Raploch, known locally as The Raploch or The Raptap, is a district of the city of Stirling, which lies to the south of the River Forth in central

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 ...

. The first houses were built in the late 17th century, after the land had been sold by the Earl of Mar to the patrons of

Cowane's Hospital Cowane's Hospital is a 17th-century almshouse in the Old Town of Stirling, Scotland. It was established in 1637 with a bequest of 40,000 merks from the estate of the merchant John Cowane (1570–1633). Subsequently converted for use as a Guildha ...

in Stirling. Economic conditions led to stagnation but housing began again in earnest at the start of the 19th century. The real expansion came in the middle of the 20th century, when council housing replaced decrepit housing in the old town. Perhaps one of the most notable people to have come from the district is football legend

Billy Bremner William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Regarded as one of the game's great midfielders, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stam ...

, who also attended the local St. Mary's Roman Catholic primary school. A more recent football star from Raploch is David Goodwillie. The Raploch was the subject of a 2002

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

documentary entitled

Raploch Stories Raploch, known locally as The Raploch or The Raptap, is a district of the city of Stirling, which lies to the south of the River Forth in central Scotland. The first houses were built in the late 17th century, after the land had been sold by the ...

, and in a 2017 sequel Raploch Stories Revisited. Since 2004, the Raploch area has undergone a great deal of physical regeneration. In 2008 the area became the home of the UK's first '' El Sistema'' children's orchestra, called Big Noise Raploch. A children's orchestra with over 100 members, who performed with Gustavo Dudamel and the

Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

on 21 June 2012 and on a BBC Scotland Christmas Eve (2012) Special in Stirling's Holy Rude Church.

References

External links

Raploch project

Raploch Community Partnership website - for Community Hub Activities such as Parent and Toddlers and Computer access and training

Big Noise website

The Raploch: A history, people's perceptions and the likely future of a problem housing estate. Douglas Robertson, James Smyth and Ian McIntosh

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Geography of Stirling (council area) Stirling (city) Housing estates in Scotland