Torrance, East Dunbartonshire
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Torrance
| |
|---|---|
| Population | 2,480 (2001 census)[1] est. 4000 (2008) |
| OS grid reference | NS6192974147 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GLASGOW |
| Postcode district | G64 |
| Dialling code | 01360 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Torrance is a village in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, located 15 minutes from Glasgow city centre and is home to 2,500 persons. Torrance used to mainly consist of farmland, but now is a growing town. The town was once famous as a resting place for workers on their way to the Campsie Fells 4 miles (6.4 km) north.
Local area
Torrance is well known to be situated in East Dunbartonshire but some believe it may be incorporated into the city of Glasgow within the next few years.
Construction due to start
A new development of 7 houses in well under way called Carlston Steading.In Hawthorn Street a new development of 4 detached houses is now under construction.Both devlopments are under construction and being marketed by Clyde Property. For more information visit; http://www.clydeproperty.com/
Politics
Torrance is on ward 5 and is known as Bishopbriggs North and Torrance. There are three local councillors. They are as follows Anne McNair from the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), Billy Hendry from the Scottish Conservatives and Unionists and Una Walker from the Scottish Labour Party. The MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden is David Whitton.
Crime
Torrance is a relatively safe area. Little crime occurs. There are plans to place a CCTV development around the village including the park and the main street although a date has still not been set for when this may take place. There are several Neighbourhood Watch schemes in the area.
Torrance Initiative
Torrance Initiative is a group of committed volunteers aiming to provide new custom-built community facilities in the village. The current facilities are no longer fit for purpose and most people go outwith the village for activities.
The land held in "trust" by Torrance Community Initiative for the benefit of the community is a 10-acre (40,000 m2) site. Fortunately 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 Boys'club had stated that one of its purposes was to open the clubhouse to the wider community as, even then, it was recognised that Torrance needed new facilities. It therefore seemed appropriate when the opportunity arose, that the Initiative secured the land and sought to build a new community centre on the site. Although there had always been a clubhouse there,it was vandalised beyond repair prior to the demise of the Boys' Club in the early 1990's. It is felt by many in the village that a new facility would succumb to the same level of vandalism and eventually fall into disrepair. Many believe that the Green Belt would be gone forever and the village would still be without facilities.
Currently football is played by youngsters on a rare and well maintained grass pitch. The other main users are dog walkers, children playing, parents teaching their kids to ride their first bike in a safe place etc. Torrance has some lovely areas of countryside to explore and allows for a huge and varied amount of wildlife to thrive. This land owned by the community has an abundant biodiversity as evidenced by recent surveys for bats,otters and trees etc. The argument therefore is whether the loss of open space with this ecological status outweighs development. Most sections of the community see a greater community benefit by not building on it, while a select few are supportive of building. The Torrance Community Initiative is committed to the preservation of green belt. While the village has expressed its view of not building on Green Belt, East Dunbartonshire Council will not enter into any partnership arrangement with the Initiative. Neither community hall is listed and both suffer from neglect and lack of resources over many decades. It is accepted that had Torrance Community Initiative not wasted so much public funding, these halls could have been well on their way to being fully upgraded. It has been said by East Dunbartonshire Council that they can be upgraded, and the cost would not outweigh any benefit. It is highly unlikely that the current or any future council will close these halls while they satisfy safety regulations.
Torrance Community Initiative are a registered charity who are currently under investigation by The Office of Scottish Charity Register.
Local amenities
Torrance offers local amenities to its residents including two hairdressers, tennis courts, health centre, mechanics, garden centre (http://www.westcarlston.com/), bakery, a post office and newsagents not to mention the large and new Torrance Church of Scotland (http://www.tpc.org.uk//) at the foot of School Road and St. Dominic's RC Church at the top http://www.saintpatrickskilsyth.org.uk/saintdominics/index.htm . The local SPAR won Milk Retailer of the Year in 2005. Torrance has three pubs; the Wheatsheaf Inn, the Torrance Inn and the Village Inn with another bar in the bowling club. The surrounding East Dunbartonshire area is also an affluent area with many new leisure facilities. East Dunbartonshire was voted the 2nd best district in Scotland to reside in during 2007. Torrance does have a regular once an hour bus service into Glasgow however could benefit further from better transport links for the surrounding area.
