's silting made it inaccessible to vessels, Alloa surpassed Clackmannan as the county town of Clackmannanshire in 1822. 

Abbots of Cambuskenneth held sway over this region beginning in the 12th century. Later, the Bruce family became linked with the area after constructing a strategic tower-house there in the 14th century (now known as Clackmannan Tower) and a mansion adjacent to the tower in the 16th century. When the local line of the Bruces died out in 1791, the mansion was dismantled, however some stones were possibly reused to construct the new parish church in 1815. Based on information from Historic Scotland, it may still be seen towering over the neighborhood, but access is strictly restricted (because of subsidence). 

In 1841, there were 1,077 people living in the district of Clackmannan.

Clackmannan Crater can be found on asteroid 253 Mathilde. Mathilde's craters were given their names after well-known coalfields around the world to reflect the dark, carbonaceous nature of the asteroid. The Clackmannan Group refers to a set of rocks that were deposited in the Midland Valley of Scotland during the Carboniferous era and are of late Dinantian and Namurian age. Sir Robert Lorimer was responsible for the 1919 design of the war memorial.

Scotland, UK Description

Scotland is the most northern of the UK's four constituent countries, occupying roughly one-third of the island. In the 5th century CE, Irish Celts settled on the west coast of Britain, naming it "Scotland." Scotland's name comes from the Latin Scotia, meaning "land of the Scots." Caledonia is a term frequently used to refer to Scotland, particularly in poetry. Caledonii was the Roman name for a tribe that lived in what is now northwest Scotland.

Scotland's harsh climate and extreme weather conditions have made it difficult for many generations to live there, but they have cherished it for its natural beauty and unique culture. During the Scottish Enlightenment, philosophers like Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith forged important contributions to political and practical theories of progress. Scottish inventors, engineers, and businessmen like Alexander Graham Bell, James Watt, Andrew Carnegie, and John McAdam helped Scotland's influence far beyond its borders.

Scotland-England relations have been strained since the two countries united in 1707 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Despite heavy English influence, Scotland has long maintained its independence, clinging to historical fact and legend to preserve national identity and the Scots dialect of English.

Geographical Description of Scotland

The Aegean, Atlantic, North, and English Channels border Scotland's southern, western, and northern borders, as well as its eastern border. The west coast is dotted with large islands ranging in size from small rocks to the massive Lewis and Harris, Skye, and Mull landmasses (sea lochs or fjords). Orkney and Shetland islands are located north of Scotland. 274 miles (441 kilometers) from Cape Wrath to the Mull of Galloway, and 154 miles wide from Applecross in the western Highlands to Buchan Ness in the eastern Grampians. Scotland's mainland has two halves: north and south (248 km). With only 30 miles of land separating the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth, Scotland's two major estuarine inlets on its west and east coasts, from the sea, the vast majority of places are within 40 to 50 miles (65 to 80 kilometers) of the sea.

The Highlands are in the north, the Midland Valley (Central Lowlands) is in the middle, and the Southern Uplands are in the south. (The latter two are part of the Lowlands cultural region, which includes the former two.) Low-lying areas run the length of the Midland Valley and the US east coast. The east coast's smoother outline contrasts with the west coast's rugged outline, resulting in a topographic as well as a north-south divide. The Glen Mor (Glen Albyn) fault line separates the Highlands from the rest of the country. To the north of Glen Mor is an ancient plateau eroded into a series of peaks of similar height separated by glens carved by glaciers (valleys). The Lewisian Complex rocks have been worn down by severe glaciation to form a hummocky landscape punctuated by small lochs and protruding rocks from thin, acidic soil. The magnificent Torridonian sandstone mountains have weathered into sheer cliffs, rock terraces, and pinnacles.

The Grampian Mountains are located southeast of Glen Mor, though there are intrusions such as the Cairngorm Mountains' granitic masses. The Grampians are less rocky and rugged than the Northwest Mountains, being more rounded and grassy, with larger plateau areas. The area has some of Britain's highest mountains, including Ben Nevis (4,406 feet), which has cliffs and pinnacles that make climbing difficult (1,343 metres). Rannoch Moor, a desolate expanse of bogs and granitic rocks punctuated by narrow, deep lochs such as Rannoch and Ericht, is the most striking example (Rannoch Moor is the most striking of these). The Highland Boundary Fault runs northeast-southwest from Stonehaven, just south of Aberdeen, to Helensburgh on the River Clyde, passing through Loch Lomond, Scotland's largest freshwater body. The southern boundary of the Midland Valley is divided by a fault that runs from northeast to southwest, beginning with the Lammermuir and Moorfoot hills. It's misleading to call this part of Scotland the Lowlands because, while it's low compared to other parts of Scotland, it's not flat. Volcanic hills like the Sidlaws, Ochils, Campsies, and Pentlands dominate the landscape (579 metres). The Southern Uplands are not as high as the Highlands. Glaciation has created narrow, flat valleys that divide rolling mountains into sections. The gently sloping, grassy, and rounded hills just east of Nithsdale open up into fertile Merse farming land to the south. With time, the landscape west of Nithsdale becomes more rugged, with granitic intrusions around Loch Doon, and the soil becomes more peaty and wet. Merrick's high moorlands and hills can support a sheep farm at 2,766 feet (843 metres) above sea level. The uplands slope down to the Solway Firth's coastal plains in the south and the machair and Mull of Galloway in the west.

The Economy of Scotland

As a result of the problems that plagued many European countries during the 1970s and 1980s, including the widespread failure of heavy industries, Scotland's economy suffered greatly during this period. Unemployment became a significant issue, particularly in areas where major industries were in decline at the same time. A variety of measures were implemented by successive governments to improve the situation. Because of the extraction of North Sea oil and natural gas, as well as the development of high-technology industries and other economic sectors, Scotland's economy began to prosper during the 1980s.

Scotland's economy remains small but open, accounting for approximately 5% of the total export revenue of the United Kingdom. Aside from London and the eastern regions of England, no other region in the United Kingdom has a higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita than the West Midlands, and its unemployment rate is relatively low. To be sure, wealth distribution in Scotland is not evenly distributed, and the average unemployment rate conceals pockets of significantly higher unemployment in specific regions and localities. Scottish economic development, education, and training are all overseen by the Scottish Parliament, despite the fact that the British government has control over macroeconomic policy in the country. This includes central government spending, interest rates, and monetary policy in Scotland.