A PLAQUE to commemorate Alloa's famous Waggonway as a site of historical importance has received a warm welcome at Holyrood.

MSP Keith Brown has lodged a motion at Scottish Parliament to welcome the Red Wheel plaque, to be installed by the National Transport Trust.

As reported last month, the trust has been working with partners in the Wee County to unveil the plaque, pandemic permitting.

The move even ignited a debate on whether the world's first railway tunnel was built in Clacks – as highlighted at the time – with Wee County historian Susan Mills explaining this is unlikely to have been the case.

Mr Brown, who lodged the motion last week, said: "The Waggonway is an important part of Alloa's industrial heritage and a link to the town's past.

"It is great news that its importance to transport heritage on a national level has been recognised by the National Transport Trust and is to be marked by one of their Red Wheel plaques.

"I wanted to highlight that recognition and so have lodged a motion in parliament.

"Schemes like the Red Wheel plaques are important in reminding us – locals and visitors alike – how the places we know today were used in years gone by.

"The remaining paths of the Waggonway may now be used by pedestrians and cyclists but they were once an important industrial artery along which coal-laden waggons were once pulled by ponies from the collieries to the docks.

"That hard work and industry helped to build the town we know today and deserves to be remembered."

The Waggonway used to span some two and a half miles and connected the coal pits at Sauchie and Fishcross to the harbour.

Initially on wooden tracks, the waggons were drawn by horses when John, the 7th Earl of Mar, opened the line in or around 1768.

The route, one of the earliest in Scotland believed to be second only to that in Cockenzie in East Lothian, passed under two tunnel-like bridges which are still in place today.

Plans for the "coal road" - as dubbed at the time – were first drawn up for the 6th Earl of Mar around 1710.

According to information from Susan Mills, whom the National Transport Trust worked with, the Waggonway skirted the western edge of the town, unlike the old road Coalgate which ran through Alloa.

The Waggonway's wooden tracks were later exchanged to iron in 1785 by which time the whole route had to be upgraded.

Only a part of the old waggonway still remains today, between Bedford Place and and Primrose Court – a stretch well used by cyclists and pedestrians.

Councillor Craig Holden, environment spokesman at Clackmannanshire Council, said: "The Waggon Way is a reminder of Clackmannanshire's significant industrial heritage, and I'm pleased to see it receiving this national recognition."