Torrance is a relatively affluent village in
East Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire ( sco, Aest Dunbartanshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north of Glasgow and contains many of the affluent areas to the north of the city, including Bear ...
, formerly
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirli ...
, Scotland, located north of
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 ...
city centre. Torrance used to mainly consist of farmland. The village was once famous as a resting place for workers on their way to the Campsie Fells north. The
Forth and Clyde Canal
The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allo ...
has a wharf nearby at Hungryside, and the A807 runs along its southern edge. The village has an active community charity whose aims are to improve the village facilities.
History
Originally located in the county of
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirli ...
the name Torrance may come from the
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 ...
for the place of the "little hillocks".
There are Roman sites close to Torrance with a fort at
Cadder
Cadder (Scottish Gaelic: ''Coille Dobhair'') is a district of the town of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is located 7 km north of Glasgow city centre, 0.5 km south of the River Kelvin, and approximately 1.5 km nort ...
and a fortlet at
Glasgow Bridge.
The village of Torrance is located in "The Eleven Ploughs of Balgrochan". The "Eleven Ploughlands" are part of the estate of the Grahams of Mugdock, which had been
feued in 1630 to local occupiers by the
Marquess of Montrose
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
. The feuars, originally holding their land unenclosed, each received an enclosed piece of land in 1735, as was common at the time. The village of Torrance developed some time later.
Although
weavers
Weaver or Weavers may refer to:
Activities
* A person who engages in weaving fabric
Animals
* Various birds of the family Ploceidae
* Crevice weaver spider family
* Orb-weaver spider family
* Weever (or weever-fish)
Arts and entertainment
...
were among the earliest residents of the village,
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
,
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
and
ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...
extraction also began to emerge as a local industry.
[
For several years, the canal wharf at Hungryside was Torrance's main connection with the outside world. However, this began to change in 1879 with the opening of ]Torrance railway station
Torrance railway station was opened in 1879 on the Kelvin Valley Railway and served the area of the village of Torrance in East Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire ( sco, Aest Dunbartanshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Ear) is one ...
by the Kelvin Valley Railway
The Kelvin Valley Railway was an independent railway designed to connect Kilsyth, an important mining town in central Scotland, with the railway network. It connected Kilsyth to Kirkintilloch and thence over other railways to the ironworks of Co ...
Company. Before the coming of the railway the population of the area was around 800.
Community
Local amenities
Torrance offers local amenities to its residents including one hairdresser, one beauty salon and barber, tennis courts, car valeting, mechanics, Scotmid, dentist, chiropodist, bakery, chemist, Chinese takeaway and newsagent and the Torrance Church of Scotland at the foot of School Road and St Dominic's RC Church at the top.
Torrance has three pubs: the Wheatsheaf Inn, the Torrance Inn and the Rambler with another bar in the bowling club.
Torrance Primary School
The school has around 250 pupils. It has three sport pitches, one of them is rock, another red ash and another which is ash. Primary 7 pupils can transfer onto Boclair Academy
Boclair Academy, a co-educational comprehensive secondary school located in the Greater Glasgow suburb of Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, serves pupils aged 11 to 18 from Southern Bearsden, Westerton and Torrance. Boclair Academy ...
in the nearby Bearsden
Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow city centre, Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with t ...
or St Ninians High School in Kirkintilloch
Kirkintilloch (; sco, Kirkintulloch; gd, Cair Cheann Tulaich) is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. ...
.
Torrance Initiative
Torrance Community Initiative is a registered charity aiming to provide new custom-built community facilities in the village.
The land held in "trust" by Torrance Community Initiative for the benefit of the community is a site. Unfortunately the planning permission granted in 1977 for a multi-use clubhouse for the former land owners - a boys' club, was never brought to fruition. The land was designated as Green Belt in the 1990s, although it forms an intrusion between two parts of the village and most people believed it was simply Greenfield, where legal restrictions on development are less severe. When people learned it was Green Belt, this became an emotive issue and the basis of the campaign against development.
Outline planning for the new community facilities was rejected by East Dunbartonshire council in May 2008. This included the residential development of 20–40 houses to fund for the community facilities on a site held in trust for the community by the Torrance Community Initiative. Reasons for rejection were that the land is designated greenbelt and the council had not yet done a long overdue review of current facilities as identified in the Local Plan.
Crime
East Dunbartonshire has significantly lower recorded crime rates (40-50% lower for acquisitive and violent crime) than the average in Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Administration
Torrance is part of Ward 5 (known as Bishopbriggs North and Torrance) within East Dunbartonshire Council and is represented by three local councillors:
*Billy Hendry from the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...
*Anne McNair from the Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
*Una Walker from the Scottish Labour Party
Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...
The MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden is Fiona McLeod
Fiona Grace McLeod (born 3 December 1957) is a Scottish politician who served as acting Minister for Children and Young People from 2014 to 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) f ...
of the Scottish National Party, who was elected on 5 May 2011.
Notable residents
* Voice over artist and actor Lewis MacLeod.
* Musician Tommy Reilly
* George Pirie (artist)
Sir George Pirie PRSA (5 December 1863 – 17 February 1946) was a Scottish artist who was associated with the Glasgow Boys in the 1880s, though he was not in much sympathy with the theories of these artists.
He was born in Campbeltown, Argylls ...
* Norman Pirie
Norman Wingate (Bill) Pirie FRS (1 July 1907 – 29 March 1997), was a British biochemist and virologist who, along with Frederick Bawden, discovered that a virus can be crystallized by isolating tomato bushy stunt virus in 1936. This was a ...
, biochemist
* Sally Magnusson
Sally Anne Magnusson (born 1955) is a Scottish broadcast journalist, television presenter and writer, who currently presents the Thursday and Friday night edition of BBC Scotland's ''Reporting Scotland''. She also presents ''Tracing Your Roots'' ...
, 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 ...
broadcaster and TV presenter
* Mark Donald, Award-winning chef
* Chris Charalambous
Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common.
People with the given name
* Chris Abani (born 1966), ...
, Award-winning chef
References
External links
Torrance web
Torrance Community Initiative
First Glasgow Torrance Timetables
-Timetable Information for Torrance to Glasgow services.
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Villages in East Dunbartonshire