An Opportunity

Clackmannanshire, the Hillfoots villages and the Ochils are currently not widely recognised as a tourist destination but benefit from passing traffic to iconic national monuments such as Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument and Bannockburn.  The link to these key attractions could be complemented by highlighting what the local area has to offer.  Within Clackmannanshire, an untapped attraction is the Ochil Hills, which are not widely advertised and without a hub that could provide appropriate facilities, such as a visitor centre, car parking, changing rooms, meeting spaces and catering facilities, all in one place. Having such a facility based around an already thriving sporting centre would bring significant opportunities to the whole area.

In terms of sporting opportunities, the Hillfoots area offers:

• The Firpark Ski Centre (most used sport facility by groups external to the county).
• The River Devon with a very active canoe club with renowned instructors and two British Olympian canoeists amongst their number.
• Extensive cycle routes both along roads, but also off-road into the hills, with a key route passing by the proposed development site.
• Rugby clubs which in recent years have produced 4 Scottish internationals.
• A number of Football clubs.
• A proposal to build an equestrian centre which will offer riding for the disabled.
• Spectacular and extensive hill walking and rambling routes suitable for all ages and abilities. Twice a year, two Hill races which are part of the national championship are run on Ben Cleuch.  The competitors turn up, change in their car on the roadside, compete, change and leave – there are no facilities, nor opportunity to encourage them to stay and exploit their visit in the local area.

In terms of the Ochil Hills themselves, there is no dedicated centre to act as a base for exploring the hills and while the community is very fortunate to have the Ochil Mountain Rescue Team based nearby, having a centre that can advise walkers and act as a hub would greatly increase the volume of walkers in a safe manner.  Indeed, it would be possible to further expand the centre and offer a full outward-bound experience perhaps using the Tillicoultry Quarry for climbing, the River Devon for canoeing and the hills for walking.  However, the walkers need not be adventurous and seek the hills, we also have more benign walks and cycle paths that could be explored such as the old railway path from Dollar to Tillicoultry onward to Alloa.

Finally, the Hillfoots area has a rich and perhaps forgotten heritage that is waiting be brought to life.  Historically, there is much that is not widely known in terms of its past, whether that be Tillicoultry’s Pictish fortress whose stones were according to legend used in the building of Stirling Castle; through to the history of the Jacobite era and hidden gems like Menstrie Castle, which have made popular by modern fiction; or its more recent past with stories to be told of the Polish Regiment stationed in the Public Park during WW2 and the destruction of Alva House by the Royal Air Force as a practice bombing target.  We also have a rich architectural and public art heritage with older architecture such as our castles, the now converted mill houses, the Bell Tower in Tillicoultry jostling with more modern art such as Andy Scott’s iconic sculptures.  In terms of our industrial past, whether that be in terms of agriculture and the drovers’ paths through the hills themselves, the mills that processed the wool into cloth, or the mines that helped power the nation and were showcased in the first ever BBC outside broadcast in the late 1940s.  While the past is rich, the Wee County’s current industrial output whether in brewing and distilling or natural energy production, should also be celebrated.