Previous
Page

History.    Page 2 of 4
Alongside the expansion in textiles related industries, coal mining in the area was revitalised with Devon colliery being drained, deepened and re-opened and both Dollar and Tillicoultry mines expanding as well as the brick and tile works at Devonside. The importance of Tillicoultry as an industrial centre was reinforced by the construction of the North British Railway branch line, making it the first Hillfoots village to have a rail connection to the industrial heartlands and markets in the rest of the country.
Throughout the 20th. Century Tillicoultry continued to expand and prosper in the textiles industries with a range of associated industries developing further, such as knitwear, engineering and printing.
Despite this level of expansion and prosperity, Tillicoultry was not immune to the consequent unemployment associated with the depression in the 1920's and 1930's.

To help alleviate the poverty and deprivation which accompanied unemployment in the '20's, the Council decided in December 1925
"to purchase, rent, or otherwise acquire a right of access to Tillicoultry Glen…...to be used as a pleasure ground or place of public resort or recreation".

The scheme was inspired and driven by Provost Jamieson with the assistance of Burgh Architect, Arthur Bracewell with funding from the Unemployed Grants Committee to pay 75% of the wages in connection with the work on the Glen.
The work began on the roads, pathways and small bridges on 5th. May 1926, the second day of the national General Strike, and was completed in time for the official opening of Tillicoultry Glen on 21st. August 1926.

 
  Next
 Page