Bridge of Allan

In 1297 William Wallace held much of the north and Dundee was his next target, when the English under the Earl of Surrey marched north against him. At Stirling, Surrey dithered over crossing the River Forth, while the Scots got ready to meet him. He was urged to ford the river further upstream, which he could have done quickly outflanking the Scots. Instead he began to advance over the bridge, a ricketty narrow wooden structure that could only fit two horsemen abreast - the manouevre was bound to take hours. The Scots bided their time till 2000 had crossed then set on and slew them. Surrey could still have held his position at Stirling but bolted south to Berwick, and Scotland was in the hands of Wallace.

Wallace was never crowned king, but ruled as "Guardian of Scotland" until his betrayal, capture and execution in 1305 by the English. A war of succession broke out in Scotland: King Edward II tried to place a puppet king on their throne, and occupied Stirling Castle, but in 1314 the Scots under Robert the Bruce besieged the castle and defeated the English army a few miles south at Bannockburn. Scotland's independence was recognised in 1320 in the Declaration of Arbroath.

These two great victories are icons of Scottish lore and identity to this day - which gives the game away, that they were never so successful in battle again. There was a long period of peace until 1502 when, not leaving well enough alone, the two nations signed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace. Hostilities soon resumed and in 1513 Scotland suffered a catastrophic defeat at Flodden in Northumberland, with King James IV killed. They regrouped and came again, but suffered another crushing defeat near Carlisle in 1542. Never again could Scotland by itself pose a military threat to England. But if, say, France were to join as an ally, as in the Jacobite rebellions, surely they'd fare better?

Visitor information:

Discover Bridge of Allan is volunteer-run local information.

By road:

Follow M9 to its terminus at Junction 11 then return south on A9. For the University, bypass Stirling to the east on A91 then turn onto Alloa Rd past the monument. From Stirling simply follow A9 north.

By rail:

Trains take four minutes from Stirling, and continue north to Dunblane; they run every 30 min and originate either from Glasgow Queen Street or from Edinburgh via Falkirk. Trains heading further north towards Aberdeen or Inverness seldom stop here, change at Stirling or Dunblane.

1 Bridge of Allan railway station has EV charging and free parking, but is just a platform halt with ticket machines. There is level access to Platform 1 (towards Stirling) and a ramp to Platform 2.

By bus:

Long distance coaches don't stop here, change in Stirling.

McGill's Bus 54 runs every 20 min between Stirling, Bridge of Allan village and the University. The Uni-link bus to the University doesn't come into Bridge of Allan.

Citylink 909 runs from Edinburgh every two hours via the airport, Bo'ness, Grangemouth, and Falkirk to Stirling, with two per day continuing to the University.

Stagecoach Bus 15 runs every two hours from Crieff via Dunblane, and continues to Stirling. Docherty's Bus 20 runs from Auchterarder.