Laurencekirk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Laurencekirk is a small town in the ancient county of Kincardineshire, modern county of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road. It is the largest settlement in the Howe o' the Mearns area and houses the local secondary school; Mearns Academy, which was awarded the Charter Mark in 2003. The 2004 population is estimated at 1,950.[1]
Its old name was Conveth, a corruption of "Coinmheadh". Laurencekirk is situated in the valley between the Hill of Garvock and the Cairn O' Mounth. The famous landmark of the Johnston Tower can be seen on the peak of the Garvock.
Laurencekirk was, in the past, known for making snuff boxes with a special type of airtight hinge (known as a "Laurencekirk hinge") invented by James Sandy.
Lewis Grassic Gibbon wrote much about The Mearns and the surrounding area in his book Sunset Song. A tribute centre can be visited at Arbuthnott a few miles from Laurencekirk.
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The Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line passes through the town. The station is currently closed. There are confirmed plans in motion to get this station re-built to re-open at the end of 2008 due to the demand of an increasing population.
Laurencekirk has a wealth of small public houses. The Crown and The Royal attract the younger patrons while the Western is a regular haunt for the older locals. Recently the Alma Hotel has been converted to an Indian Restaurant, Bar and Indian Takeaway. This has been a most welcome addition to the community.
Laurencekirk has a large coach hire company which serves the Aberdeenshire area. MW Nicolls is a company that has been situated in the town for many years. Public service busses link to neighbouring towns and villages such as Stonehaven, Montrose and Brechin. It also provides transport for weddings at nearby Fasque House (past home of the Gladstone family) and recently re-furbished Drumtochty Castle.
There is a main street which has amenities such as a recently re-built Co-operative Society supermarket, a Spar shop, a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a Post Office, baker, butcher, hairdresser, photographer and a hardware/gift shop. The former Laurencekirk Mart houses various facilities including a children's play centre and beauty therapy premises.
In 2006 IDFed (www.idfed.org) was established in the town. Correctly known as the International Identity Federation, IDFed provides a web-based solution to the problem of identification for injured or mugged travellers. Members use a forum to log their movements and are issued with a unique number embossed onto Identity Tags. This relates back to a secure data base controlled by a 24 hour monitoring service. In the event of a member being found helpless, the data can be used to inform next of kin and aid in the repatriation of the member. it is understood that DNA profiling is also offered.
TFL relies on services here to package and dispatch the "oyster" card.
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