Properties
Acre Valley, and Wardend road are amongst Torrance's most desirable areas to live. Houses here were valued in summer 2007, many worth over one million pounds[citation needed]. These houses being Acre Valley house, 6 acres (24,000 m2) and farm-hill house.
There are also many 3-4 bedroom family style houses as well but fewer one and two bedroom dwellings. There is currently a shortage of affordable housing and housing for the elderly. Torrance has over the past thirty years expanded from about 200 to almost 3000 people. Many residents feel that the village has met its capacity in terms of housing development as no accompanying leisure/sporting/employment infrastructure has been provided for the enlarged community.
Population
The 2001 census registered a population of 3457 and the 2001 census registered a population of around 2,500. The name comes from the Gaelic An Toran which means 'under the hills'.
Recent recording of population confirms over 4000 residents. - 2008
History
The village of Torrance is situated in a local area known for centuries as 'The Eleven Ploughs of Balgrochan'. The Eleven Ploughs were part of the estate of the Grahams of Mugdock (Milngavie). They received their name in 1630 when Montrose, the great military leader of the Covenanting period, sought to raise money for his campaigns by feuing off part of the Mugdock lands. The 'Eleven Ploughlands' were feued off to local occupiers willing to pay a grassum (lump sum) on the understanding that their annual rate of duty would be held at a moderate level. Three of the Ploughlands were at Carlston, four at Easter Balgrochan and four at Wester Balgrochan. "The eleven ploughs o' Balgrochan were acquired at that time By eleven sturdy carles, as they ca'ed them lang syne" The feuars originally held their land in run-rigs, running down in long strips southwards to the River Kelvin. In 1735, however, each feuar received an enclosed piece of land, in line with the widespread drive towards land enclosure at that period. Coal and lime continued to be worked in common, but ironstone rights were allocated to individual ploughland proprietors.
Some time after the enclosures of 1735, the village of Torrance began to develop. Some of the earliest inhabitants were 'country weavers', weaving linens or woolens in association with local farming activity. Around this time, also, the extraction of limestone, coal and ironstone began to emerge as a local industry of some significance. During the late eighteenth century the improvement of local roads and the opening of the Forth & Clyde Canal, with a wharf at Hungryside, provided routes to market for local agricultural and mineral production. When the Eleven Ploughs were feued off by Montrose in 1630, the large meal mill at Balgrochan was at the same time feued to a Robert Ferrie. Three hundred years later the mill was still grinding corn and celebrating three centuries of Ferrie family ownership. In 1933, however, it was closed and sold to a Glasgow firm for the manufacture of talcum powder. The mill wheel at Balgrochan was said to be the second largest in Scotland. It was cut up for scrap in 1949.
The canal wharf at Hungryside remained for many years as Torrance's principal link with the outside world. In 1879, however, a station was opened at Torrance by the Kelvin Valley Railway Company and the village, somewhat belatedly, was linked to the national rail network. It might have been thought that Torrance would then have developed as a commuter dormitory for Glasgow, but the influx of new residents was slow in arriving. Indeed it was not until after the railway was closed to passengers in 1951 that commuting began in earnest. During the mid-1970s, for example, Henry Boot Homes built a considerable number of houses at Meadowbank and West Balgrochan.
Noted Residents
Torrance has its own famous golfer, Hugh Ross, that everyone is proud of because he got to the alternative Ryder cup 2008. Also a hero of a guy has made DVD's, including roadstories, which was a music video for a German bloke, and the waverley returns, which is a DVD. Hats off to DJ Col. Tommy Reilly from Torrance won the Orange Unsigned Acts competition.
Torrance Primary School
Torrance has its very own Torrance Primary which is a small school with around 250 pupils. It recently had an extension added to the side which is nearly the same size as the actual school!
Current events
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 9.8-acre (40,000 m2) 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. The land owned by the community will therefore remain undeveloped and unmanaged for the foreseeable future. The council is currently[when?] conducting its review of Torrance facilities. Although the outcome cannot be pre-empted, it would be unrealistic in the present financial climate to expect that the council can make major changes to the current community buildings. In the event of greenbelt status in future being removed from the land, a former in-fill site, then approval from the majority of villagers is required before any change or development takes place.