Cambus (from Scottish Gaelic ''An Camas'', meaning the bend in the river) is a village near

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the hi ...

. It is located to the south of

Tullibody Tullibody ( gd, Tulach Bòide), is a town set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth near to the foot of the Ochil Hills within the Forth Valley. The town is south-west of Alva, north-west of Alloa and east-nor ...

, to the northwest of Alloa, and about 4 miles east of

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 ...

, across the river. It lies on the River Devon, near its confluence with the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...

Distillery

A whisky distillery was founded in Cambus in 1806. Fahrenheit 173 - Whisky Distilleries
/ref> It or another was re-established by John Mowbray in 1813whiskiesofscotland.com
/ref> or perhaps 1836. In 1877 ownership was merged into the

Distillers Company The Distillers Company Limited was a leading Scottish drinks and pharmaceutical company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over by Guinness & Co. (now part of Diageo) in 1986 in a transaction which was later f ...

. The distillery was closed down in 1993.scotchwhisky.net: Cambus Scotch Whisky Distillery
/ref> There is a song about Cambus Whisky which mentions "sober Sandy" who was reportedly a ballman at the distillery. The

Cambus Iron Bridge Cambus is an American public transport bus system, primarily serving the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City, Iowa. The service is intended to provide transportation for students, faculty, and staff around the main campus, University of Iowa R ...

over the Devon was constructed in the early 19th century to span the River Devon and link with the distillery founded in 1806. It is a

Category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

and a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. Security is a concern for any distillery, and in at least the 1950s the Cambus distillery was guarded at night by a flock of geese, with their wings clipped to prevent flight. During the day, to prevent the workforce being attacked, the geese were kept in an enclosure across the road, and were generally found to be intimidating by passers-by. This would have been intended to deter any would-be thieves. The degree of success is unknown, however nowadays the sign of a conventional security company is displayed on the perimeter of the site.

Brewery

Robert Knox & Son brewed in Cambus. Some of their beer labels still survive.

Famous Inhabitants

Magnus Pyke Magnus Alfred Pyke (29 December 1908 – 19 October 1992) was an English nutritional scientist, governmental scientific adviser, writer and presenter. He worked for the UK Ministry of Food, the post-war Allied Commission for Austria, and diff ...

formerly lived in Cambus, close to the station and distillery.

Rail connections

From the early 1850s until 1968 Cambus was served by passenger trains of the

Stirling and Dunfermline Railway The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway was a railway in Scotland connecting Stirling and Dunfermline. It was planned by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to get access to the mineral deposits on the line of route, but also as a tactical measure t ...

. The station was to the west of the

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

on the road into the village, and had a large signal box, which controlled two level crossings, the junction with the line to

Menstrie Menstrie (Scottish Gaelic: ) is a village in the county of Clackmannanshire in Scotland. It is about east-northeast of Stirling and is one of a string of towns that, because of their location at the foothill base of the Ochil Hills, are collec ...

and Alva, and access to sidings in the

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

and

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

. The line was re-opened in 2008 as part of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link. The new railway has a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

to the east of the road into Cambus village, but no station at this point in time. Plean, Cowie and the River Forth from the air (geograph 5222103)

References

{{authority control Villages in Clackmannanshire