Balloch (; Scots pronunciation: ;Dictionary of the Scots Language
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Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

: ''Am Bealach'') is a village in

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter town ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, at the foot of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Ce ...

Etymology

Balloch comes from either the Gaelic word ''baile'' which means village or hamlet, or the Gaelic ''bealach'' meaning "a pass". Using the former derivation, Balloch means "village on the loch", i.e. the nearby Loch Lomond, but this would be Baile Loch.

Geography

Balloch is at the north end of the

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...

, straddling the River Leven itself. It connects to the larger town of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

and to the smaller village of Jamestown, both of which are located to its south. It also borders the

Kilpatrick Hills The Kilpatrick Hills are a range of hills in central Scotland, stretching from Dumbarton in the west to Strathblane in the east. Strathblane divides the Kilpatricks from the Campsie Fells to the east, while to the north is part of the Loch Lom ...

. To the east of the town lies the major local authority housing scheme in the area known as 'The Haldane' or 'The Mill of Haldane'.

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

is located around to the southeast. Balloch lies on the 56th parallel, at about the same

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Tourism

With its accessible location at the southern end of Loch Lomond and just off the main road from

to the

West Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

(A82), it is an important centre of

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, especially from Glasgow and

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

. The village has a number of hotels, inns and pubs, and there are cruises from Balloch up Loch Lomond, and other services, including to nearby locations like

Luss Luss (''Lus'', 'herb' in Gaelic) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on the west bank of Loch Lomond. The village is within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. History Historically in the County of Dunbarton, its origina ...

, and the

Renfrew Ferry The Renfrew Ferry is a passenger ferry service linking the north and south banks of the River Clyde in Scotland. The service, operated by Clydelink without subsidy, crosses between Renfrew and Yoker, close to Glasgow City Centre and is the las ...

service. The largest number of boats cruising on Loch Lomond leave from Balloch. The village is also the home of Dunkirk vessel Skylark XI which helped rescue 600 troops during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It contains

Balloch Country Park Balloch Country Park is a country park on the southern tip of Loch Lomond in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was recognised as a country park in 1980, and it is the only country park in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Scotla ...

and

Balloch Castle Balloch Castle is an early 19th-century country house situated at the southern tip of Loch Lomond, in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Balloch was a property of the Lennox family from the 11th century, and the old castle was built in the 13th centur ...

, and is at the southern end of the first Scottish national park, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. There is a

Sea Life Centre Sea Life is a chain of commercial marine life, sea life-themed aquarium tourism, attractions. there are 53 Sea Life attractions (including standalone Sea Life centres, mini Sea Life features within resort theme parks, and Legoland submarine ri ...

in the village. The Loch Lomond Youth Soccer Festival used to take place in the village. "Lochfoot" in the Jean Robertson novels of

Jane Duncan Jane Duncan (10 March 1910 – 20 October 1976) was the pseudonym of Scottish author Elizabeth Jane Cameron, best known for her ''My Friends'' series of semi-autobiographical novels. She also wrote four novels under the name of her principal hero ...

is partly based on the village. The PS ''Maid of the Loch'' is currently being restored at Balloch pier and the

Balloch Steam Slipway The Balloch Steam Slipway consists of a ramp, carriage and steam powered winch located on the shores of Loch Lomond by which ships or boats can be moved in and out of the loch, usually for repairs and general maintenance. It is owned and operate ...

is located nearby.

Transport

The

A811 road The A811 is a road in central Scotland. It runs from Stirling to Balloch. Route The road starts off in the centre of Stirling, at the Craigs Roundabout. Soon, it leaves Stirling and crosses the M9 without a junction, although there may be one ...

(based on an 18th-century military road) goes from Balloch to

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, and the A813 goes from Dumbarton to Balloch. The Glasgow to Loch Lomond cycle path (part of

National Cycle Route 7 Route For mapping purposes, the route is split at Glasgow into Lochs and Glens (south) and (north) Sunderland to Carlisle This route follows the Sea to Sea (C2C) cycle route for much of its length before the C2C departs to Whitehaven and N ...

) ends at Balloch. The West Loch Lomond Cycle Path also runs from Balloch. The village was formerly served by two railway stations on the

Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway The Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway (C&DJR) was a Scottish railway opened in 1850 between Bowling and Balloch via Dumbarton. The company had intended to build to Glasgow but it could not raise the money. Other railways later rea ...

: Balloch Central, and Balloch Pier, which closed in 1988 and 1986, respectively. The village now has one railway station opened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

, which is a terminus of the North Clyde electric train service from

Education

Balloch is served by Balloch Primary School and St Kessog's Primary school, both located at the newly built Balloch Campus. Balloch Primary School is the result of a merger between Haldane Primary School and Jamestown Primary School In 2018.

Notable residents

* George Findlay,

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

recipient *

Sharleen Spiteri Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish singer and guitarist, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas (band), Texas. She has a contralto vocal range. In 2013, Texas's worldwide album sales were counted at 40 mi ...

, singer-songwriter; guitarist; lead vocalist of the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and ...

band

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Morgan McMichaels Morgan McMichaels (born May 28, 1981) is the stage name of Scottish-American drag performer Thomas White, best known as a contestant on the second season of the reality television competition ''RuPaul's Drag Race,'' as well as the third seaso ...

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

Ross Murdoch Ross Murdoch (born 14 January 1994) is a Scottish competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics in 2016 and 2020, the FINA World Championships and the LEN European Championships, and Scotland at the Commonwealth ...

, swimmer, gold medallist at the 2016 European Championships

References

2. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/wwii-rescue-boat-skylark-ix-7446557 {{authority control Towns in West Dunbartonshire Loch Lomond Vale of Leven