DUNTOCHER, FAIFLEY AND HARDGATE
With apologies to those who live there and have a different perspective, these three areas appear to the rest of us West Dunbartonshire residents and much the same area. But in reality there is a great deal of varied interest. Refer to the subsections to see each of them in specific detail.
ACCESS : From Dumbarton, you arrive off the slip road from the A82. This road immediately becomes the A810 or Dumbarton Road, (not to be confused with Dumbarton Road of Dalmuir & Clydebank). From Clydebank you come up northwards through the Kilbowie Roundabout. From Bearsdean and Milngavie to the east you come along the A810, here in the guise of Glasgow Road.
As Clydebank grew apace, it absorbed Dalmuir and Old Kilpatrick, but there was still a need for more housing and these three areas were developed in the '60s and '70s to fulfil that role. They are generally modern suburbs although they each also include some older buildings and other features too.
In this map of 1896 we see the three villages : Duntocher to the west, Faifley centrally and Hardgate to the east. The overall arrangement is not all instantly recognisable. Modern Faifley has been developed east of its historic origins and north of Hardgate. There are a number of small dams or reservoirs to meet local needs including the mills. The Antonine Wall is highlighted in yellow. "Station" here evidently refers to the stationing of troops. NLS © as ref below.
A = Auchentoshan House; B = Auchentoshan; C = St Mary's R. C. Church; D = Police Station; E = School; F = Public Hall; G = Glenhead House; H = Milton Mains; I = Duntocher House; J & K = Church and Manse (predecessor of Duntocher Trinity Parish Church); L = Smithy; M = Roman Bridge; N = Hardgate Mill; O = Waulk Mill; P = Mills; Q = Dunellan; R = Beetle Hill; S & T = Free Church and Manse; U = Craigs; W = Milton Douglas.
Notes : Waulk means to walk in old Scots, but here gives its name to the processes of making cloth.To make (cloth) thick and felted by a process of soaking, beating and shrinking - In waulking, the women sit on the ground round a board, or a frame of wicker-work, on which they dash the cloth in measured time to the animating jorram or luinneg. The leader of the band sings the stanza, the whole band unite in the chorus, which is loudly repeated three times. [Scottish National Dictionary].
HERITAGE TRAIL Hardgate and Faifley Heritage Trail. https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/2619071/duntocher.pdf
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND : MAPS : Dumbartonshire Sheet XXIII.SW. Date revised: 1896, Date Published: 1899 . https://maps.nls.uk/view/75498393
SCOTTISH NATIONAL DICTIONARY : https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/waulk
WIKIPEDIA : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duntocher
