Larbert

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Larbert is a small town in the Falkirk council area, to the north of Falkirk, Scotland. It was formerly within the county of Stirlingshire. According to the 2001 census, the population stood at 6,425.

The town adjoins Stenhousemuir to the East. The town was united with the parish of Dunipace to the West, unusual for that village is geographically closer to Denny.

It is situated on the River Carron, 8 miles south east of Stirling, and has grown up around the railway junction which bisects the town - the junction being an important station for traffic from the east and west. Coal mining, boiler making, casting, steel plating and heavy manufacturing, in the foundries which dominated the town were formerly the chief industries.

Due to Larbert's central location in Scotland it principally functions as a dormitory settlement, with the majority of its population working either in the surrounding towns, like Falkirk or Stirling or in the cities of Edinburgh or Glasgow, which are easily accessible by road or rail. Close by are the main motorways of the M9, the M876 and the A80 which connect the area to the much larger urban centres of Scotland. Glasgow and Edinburgh are easily accessible by rail from Larbert Railway Station. Nowadays light retail and commerce function as the main economic activity in the town. Long established Falkirk bakery Mathieson's has based all operations at Larbert since 2005.

There are a large number of private housing starts taking place in or around Larbert on the many brownfield sites, that were previously occupied by factories and foundries and their undertakings. By 2009 Larbert is expected to be the home of the new Forth Valley Acute Hospital [1], which is being built on the site of the former Royal Scottish National Hospital - a hospital that was for people with learning difficulties. As is the case with most areas within the Falkirk district, Larbert contains wealthy areas and council owned estates located almost almost adjacent to each other.

In the churchyard of Larbert Old Church is a monument to James Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller, who was born and died at Kinnaird House, to the north east. Two miles north are the ruins of Torwood Castle and the remains of Torwood forest, to which Sir William Wallace retired after his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298. Near Wallace's Oak, in which the patriot concealed himself, Donald Cargill (1619-1681), the Covenanter, excommunicated Charles II and James, Duke of York, in 1680. The fragment of an old round building is said to be the relic of one of the very few brochs, or round towers, found in the lowlands.

The celebrated comic actor Jimmy Finlayson, best remembered as a foil and erstwhile catalyst for the legendary Laurel and Hardy, was born in Larbert.

The locally well-known Circular bus service linking Falkirk by two different routes, operated by First whose large depot is located near the town.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Coordinates: 56°01′N, 3°50′W Larbert will be soon getting a new primary school in the belllsdyke area called North Larbert primary school. The school will open in August 2007.