This is the Allan Water Café. Quite a few of Scotland’s rivers are named something Water, (the Leithen Water is an example, and there is also of course the Water of Leith.) Though the river is only a few tens of metres away to the left of the photos you don’t actually see it when driving over the bridge as the parapet is too high for that.

Anyway the café has a typical 30s café frontage. This is from further along the road. Note the detailing above the windows and door. The more modern extension to the right (not in photo) isn’t deco but was full of customers when I took this.

The facade has pronounced deco features; horizontals and verticals emphasised in the glazing, nice detailing above the door. It seems to have been an addition to the front of an older house.

More detailing above the window and door of the furthest left portion of the building complex.

These are a few photos I took at the last away game of the season proper at Forthbank Stadium, Stirling.

It’s traditional for the Sons fans, aka the Apache Army, to dress up for the last journey of the season. You can spot a few in fancy dress here.

This is the fans celebrating clinching third spot and a play-off place.

The players returned the tribute.

Forthbank Stadium* is one of those modern identikit type constructions and a little soulless. But at least it has stands on two sides plus two bits of terracing, one behind each goal – though they are seldom used.

Saturday was a bit gloomy and so the photos are not as sharp as they might be.

This is from the access road, mainly showing the away supporters stand.

This is the home stand.

The terracings behind the goals are opened only when a big crowd is expected – so not for Dumbarton games.
This is the south end – to your left in the photo above.

And this the north.

This is a rather blurry view of the away stand from the north end.

*Edited to add:- I know it’s the Doubletree Dunblane Stadium now.

If you travel down (or up) the B824 between the roundabout at the northern end of the M9 (where it turns into the A9 for further travel north) and the small town of Doune in Stirlingshire you can see off the road the statue of a lone figure. The signpost names it as the David Stirling Memorial.

Who was David Stirling?

Well, he was the man who started up the Special Air Services Regiment, otherwise known as the SAS.

This is the statue:-

One of the plaques on the statue’s base names Stirling, the other is a memorial to those SAS men who died on active service.

Two more photos of this statue are on my flickr site.

It’s in a lovely location on a rural hillside with views of rolling hills. And a wind farm. (I don’t think wind farms are eyesores, by the way. People who moan about them probably wax lyrical about windmills to which they are the modern equivalent.)

Why site the statue in such an out of the way spot?

Well; Stirling was a local. The Parish of Lecropt, where he was born, lies between Bridge of Allan (over the M9 near the town – now city – of Stirling) and Doune. There is a Carse of Lecropt and a Lecropt Kirk signposted as you leave Bridge of Allan heading towards the M9.

David Stirling’s Wikipedia entry shows a family connection with the Lord Lovat who led a brigade on to Sword Beach during the D-Day landings. Lovat famously ordered his personal bagpiper to pipe the commandos ashore. The defending Germans reputedly didn’t shoot him (the piper) because they thought he was mad.

That last bit about the Germans may be an urban myth but makes a great story.