Balloch

Balloch's Gaelic name is Am Bealach, and the name comes either from bealach, "a pass", or from baile, "village". The Earls of Lennox, who held the lands around the foot of Loch Lomond, built a castle here around 1238, of which only earthworks remain; the ruins of a castle probably built for one of the earls stand on the island of Inchmurrin. The present Balloch Castle, in the country park, is an early 19th-century house.

The village grew as the place where the River Leven leaves the loch and the road from Glasgow to the West Highlands passes. The railway brought visitors: the Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway ran trains to Balloch Central and to Balloch Pier, where passengers stepped onto loch steamers. Cost pressures ended the steamer era — the paddle steamer Maid of the Loch made her last commercial sailing in 1981 — and the pier station closed in 1986, the central station in 1988.

British Rail opened the present station, a terminus of the electric trains from Glasgow, and Balloch became the southern gateway to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, the first national park in Scotland. Tourism has been its main business ever since, while the Maid of the Loch has been under restoration at the pier since 1992.

Balloch's identity is tied to the loch and to Glasgow. For generations Glaswegians have taken the train or the road to the foot of Loch Lomond for a day out, and the traditional song "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" carries its name. Summer weekends still bring families, walkers, cyclists and boaters to the riverside and the shore.

The country park is the village's main public space and hosts music festivals and the Loch Lomond Highland Games at Moss o' Balloch park on the west bank of the river. Luss, up the west shore, holds its own Highland games in July, and an autumn food and drink festival is held at Loch Lomond Shores.

The national park shapes local life. Rules on boating, camping and fires protect the loch and its shores, and the right of responsible access applies to the land and water of the park. Walking the John Muir Way, cycling the loch shore and cruising the southern basin draw visitors through the year.

Balloch is a small village at the northern end of the Vale of Leven, joined to the neighbouring town of Alexandria and village of Jamestown, which provide many of its everyday shops and services. Glasgow is about 16 miles away, and the railway and the A82 make commuting to the city straightforward.

Tourism is the main local business. Cruises, boat moorings, the aquarium and shops at Loch Lomond Shores, pubs, cafés, guest houses and holiday parks all depend on visitors, and the village is far busier in summer than in winter. The rhythm of the year follows the cruise season, from spring to early autumn, with quiet months in between.

For residents, life combines a short commute with easy access to the loch and the hills. Summer weekends are the busiest time, while weekday evenings out of season are quiet. To the east of the village lies the Haldane, the area's main council housing scheme, and Balloch Primary and St Kessog's Primary share the newly built Balloch Campus.

Balloch's food is that of a Scottish village geared to day visitors. Pubs and restaurants on Balloch Road serve walkers, cyclists and families, and the cafés at Loch Lomond Shores sell cakes and sandwiches close to the cruise departures. Balloch Road also has a fish and chip shop and an Italian restaurant, a Cantonese restaurant stands on Old Luss Road, and a farmers' market and craft fair is held outside Loch Lomond Shores on the first and third Sunday of the month.

Local food and drink are celebrated each September at the Loch Lomond Food & Drink Festival, held at Loch Lomond Shores. Scotland's own soft drink, Irn-Bru, is made at Cumbernauld, east of Glasgow.

For a wider choice, visitors and residents look to Alexandria and the other Vale of Leven towns, or to Glasgow, less than an hour away by train. On summer weekends the lochside cafés and village pubs are at their busiest.