Allan Water - Izeria

The Allan Water (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Alain) is a river in central Scotland. Rising in the Ochil Hills, it runs through Strathallan to Dunblane and Bridge of Allan before joining the River Forth. It is liable to cause floods in lower Bridge of Allan. It shares its name with a tributary of the River Teviot. The name is similar to the Ale Water in Berwickshire, the River Alness in Ross-shire, the Allander Water in Stirlingshire, the River Alne and the Ayle Burn in Northumberland, the River Ellen in Cumbria, and several names in the south of England, Wales and Cornwall. Ptolemy, who wrote his Geography about 150 AD, gave the names of some of these rivers as Alauna or Alaunos. Ekwall says that Alauna or Alaunos are British [i.e. Brythonic or P-Celtic] river names. Nicolaisen says that the name Allan is of Pre-Celtic Indo-European origin. Its original form was Alauna, from the Indo-European root *el-/ol-, meaning "to flow, to stream". Several European rivers and settlements have names that may come from that root. Others say that Alauna was a Celtic river goddess, also found in Brittany; Alaunus was a Gaulish god of medicine and prophesy. Two broadside ballads refer to the "Allan Water". According to one, a Scottish ballad, the "Allan Water's wide and deep, and my dear Anny's very bonny; Wides the Straith that lyes above't, if't were mine I'de give it all for Anny." The other, more familiar, English ballad begins "On the banks of Allan Water" and relates the death of a miller's daughter whose soldier lover proves untrue. This version, popularised by C. E. Horn in his comic opera, Rich and Poor (1812), is sung by Bathsheba Everdene at the sheepshearing supper in Thomas Hardy's novel Far From The Madding Crowd (1874). A similar rendition was recorded with church organ accompaniment by Italian singer Ariella Uliano in 2008.

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HM Prison Cornton Vale

HMP & YOI Cornton Vale was a women's prison and young offenders institution in Stirling, Scotland operated by the Scottish Prison Service. The facility comprised a total of 217 cells in its 5 houses. It accepted solely convicted women and girls from 1975 until 1978. In 1978 Parliament passed the necessary legislation to allow females to be held there on remand. Cornton Vale houses female adults and young offenders in Scotland, alongside HMP Grampian, HMP Edinburgh and HMP Polmont. In April 1999, the separation of adults and young offenders was attained. Lady Martha Bruce was the first Governor. The current Governor at Cornton Vale is Paula Arnold. Cornton Vale is replaced by HMP & YOI Stirling, which has been constructed on an adjacent site. The new facilities opened in July 2023. Cornton Vale closed in April 2023 with inmates being accommodated in other establishments across the female estate prior to moving into the new HMP & YOI Stirling.

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HM Prison Stirling

HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Stirling is a prison facility in Stirling, Scotland, intended to replace HMP Cornton Vale. Opened in 2023, it is Scotland's primary facility for incarcerated women and is designed to offer improved treatment for women in custody, and is notable in not utilising traditional penal designs such as bars on windows and cell doors, taking influence from trauma-informed care. In May 2025, the prison was named as one of the winners of the annual Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) awards, and thereby longlisted for the RIAS Best Building in Scotland Award. The judges described it as "a model of how public buildings can be both operationally robust and deeply humane".

Cornton

Cornton, known locally as The Cornton, is a district of the city of Stirling on the North Bank of the River Forth in central Scotland.

Raploch

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 Earl of Mar to the patrons of Cowane's Hospital 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. The Raploch was the subject of a 2002 BBC Scotland documentary entitled Raploch Stories, and in a 2017 sequel Raploch Stories Revisited. Since 2004, the Raploch area has undergone a great deal of physical regeneration, overseen by the Raploch Urban Regeneration Company. The Scottish government has praised Raploch's masterplanning as an example of good practice. Conditions which ensured access to training and employment for previously long-term unemployed workers in regeneration work have also been well-received. 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 on 21 June 2012 and on a BBC Scotland Christmas Eve (2012) Special in Stirling's Holy Rude Church. After the Second World War, there were great efforts to develop Stirling's housing including at Raploch by the Scottish Special Housing Association.