Tarbrax

Tarbrax (Scottish Gaelic: "An Tòrr Breac" - meaning "the speckled tor") is a small village in the Parish of Carnwath, County of South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is at the end of a dead end road off the A70 road between Edinburgh and Carnwath.

Tarbrax is at 1000 feet above sea level on the edge of the Pentland Hills. Nearby villages include Auchengray and Woolfords.

History

It was built around a shale mine as housing for the miners beginning in the middle of the 19th Century. There is a large bing or spent shale spoil heap in the village. The name is derived from the Lawhead Tarbrax estate within which it was built, which was then owned by David Souter Robertson a founder of modern Accountancy. This estate was originally based around Tarbrax Castle, a seat of the Somervilles, though by 1649 it had passed to the Lockharts, including George Lockhart of Tarbrax. There is nothing to be seen of the castle left today.

Transport

It once had its own railway station on a branch line from Cobbinshaw railway station on the Caledonian Railway Edinburgh to Carstairs Line, North of Auchengray railway station.

Education

Tarbrax used to have a school of its own, in the days of the shale mining. Now, however, the local school is a small primary in the neighbouring village of Auchengray. It only goes up to Primary 4 and the four classes share two rooms. When the children have finished at Auchengray Primary School, they go to Carnwath Primary School in the town of Carnwath. They stay there for another three years before moving on to Biggar High School in the town of Biggar. All three schools are scheduled to be rebuilt in the next ten to fifteen years.

Tarbrax today

A recent development to Tarbrax is the building of the village hall, which opened in 2004. It runs various groups and activities which include a Youth Club, Badminton group and an over-50s group. There are children's parties held at different times of the year.

There have been proposals in 2006-07 for wind farms to be built around Tarbrax. There is strong local community opposition to the proposed wind farms.

References

* "The Castles of Scotland", Martin Coventry ISBN 978 1841584492