Wool Wool was also locally plentiful and in the early part of the 19th century, John Paton set up a small yarn-spinning business in the town, later establishing Kilncraigs Mill. Much of the Kilncraigs complex has been demolished but a four-storey Edwardian Baroque block of 1903–1904 survives, with an extension of 1936. The buildings were converted to Council offices by LDN architects in 2003/2004. Patons merged with J. & J. Baldwin of Halifax in 1924 to become Paton & Baldwins Ltd. glassworks in Alloa
Weaving and glass making The town itself continued to be known for its
weaving and
glassmaking industries well into the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Brewing Alloa was long associated with the
brewing industry, with at least nine major breweries producing
ales at its height. However
industrial decline during the mid to late 20th century has led to the economy relying more on retail and leisure. The first brewing firms in the town were Younger in 1762 and Meiklejohn in 1784. Alloa ale was sent to London and George Younger had an extensive export trade to the
West Indies,
Egypt and the
Far East. Alloa was also home to Alloa Brewery Co, developing Graham's Golden Lager in 1927 which was renamed
Skol in the 1950s. Closures and mergers during the mid-20th century reduced the number of breweries to two and by 1999 after the closure of MacLay's Thistle Brewery, only one remained, the Forth Brewery which became Williams Bros. in 2003.
Malt distilling In addition to the brewing of beer, Alloa is the site of the former Carsebridge Distillery. According to
Alfred Barnard, the
Victorian historian of British distilling and brewing, the distillery was founded as a
malt distillery by John Bald in 1799. In the 1840s it was converted into a grain distillery and by the time of Barnard's visit in the mid 1880s the distillery covered 10 acres, employed 150 people, and had an annual output of 1.4 to 1.7 million gallons of pure grain whisky. The distillery's owner John Bald and Co was one of five companies that combined to form the
Distillers Company Limited in 1877. In 1902, a fire devastated the distillery, after World War I it was refitted and started producing yeast. This yeast production lasted until 1938. In 1956 the distillery was modernised, it expanded in 1966 and in the 1970s a new still house, cooperage and animal feedstuffs plant added. By 1980 the Carsebridge Distillery was the largest grain distillery in Scotland, however it closed in 1983 and was demolished in 1992. One of the distillery's
Coffey stills is now in use at the
Cameronbridge distillery.
Barrel cooperage After whisky ceased to be produced at Carsebridge, the cooperage remained as one of two owned by
Diageo in Scotland. In 2008, 30 people worked there assembling or repairing up to 400 bourbon casks, imported from the US, each day. However, in 2009 the company announced that it intended to close the Carsebridge Cooperage and move the work to nearby
Cambus. The new Cambus cooperage was opened in December 2011 by the
Earl of Wessex.
Military history Alloa is linked to the historic Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders housed at
Stirling Castle. Many of the soldiers in the
Second World War fought under Montgomery at the
Battle of El Alamein and Wadi Akrit where their commanding officer Lorne Campbell won a V.C. They were part of the 7th Argylls under the
51st Highland Division.
Police As of 2014, the temporary national headquarters of
Police Scotland is located in Alloa. == Landmarks ==